THE COST OF JUBILATION. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Auckland, July 20.

Otago Witness, Issue 2265, 29 July 1897, Page 9

THE COST OF JUBILATION. (From Our Own Correspondent. ) Auckland, July 20.

An old pensioner named Cornelinson Coffey, who was formerly a soldier in the 65th Regiment, experienced a bad quarter of an hour at the hands of the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Coffey, who hails from the Emerald Isle, and is 76 yean of age and possessed of a mellifluous brogue, appeared before ' the board with an air of becoming meekness in order to a«k for readmitfcance to the Costley Home for Old People, of which he has been an inmate for some time past. It appeared that the old man, who has an Imperial pension of 8d per dxy, had been in the habit of leaving whenever pension day drew near, and of having a " jubilee," which only ended when his money was gone, and $hen he returned once more to the home. The chairman of the board said this had' occurred about nine times, and Coffey was a "hard case." The ancient pen•sioner bowed in a subdued manner as he met the horror-stricken gaze of the board members, and Mr Lennox ejaculated sorrowfully, •' Ob, Coffey ! Coffey !" When the old man said he wanted to get back to the home, the chairman asked him where the pension was which he drew this month. Coffey shook his head and said vaguely, " The Lord only knows, gentlemen; I haven't got any of it." Mr jLennox put in sympathetically, "It was her Majesty's Jubilee, was it not, Coffey ?" To which the veteran replied, "Yes, sir; it was." The chairman said Coffey would not give the board any of his pension for maintenance, but spent it all as soon as he drew it. Several members lectured Coffey severely on "his iniquity, and proposed to refuse his readmittance, but Mr Lennox made an appeal on the pensioner's behalf, and asked the board to give him "t>ne more chance, especially as it was at the time of the Jubilee when prisoners had been released from gaol on account of the Royal celebrations. He proposed that the ancient delinquent should be admitted to the home on condition that he tinned no more, but" that he should be allowed no tobacco for a montb, and that h« should not lie allowed to leave the home for three monthi. Mr .Bollard also said that Coffey had been a "very bad boy," but they should give ,him another chance. The majority of the board, however, were , adamant, and it was decided not to readmit Coffey to the home. It was stated, however, that an application for rations for him would be considered at the usual time.