HOSPITAL SATURDAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 29

HOSPITAL SATURDAY.

♦ >'. ANOTHER SPLENDID RESULT. SOME INCIDENTS OF THE DAY. . A collection Box manipulated by a pretty Kroman ia said to be a more persuasive Weapon than a highwayman's pistol, and on Saturday residents of Dunedin^ had ample opportunity of judging of the truth of this adage. Hospital Saturday, it» inception, tod splendid objective are too well and •widely known to need further description here, and its annual appeal to the pocket of the publio has come to be regarded as an event in the calendar. As early as 7 a.m. a battalion of ladies numbering 350, Rearing red-cross badges and armed with collection boxes, had, under the generalship of Mr E. D. Grace, taken up strategical positions throughout the city. There were outposts, pickets",, and supports with the main body in position at the Post Office. Sentries -frere posted at each corner, and it coon be•same apparent that with such masterly dispositions mot one of the " enemy >r could enter or leave the hub of the city without being called/ upon to stand and deliver. Between eight and nine only a few skirmishes took place; mere affairs of outposts and threepenny bits ; but soon after that brigades of business men formed up in the suburbs and entered the city in force. Knowing the folly of a frontal attack many of these changed direction right or left, and avoided the outposts by turning down by-ways and unfrequented thoroughfares. Shortly before 10' a determined attempt was made to enter tiie Exchange Buildings by a wide flanking movement. This was discovered in time by the red-oross brigade, wh'ch, after a few determined charges, succeeded* in .taking many $>risoners and putting, the- remainder to flight. A fierce battle raged throughout the day at the Poet Office, which, having only one entrance, greatly simplified tactics. The ladies gave or accepted no quarter, and hour after hour could be heard the rattle of collected coin. The light cavalry of the public was represented by cyclists, who with bent bodies and set faces attempted to scorch past the sentries. Princes street on Saturday does not lend itself to scorching, and blocked by the traffic, the <11-fated riders would find their machine -handles seized by 'small but determined-- hands, and a collection box ■rattling its contents threateningly beneath their noses. The only branch that may be said to have scored systematically were the people iv motor-cars. • The red-cross sentries were thickest in George nnd Princes 6treets, and many of the publio soon became awvure of the fact. Unfrequented streets soon filled, and it was quite curious to note how fashionable they bad suddenly become. To a Dunedin man a sixpence is a sixpence, but on the other band he hates to be thought ungenerous by a lady -who is not either his wife or his sister; and when this kdy descends from her everyday pedestal of aloofness to outbeg the most unfortunate mendicant at a street corner, in a good cause, for 12 weary flours, his. conscience asks him what he is going to do about it. He is, however, not only asked to give to one but to a hundred, on his way to his office, and he runs the same gauntlet on his return. He has therefor three alternatives: to sneak round a back street, to harden his heart and look neither to Tight nor left, or to surrender at ■'discretion, and, changing his gold into silver, to give cheerfully, and to console himself with' the reflection that it is in a good cause. Many people who took to the back streets on Saturday were surprised at the number of friends theTe they had never expected to see. Each knew the others were there in subterfuge, when they by rights should bo in Princes street pouring