AUCKLAND ORPHANS' CLUB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16968, 30 September 1918, Page 5

AUCKLAND ORPHANS' CLUB.

A vert enjoyable entertainment was provided at the fortnightly gathering of the Auckland Orphans' Club on Saturday evening. Mr. C. F. Bickford, honorary financial organiser of the Joint Committee o? the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John, jv.-ided. The principal guests were the members of the council of the Dominion Bowling Association, and Colonel R. S. Collins, controller and auditor-general, who brought fraternal greetings from the Wellington Orphans' Club. The musical portion of the programme was up to the usual superior standard secured by the club's energetic committee. An interesting account of the financial side of the Red Cross movement was given by the chairman. Mr. Bickford said the people of Auckland had fiven very generously to the Red Cross Fund, but they never seemed desirous of knowing how the money donated by them was administered. Dealing with the parent body of the great organisation, he said the income for 1916 was 3,064,252, and the apendi* ture £1,817,373. The surplus, amounting to £1,246,879, was carried forward for the work during 1917. The income during the latter year was £3,265,464. With the addition of the surplus from 1916, the amount available for Red Cross work was £4,512,343. In 1917 there were abnormally large calls on the society's funds, and the present year was commenced with a deficit of £187,872. The average cost of maintenance o' casualties in hospitals, etc., was £7 5s a head. Mr. Bickford also referred to the financial state of the Red Cross Fund in the Auckland military district. His statements were listened to with much interest.