TALBOTS HOME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21939, 28 April 1933, Page 10

TALBOTS HOME

QUALITY OF MEALS REPLY TO CRITICISM. Attention was drawn by Mr J. W. Dove at the meeting of the Otago Hospital Board last night to a statement which, according to information supplied to him, had been made by a Labour candidate at an election meeting on the previous night. The candidate, he stated, had claimed that the food given to the patients at the Talboys Home (Benevolent Institution) was not fit for human consumption, and that at night the men were given one “ hunk ” of bread. One could not tell wdiether it had been buttered or not. The candidate claimed that he had seen the food.

Mr Dove added that he thought the chairman should make a definite statement on the matter. The speaker knew the cost of the food and what the patients received, and he thought that people who made these rash statements were not working in the interests of the inmates. It was not cricket. “All I can say,” replied the chairman (Mr W. E. S. Knight), “is that a menu has been prepared and that it is open for inspection by any member of the board. The statement made by the candidate is contrary to fact, and I don’t think anyone could possibly take exception to the meals given at the institution. They are comparable with the fare provided at any similar institution in the Dominion.’’ Mr J. W. Scurr: In the world.

Mr Scurr added that as chairman of the committee concerned he would like to say that he was often at the home and that he would be satisfied at any time to have the meals provided there. They were plain meals with no frills about them, but ’ frills were not expected. Mr A. F. Quelch said that the board made certain provisions in this connection. The question was whether they had been carried out. If they had, there could be no cause for complaint. “Have our instructions been carried out? ” he asked. Mr Scurr; Absolutely.