coin into the collection boxes. Those who did not pretend that their acquaintances were invisible bowed distantly and ashamedly after the manner of co-culprits, and altogether formed an interesting and edifying study. The majority of residents, however, gave gladly and with discretion, though from interviews with the lady collectors it would appear that money was much harder to get than last year. It is unromantio, but nevertheless true, that a man's generosity is affected by various things. When the sun ■Junes in a sky of pellucid blue and the summer zephyr whimpers drowsily amid the foliage in the Octagon, people think the millennium has arrived, and open their hearts and purses; but Saturday somehow was suggestive of that rainy day that we are all told to lay by for; the consequenco being that when the multitude were invited prettily to contribute many straightway began to make excuses. For a knowledge of these excuses we are indebted to the narratives of the ladies aforesaid, who after their experience of Saturday in connection with purses left at home "gave my last cent to the girl lower down," "saving up to get marrried," "a wife and 20 starving- children at home," etc., etc., might be expected to concur in the assertion, made to the effect that all men are liars. The novelty of begging by the wayside soon wears off, and some of these heroines vf'ere at it from 7 in the morning rill 9 at night. A few were relieved for an hour or two in the. afternoon for a rest, and others managed to get away to snatch a hurried meal v eomewhere. Dr Batchelor, with his usual thoughtfulness, placed his rooms in Stuart street at the disposal of the ladies for afternoon tea, and those who understand ladies, and, incidentally, tea, will feel how Dr Batchelor's kindness must have been appreciated. In addition to pickets and patrols were the visiting rounds; this duty being performed by prominent citizens in divisions, who from time, to time went round collect-

ing boxes heavy with coin, and distributing empty ones. The collectors naturally had their little adventures, as they had all sorts and conditions of men to deal with. Good young men who had never spoken to a girl in the streets before, when they found themselves addre&sed by a damsel with a smile, cither bolted in a panic or eke dropped a coin shakily into her box with a blush. Then there was the audacious youth, with hat tilted at a defiant angle, the immaculate frock-coated person, and the boisterouslyaffectionate youth, who dropped in his contributions with gargantuan hilarity. An old woman from the Benevolent, stirred with the scene, rushed up to a lady collector, and confident of having found a sympathetic: listener, seized her by the wrist and poured into her ear the story of her life and ailments, which included the interment of two husbands and chronic- rheumatism and influenza. Unfortunately, the adventiires of these self-sacrificing ladies were not all of a mildly humourous nature, and one was the recipient of such a blackguardly insult as to cause Dunedin to blush for numbering the perpetrator among its residents. It was. in the morning, and a lady by the City Hotel held out her box to an individual with a polite entreaty to put something in it for the Hospital. "I will," he said; and with that he deliberately spat into it, adding, "That's how I'd treat them all if I had my way." Deeply offended the kdy stepped forward and threatened to report him to the policeman at "the corner, whereupon he humbled himself, and wiped his saliva off her -box-lid with his pocket-handkerphief. The majority of incidents were for the credit of Dunedin far more savoury and refreshing, and the spirit that really, actuated the public throughout the day may be