Otago Benevolent Institution.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 23

Otago Benevolent Institution.

The following are the principal portions of the annual r| report of ,/the,. Committee of Management to be laid before the subscribers at the nineteenth annual meeting :-? "v" v The Committee, in submitting their!, 19th annual report, and balance-sheet, caiiiiot con gratulate.the subscribers, on any dpcreasje on 'the' demands of the funds of the Institu^on for j the past year. It is with regret they haye to i report that a large amount of distress .existed amongst a number of people from pure misfortune—through illness, want p| "'employment, and other causes. Deserted wives, as usual, occupy' a prominent position amongst; the recipients of the funds. It will be gratifying to the subscribers to know that through the liberality of,,the public the Committee were in a positionto relieve all deserving cases brought before themi not' only in Dunedin, but extending to ' various parts of the Provincial District, and this in the face of malicious and unfounded charges made against the management and Committee of the Institution. The Committee are thankful to say the subscriptions have not been diminished from this cause. As the subscribers are aw,are, a Committee of Inquiry wap appointed, consisting of Messrs John Bathgate arid John Logan, who declared the charges to be unfounded. Pending the result of the inquiry, subscriptions were not collected by the secretary, ( In proof of confidence hi your Committee, one generous citizen contributed the sum of £300 as a nucleus towards forming an Orphan Asylum for the admission of children of all nationalities and persuasion^ and to whom the Committee express their gratitude. At present there are several orphans in the Institution, which is now open to receive 'deserving cases. The total amount received was £4764 16s 7d, of which £1844 19a w ( as in subscriptions and donations ; a corresponding subsidy being received from the Government.

The total amount expended was £5788 8s 2d, of which £3413 3s 9d was expended in outdoor relief for food, clothing, rents, fuel, &c., 1 £2375 4s 5d being expended on the support, of the inmates in the Asylum at Caversham, includ ing £130 for play-shed for children. - The total number relieved was' 1685— viz., 171 men, 405 women, and ,1109 children, made up as follows : — Families in which the men were unable, through age, chronic disease, accident, or temporary illness, 61 men, 61 women, 214 children; widows, 131, with 381 children; deserted wives, 62, with 224 children; single men, 38 ; single women, 16 ; single women, IS, with 23 illigitimate children ; 7 women, with 21 children, whose husbands are' or were in gaol ; 4 women, with 12 children, whose husbands are or were hi hospital ; 4,women, with 11 children, whose husbands are or were in Lunatic Asylum. Families which are destitute through want of employment on the part of the men — 45 men, 45 women, 176 children ; the remainder being cases of a casual nature.

The number received into the Institution was 51—18 men, 18 women, and 15 children. The number discharged, was 56—18 men, 17 women, and 24 children— leaving the number remaining in the institution Ist January, 1882, 47 men, 13 women, and 30 children— total 90. The number of deaths was 6. Both male and female adults are nearly all permanent invalids or otherwise disabled. The' 'weekly average of inmates was 93, at a cost of 8s 4fd each per week ; this includes food, furnishing, fuel, clothing, medicine, salaries of doctor, reft* IMous instructor, master, - matron, epry&ntff, education of children, &c, '

The men's quarters are much overcrowded, " and provision will have to be made at once for further accommodation, many deserving cases having to be refused admission. This matter • the Committee commend to the consideration of their successors. . The subject of illegitimacy having been so prominently referred to in last year's report, your Committee, finding it an evil on the increase, would again commend the matter to a committee of ladies, so that this institution may be relieved of a burden not fairly within ts functions. Dr "Hocken concludes hia medical report thus: "I must again add how highly I appreciate the care taken by Mr and Mrs Quin ■to ensure the comfort and health of the ' inmates ;' the institution is always a pattern ' of order and cleanliness."

Tragedies at Noumea. ' (From the Sydney Evening News, March Bth.) By the arrival of theF.M.S. City of Melbourne, Captain D. Calder, from Noumea, we learn of two fearful tragedies which occurred at 'that port shortly before the vessel left for Sydney. The first, was a case of jealousy, suicide, and murder. It appears that a Mons. and Madame, Odey, who arrived in Noumea some few monihs since from France m the " Bteamer Le Precurseur, had settled in the place, Madame taking a Hotel or wineshop in Noumea, and her husband, who is said to have ' been in the detective force, went into the country to work. Rumours evidently reached his ' ears which induced him to become jealous of the 'attractions of his wife, and he returned in haste J fco town, ,and> after having some altercation with her. he deliberately drew a revolver from his belt ' ' and, having shot her dead, he put the muzzle to his ownhead and blew his brains out. The horrible occurrence caused a profound sensa'tion'in Noumea, especially as both were well known and were generally well liked. The jfecbnd tragedy was one in which there were three convicts shot. It appears that a butcher's boat.left Noumea for the convict prison' on He ,'Nou; and having arrived there, and the beef store to see the meat weighed, leaving three or four Kanakas in the boat. Suddenly, seven convicts rushed down into the boat and threw the Kanakas overboard, and were making off, in the boat, when, an alarm being raised,' the gensd'armes rushed down and poured a volley . from their rifles into' the boat, lolling two of ''the' convicts arid dangerously wounding an- " other. The other men then capitulated, and were removed back ,to prison.