The Otautau Standard AND WALLACE COUNTY CHRONICLE. Tuesday, September 26th, 1905. RECLAIMING WASTE MATERIAL.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 22, 26 September 1905, Page 2

The Otautau Standard AND WALLACE COUNTY CHRONICLE. Tuesday, September 26th, 1905. RECLAIMING WASTE MATERIAL.

The man who can, and does, convert and put to practical use, any article that would otherwise become waste, is undoubtedly a benefactor to the race, as he adds to the wealth of the community. Waste lies around us m many forpis, and the rottenness, decay, and destruction going on on every side is a perpe%uaL call to the thinking and active man to reclaim and utilise this waste product. The cables during the past week_. have flashed to us tho news of the .death of one of the greatest benefactors of the present age, the man who wrought upon and reclaimed the most difficult, and, at the same time, the. most valuable kind of waste material, viz, "mankind." With an unlimited supply of raw material to work upon, and not too many competitors engaged m the same business, Dr. Barnardo. the reclaimer of Great Britain's waifs and strays, has done noble work, and is entitled to have his name enrolled with the illustrious heroes of the Empire. Starting without [money, almost without friends, this remarkable man has built up and maintained an organisation by purely voluntary subscriptions, given, he firmly believed, m direct answer to prayer to God. From a tiny beginning his work has increased, till to-day it requires something like £200,000 per annum to carry it on, and the whole of this vast sum comes along as required from unknown benefactors m every, corner of the earth, Gifted with a heart big enough m love to embrace all suffering humanity, Dr Barnardo took an especial interest m the destitute children of London and other big English cities, and the homes established by him since 1867, there have passed more than 56,000 young people, reclaimed from absolute want, and, m most cases, hellish surroundings, and, through his care and effort, fitted out for life's battles, and made good citizens, instead of wastrels and gaol birds., and perhaps worse. Many of these jeelaimees are now scattered over the oEnglish speaking world, and look back with gratitude to the.man who instituted iand perfected the reclaiming machinery that saved them from being lost amidst- the submerged human refuse ih the dens from which they were; taken. Sixteen thousand have been trained and sent out to tho various colonies. Putting the lowest estimate that can be formed of suclr a." wor&T riftrnely, its monetary valno, and taking a man or woman as worth only £500, we have the remarkable result that this one man has addrid to the wealth of the nation £28,000,000 sterling, and during the process of adding this wealth, has probably saved . the. nation another £14,000,000, which wouldhavebeen required to control the-seething mass of iniquity that woul have resulted from 56,000 units of e^il, a^d^^Jniq^rty^ running their _^life--i3i^rime but for the eftort that directed their energy "jnto channels of righteousness. The news of Dr Barnardo's death will oause a pang of regret m evelry heart throughout the world that palpitates with any love at all for suffering children, and whether the State will rear to his memory any monument m marble or not, the monument of his own life's work will stand with an undying splendour for generations to come, and no doubt his own unwearying and unselfish work has inspired successors who will carry on successfully what he has begun,