illustrated by the, case of a little boy. He was a hardworking' little- chap, and though so absurdly young had 1 people " depending " on him. Saturday was his night out to spend the sum, small lflte himself, set aside for dissipation. He was wandering along rather dieconsfate in the evening, and when asked in jest what he had donated to the Hospital Fund replied: "I gave 'em a brown; all I'd got ; but " (after a pause) " I ain't sorry." Surely his gift might almost rank with the widow's mite. Soon he discovered the pictures thrown on a sheet in the Octagon, and apparently he found Jiis reward. In the evening an air of gaiety was lent to the proceedings by pipes and drums at the monument, and a bend at the Octagon. The St. John's Ambnlanef was repsescnted by a large sheet, and many responded to the written and spoken invitation to have a shot with a shilling. The series of pictures thrown on the screen adjacent, judging by the admiring orowd, proved entertaining. Ladies at the outskirts gave up their boxes at about 8 o'olook, and went home tired out, but many kept plying their boxes busily near' the Post Office till ;past nine. Hospital Saturday is yet another instance of the wonderful practice sympathy shown by woman towards the sick and suffering, either in the wars of nations or in the battle of life, who without her go uncared for to death. Here are two pictures: men sobbing out their life blood^" tormented with thirst in th« barren and stricken places of the earth ; no gentle touch as^ihe soul slips its cable; no woman' present to care; and the distant thunder of artillery their only requiem. Men dying of disease in the dust of a line of march ; flies covering their faces and blisted lips. That is war without woman. With her comes* a change. As the spirit leaves the battered body the trooper in the "sister" sees a vision of home ere he departs. Wounds are cleansed and healed, and the man in his agony and delirium is soothed and tended. The sick no longer scorch by day .and shudder in the . dews of night ; and as the woman with the red cross goes by it is no exaggeration to say that some of her patients could worship her shadow that falls on them. It is the same spirit of unflinching womanhood that bears the red cross along the crimson path where steel and bullets are reaping that stands hour after hours begging in the streets of Dunedin on behalf of suffering. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. . Mr S. Solomon, K.C. (president), Mr G. C. Israel (vice-president), Mr E. D. Grace (hon. secretary), Mr C. J. Ronaldson (hon. treasurer), Mesdames Sale, H. Driver, A. G. Fenwiok, Miss Fraser, Dr Will, Messrs C R. Smith, C. Speight, D. H. Hastings, E. A. Tapper, W. L. Logic, J. Loudon, R. Farrant, J. E. Bone, Mayor of Port Chalmers, and suburban mayors. COMMITTEE FOR THE DAT. The Working Committee for the day was composed of members of the Executive, who were assisted by Messrs F. Cumming, F. V. Blandford, T. J. M'Kerrow, and the Rev. V. King. The members of the Working Committee waited upon the lady collectors to collect and bank the takings and generally supervise the collection. THE BAROMETER. At half-past 10, when the first count was made, £205 19s 94d had been collected; at half-past 1 an aditional sum of £96 7s l£d was banked ; and by 9 p.m. £292 12s 4id more had been handed in, making a total of £585. To this have to be added some amounts from other 'sources, which bring the total to about £720, or £100 below last year's collection. HOW THE COLLECTION WAS MADE UP. The collection in the city was made up as follows: — Half -pennies, 4898; pennies, 22,081; threepenny pieces, 11,824; sixpences, 4785; shillings, 2242; florins, 285; half-crowns, 237; half-sovereigns, 23; sovereigns, 