THE OLD AGE PENSIONS SCHEME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10902, 8 September 1897, Page 3

THE OLD AGE PENSIONS SCHEME.

TEE DUNEDIN" DISTRICT.'

Mr O'CallaghaDi the deputy-registrar under j the arppoaed old age pansioES scheme, has pre- ; pared an interesting return showing the results : of his inquiries into "the positions of the claimants ia the Dunedia district. Among the number is a man; who has beau in the colony ; for 64- years. He arrived in the Bay of Islands : in the schooner Sti'ab. Jane in May. 1833. Two j others have been in the colony for 63 years, two i for 57 years, one for 56 years, one for 55 yeara, j two for 51 years, and one for 50 years. Of the | others, 43 have resided in the colony for i between 40 and 50 years, 356 for between 30 [ and ' 40. j ears —ataoug this cumber being 240 ( who came to Otago at the time of the gold : rush in the early sixties, —and 199 for between 20 and 30 years, the majority of these having taken advantage o£ the colony's free imtnigra- ; tion scheme. Tjje total number of applicants is 614, of whom 491 have beeu admitted (340 males, 151 females), and 4-0 rejected (21 males, i 19 females), while 15 cases have been postponed, and 68 are unadjusted. Of the claimants, i 255 are between 60. and 70 years of ags and.297 between 70 und 80. After.'that tae i zrarnbsrs are amall. . I'wblts. are 30, eight are i 81, sii are 82, three are 83, six are 84-, two ara ! 85, one is So, five are 37, two are 88, one is 89, j two are 90, two are 91, one is 92, and one is 94. | In the 40 claims rejected 25 of the claimants j •were found to bs under 65 years of ag«, 15 had | not resided in the colony for (in all) 20 years on tho 17th .Ocsob'ec last (when the act came into force), one had Eofc resided id the colony cop- j tinuously for the three yeir^irumsdiately pre- j cedipg that date, and one had been absent from' the colony for (in. all) more than 18 months during the 10 years preceding the came date. There is another ground on which claimants might have been rejected—viz., "total income from all sources in excess. of £50 a year,"—bet none of the applicants came within the category. The trades and occupations of the claimants are as under -.—Two news agents, 6 storekeepers, 38 j of no occupation, 4- seamstresses, 2 woolsorters, 40 miners,.ll tailors, 2 teachers, 15bootmakers, 114 labourers'; 107 domestic duties, 4 dealers,. 4 I shepherds, 26 carpenters, 7 blacksmiths, 2: plasterer?; 1 market gardener, 9 sailors, 11 nurses, 4- agents, 4 brickmakers, 3 ironmpulders, 3 sawyers, 1 sailmaker, 1 barrister, 1 fnrnaceman, 1 mainlayer, 3 painters, 3 commigsioa agents, .1 '.'mangUag, 12 gardeners, 1 bookkeeper, 6 bakers, 1' confectioner, 4 weavers, 3 dairy farmers, 2 insurance agents, 3 hawkers, 2' stttioriors,. 1 housa servant, 1 groom, 1 rabbiter, 1 railway surfaceman, 1 woodcutter, 4- laundresses, 3 dyers, 3 engiaeers. 1 hairdresser, 1 statiorimaster, 7 clerks,! theatrical property owner, 1 waiter, 1 exconstab'e, 1 presser, 1 printer, 1 asphalter, 6 stonemasons. 1 mason, 1 eriginedriver, 3 brisklayers, 5 carters, 1 bushman, 1 istonebreaker, 1 orover, 1 iiterary, 4 expressmen, 1 waggoner, 1 cab proprietor, I'tea dealer, 1 fruiterer, 1 lighterman, 1 settler, 1 seedsman, 1 coachbuilderj 3'cooks, 1 collector,.! dressmaker. 1 postmaster, 1 tinsmith, 1 sheepf armer, 1 caffea stall keeper,. 1 'jeweller, > fish hawker, 4 farmers,! midwife, 1 cowherd, 2 cabdrivers, 1 ■wheelwright, 1 fireman, 1 sand mßrchant, 4 butchers^ 3 cabinetmakers, 1 potter, 1 basketmaker, 1. fisherman, .1 fern collector, 1 coach-Bmifch,-1 fellmonger, 1 brewer, 1 slater, 1 mine maDsger. ■