21; pound-notes, 10; cheques, stamps, etc., £8 4s 7d. PREVIOUS COLLECTIONS. Amount collected in aid of Hospital extension in 1905, £700 : amount collected in aid of Hospital Saturday in 1906, £848 3s Id ; amount .collected in aid of Hospital Saturday in 1,907, £720. COLLECTIONS E* THE CITY. The following are the details of the collections in the city throughout the day: — Manor place and Princes street, Walker street, and Stafford street. — Mrs Kirkpatrick, 1 £10 17s. Assistants : Misses J. Falconer, C. Monson, L. Kirkpatrick, M. Falconer, A. Falconer, Sawtell, J. M'lnnes, Heatley' and Gordon. Manse street ' corner.— Mrs James Beadle. £21 6s Bd. Assistants: Miss E. Beadle, i Sister Eleanor, Mrs R. .E. Brown, Mrs Withers, Misses Le Brun,' Sutherland, Amy Don, Brown, Dugdala, Paulia. Post Office and Trams (one side) and BriScoe's corner. — Mrs Withers, £24 15s lid. 1 Assistants: Misses Withers, Irwin, W. Sped- » din*. V. Willrin, M'Pherson, Harty, P. Laing,

T J. Nicolson, V. M'Master, G. Stathsm, dare Neill, Ussher, WateTs, P. Waters, Tame, and J. Thomson. 1 Stock Exchange. — Mra H. Driver and Mra . ' A. G-. Fenwick ; £34 7s Bd. Assistants: Ml 3 Cheesem&n, Misses Haggitt (2), Barren (2), ■ Macdonald, G. Webster, K. Burnett, C. Burnett, D. Hamilton, Royse, .Davidson. Macassey, Maclean, Monson, Crow, J. Gow, Holmes. - I Jacobs' s corner. — Mrs Sale and Mrs To a- • chizxx, £2e 14s Si -A.s«rf**irts ; Mrs. E. C. j Reynolds, Mrs P. Marshall, Misses. Joachim, ' Sale, Ulrich, Buisk, Chapman, Allen, Wimperis, E. Wimperis, Mrs F. J. Stilling, Mrs Colquhoun, Mrs Martin, Miss Martin, Miss E. Jones, Mrs Theomin, Misses Mowat, ■ Hutchison, M. Hutchison, *M aodonakL Neave, , Jacobs, Fergus, Ramsay, Mackerras, L. Mackerras, Sinclair., Carew, F. Sinclair, Theomin, ■ Batchelor, JFwquhar, Dowling, Kempthorre, L. Roberts. M. M'Kellar. Mrs Guilder. Miss Ackroyd, Mrs Johnston Brown, Miss Wilson, ' Mrs Israel, Mrs O'Neill. I Grand Hotel Corner. — Mts E. A. %%pper, ' £32 14s 9d. Assistants: Mrs T. J. 2*s»Ber, Misses Tapper, M. Tapper, Inglm, Jf»"op, Borrie, Wiflcie, Macdonald, H. *6j*£ *U, Thompson. Ross, W. Maclean, M'Georg*, Sinclair, Haslett, Davidson, Mirame, James, Rita Morrison, Smxon Smith, Sbiela M'Leod. , Government Life Insurance Corner. — Miss . Hooper, £28 3s Bd. Assistants: 1 Mr Smith, ! Mrs Mertcalf, Misses Hopcraft, Budd, Alexander, Reynolds, M. Hooper, Purvis, Williams, Low, Waters, Dippie. Mills, Gray, Black, Begg (2). Lunn, Pound, Hercus. Bank of N«w Zealand Corner. — Mrs W. Forrester, £17 19s 2d. Assistants: -'Mrs J. Wilkinson, Mtb R> Moen, Mis»e9 Andrew, Olive Mercer, Connell, Watson, Jessie- Mercer, I. Nicolson, Muriel Forrester. New Zealand Insurance Company's Comer — Miss James, £20 10s lOd. Assistants : Misses Mill, R. Braike, Ferguson, E. James, Harrison, M. Spraggon, J. Fish. Railway Station.— Mrs Capstick, £25 la 9d. Assistants : Mrs Cra.wley, -Misses E. Bennett. N. Bennett, Mary Morrison, Watson, Whinam, Mitchell, Maggie Morrison, Gooch. Smart. Stewart Dawson'a Corner.— Miese® Laing, £17 OsJLOd. Assistants: Mrs Durrand, Misses Scolon, Park (2), Clara Low, Sawell, Paterson, Mrs Lochhead, M&psrs Edmund Smith, Archd. Paterson. J. Dunlop. A.M.P. Buildings Corner.— Mis LeCren, £8 14s Id. Assistants : Misses Power, Hazlett, H. Hazlett. LeCren. Cecil Stock. Area a© Corner. — Mrs Louis Morris aDd Miss Cohen, £21 7s lid. Assistants: Misses Gladys James. Maud Pinel, Is* Hughes, Alice Smith. Davey. Searle and Eberhardi's Corner.— Mrs Will and Mrs Bone, £38 10s --Id. Assistants: Misa Will, Mrs Heatley, Miss Dorothy Will. Miss -Henderson, Miss* Macfie, Mm Elliott. Miss Dmwe, Nurse H«y, Nurse Barclay, Misses Barclay, Christie, H. Christie, Bone, Crow, E. Shand, Magnus, Orkney. New Zealand Clothing Company's CornerHospital Nurses, £31 7s. Assistants: Misa Fraser, Miss Veitch. Sisters Nixoji. Young, Grave, Lindsay, Nurses Brent. Thomson, Diack, Huie, Smaill; Grant, Stronach., Torrance, Womersley, Ha-jdr Jeffrey, Cook, Moore, Woodward, Guffie, White. Douglas Hotel Corner.— Mrs E. J. Reeves, £12 Is sd. Assistants: Misees Harraway, J. H*riaway, B. Campbell, S. Campbell, M. M K Lean, Wylie, Carnie, •C. M'Donald, U. M'Donald. „ St. Andrew Street Corner.— Sister Evelyn, £2l 14s. Assistants': Sisters Alice, Laura, Mary, Mabel, Olive, Elinor, May. Marie. Mra Axelson, Mre Gordon. Misseß Gordon, Talboys, Torrance. Scorgie, Stevenson, Simpson (2), White, E. Keam, Wright, Boardman, Nurse M'Kinnon. . Elder's Corner and Bank of New Zealand, North Dunedin.— Salvation Army, £22 8» sd. Assistants: Captain Anderson, Captain Newton, Misae*-- Pellowe, Wilkinson, Scott, Fensome, Mundell, Warwood, Williamson. Scoullar and Chisholm's Corner.— Mr* Js Loudon. £21 17a lid. Assistants: Misses C, Lorie, Albert. E. Lorie, M. Lorie, Jones, F. J. Ross, D. Blown, N. G. Loudom, Coombs. OTHER COLLECTIONS. Special collections (included ingTand total) : Otsgo .Rugby Union, £5 ss; Union Steam Ship Company, £6 Bs;/Reid and Gray, £5; employees Burnside -Freezing Works, 15s; Christie's coal mine, Abbotsford, £3; employees Burnside Acid Works, £3 7s 6d; employees Jubilee Coal Company, 19s; Sargood's employees. £1 11s ; Burnside and <*reen Island (per Mrs Reeve 9 and Miss Harraway), £12 23 9d: Kempthorne. Prosser's Factory, £1 4s 6d; Farra, Bros. 1 Factory, .£1 €s; VTa-ttersall's Hotel (collected by Dorothy Peters), £1 6s Id; Wain's Hotel (Miss Watson), £1 18s lid; Crown Hotel (Misses Tubman, Lawson, and Curran), £5 17s 4d; Grand Hotel (Misses Munroe, Meyers, and Gaswell), £3 18s 2Jd: Provincial Hotel (Misses Haydon and Naismith), £5 17s 4d; Excelsior Hotel (Misses Boyd and Davidson), £6 Is sd; collected at Portobello. by Port Chalmers ladies, £9; ! Princess Theatre, £3 7s sd. The St. John Ambulance Brigade collected £6 8s Hid inrthe Octagon. The Hospital patients subscribed £5. THE SUBURBS. The results from the suburbs, as far as could be ascertained on Saturday evening, were as fdllow : — St. Kilda, £25 5s Bd. South Dunedin, £87 3» Id. Mornington, £18, «nd one collecting box to come in. Burnside, £12 4s 9d. Caversham, £23 6s Id. RosJyn, £10 15s 3d. Ravanebourne, £2 10s. Port Chalmers, £52 13s lid. The collectors in South Dunedin were stationed as under: — Anderson's Bay Road.— Mrs D. Harris Hastings, Misses Hustings, A. Hastings, F. Hastings, A. Carson, E. Carson, F. Bevin, Chapman, M. Chapman, Gilchrist. Helena Street.— Mrs T. B. Leyland, Mr? Sudden, Misses Blackie, Leyland, W. Chetwin. Sudden. Hayes's Corner. — Misses Peterson, Passmore, B. Peterson, L. Passmore, M. Mitchell, M. Matthews. Ogg's Corner. — Mrs Donovan, Ensign Robertson, Mrs M'Cullogh, Misses I. Lome. J. R. Lamb, M. A. Miller, R. Rose, Mrs P. Dwight, Mrs B. M'Lean, Mrs M'Gill. Oggs' Corner (No. 2).— Mrs' J. Ansell, Misa Manell Misses Holley, Mrs Pauiin. Macandrew Road.— Mrs M. G. Thomson, Miss Damson. Mrs A. T. Murray, Mies Roberts, Mrs R. Smith. s. Names of collectors at Caversham, organised by Messrs R. W. Rutherford, Day, and Dempster: — Miss Doull, Miss Williams, Mrs B Stubba. Mrs C. Adliing, Miss Wragge (2). Miss D. Thorn, "little Miss Wettlake, ' Mrs Jago, Mrs C. Frye. Misses A. Frye, M. Frye, Stewart, Bardswell. Crossan. Cook, Berwick (2), Mrs Hannah, Mra Rutherford. Miss Rutherford, Miss Basket, Mrs R. Banning, Miss Annand, Miss M'Kersey, Mr Thorn. Moxnington collectors : — Mesdames Davidson, J. C. Stephens. Balmer, Misees Balmer Ada Taylor, Duke, Payne, Phyllis Stephens, Mr Parry, Master LeCren. Mi H. A. LeCien CM«yor) "supervised th«. collection.

PORT CHALMERS. The residents of Port Chalmers evinced praiseworthy interest in the HospitU Saturday collection, and^the ladies entrusted with the collecting arrangements are to be congratulated upon the success which attended their efforts. The Mayor (Mr I. Stevenson) ,and Dr Borrie were indefatigable in assisting in tie good work, and contributed -in no small degree towards ensuring its success in JPox-fc Chalmers &~ncl tH^ 3o\itrx~^«Q cling* -clis— trict. In the "evening the Port Chalmers Braes Band gave an open-air conoert in the square, under the conductorship of Bandmaster Sbhnaok, and attracted a large audience. The Mayor desires specially to tharfc the lady collectors and helpers in the various districts and all who contributed; in response to their winsome appeals. Messrs Lunn and Lee kindly made some additional collecting boxes, and Mr P. Stewart (hon. treasurer) and Mr A. Leek (hon. secretary) supervised the financial results, which are as follow.: — Dock Gates. — Misses Sharpe. Jessie Cook, Wylie, and De Maus (£8 17s 10d). Mechanics' Institute.— Mrs W. Mitchell. Misses Menlaus, Bott, Borrie, and J. Stephens (£8 4s 6Jd). Corner of Magnetic and Bernicia Streets. — Misses Murray and Isabella Watson (£2 63 8d). Masonic Hall. — Misses Stevenson (2), Bauchop, Gray, and Paton (£5 3s Id). Municipal Buildings. — Mesdames Cunnmghame, Cook, De Maus, Misses M'Callum, Allen, Platts, Pickard (£9 9s lid). Sawyers' Bay. — Misses M. Davidson, Jacfc, Marion Rae, and E! Brown (£5 9s Bjd). Carey's Bay.— Misses Collier and Great (£3 7s Id). . Portobell©.— Misses Ridley (g), Durliioi, Buns^, and Nelson (£9 16s Id). • Totfi, £62 13s l|d. RAVENSBOURNE. Owing to the fact that most of the adult population of Ravensbouarne are at business in the city, the residents of this seaside suburb had to run; the gauntlet of the town collectors early in the morning, nevertheless Mrs George H. Hicks and hex- assistants, (Mies Linda Maodonald, Master Peter Hutton and Master Wendell Hicke) helped in the good work by collecting £2 12s during the day, 16s being collected at the railway station, and the remainder being the result of a- house-to-house canvass. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The assistance rendered by various friends was generous in the extreme. The committee expresses its indebtedness to the army ,of lady collectors, to • the providers of refreshments, to the Tramways Committee for free transit for collectors, to the city electrical engineer for lighting at the Octagon, to Messrs Cooke, Howlison, and Co. and the D.I.C. for use of .motor car and driver, to Mr James Jeffs for use of horse and gig, to Mr Maxwell (registrar of electors) for use' of boxes, to the lenders of chairs and 'tables, and to other helpers too numerous to mention but none the less helpful and appreciated ; to Mr Duncan (the railway station master) and his staff, whose courtesy and attention were of v.cry. great assistance; to Mr C. J. Ronaldson (of the National Bank), wh*, assisted by Messrs Tewsley, M'Callum; Bennell, Gordon, jun., ' Spedding, Turnbull, Taylor, Cantrel', Morey, Neale, Mazengarb, Hamilton, Davidson, Beck, Haslett, and Downs, who received, counted, and recorded th« collections; to the Dunedin Garrison and Dunedin Pipe Bands for their music on Saturday night; to the St. John Ambulance. Brigade, who collected within the Octagon enclosures at night; and to the press for the space it has so liberally given to Bhow its interest in and further the association's work. Refreshments were received from: — City. — Mrs Closs, Mrst Israel, Dr Batchelor, Waratah Tea Horns, Meesrs Helmkey, Kroon, Brown, MAdam, Bewley, City Hotel, Railway Refreshment Rooms, Kia-Ora Tea. Rooms', Continental Cafe, Haeremai Tea Rooms. Mies Reynolds/ Messrs Searle and-Eberhardt, Wood,. Gardham, Hopkins, Mrs Wright. South Dunedin. — Mesdames Blaney and Heffernan, Messrs Stenhouse, Croeean, Puddy, Bruce,, and Duckworth. GENERAL NOTES, Mr Inglis (Mayor of Mo6giel) advised that, in response to a public meeting! it was decided to follow their last year's plan, when a collection was mode after the holidays, resulting in over £20 being added to the total collected. The proportion of the collection which is donated to the Hospital carries a subsidy from the Consolidated Fund of 24s for every pound. Then the Government has again promised to subsidise the remainder by £200. This is divided among the St. John Ambulance Association, the Patients and Prisoners' Aid Society, and the Victoria Convalescent Fund. A pretty incident is narrated by one of the. Sisters of the Church. Two or three little children put their contributions into one of the boxes, and with full hearts but empty purees went home again. There they filled in their time for a while by making floral button-holes, which they sold on the street, and thus further augmented the collections. To show how the efforts of the association are appreciated it may be stated that a working man gave" £1 to Mies Fraeer, matron of the Hospital, who was, with her nurses, at the Octaron. The donor said he wanted to show in some measure how he valued the attention and care of the nurses . bestowed upon bis son, who is a patient in the Hospital.