NURSES’ MEMORIAL FUND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3619, 24 July 1923, Page 5

NURSES’ MEMORIAL FUND.

A NEGLECTED PHILANTHROPY. The sixth annual general meeting of members of the New Zealand Nurses’ Memorial lTu-nd was held at the Town Hall on the 16 th inst. The president, Dr H. Lindo Tergu soil, occupied the chair. The annual report stated, inter alia : “The year has been an uneventful one lor the fund. Public interest therein seems to have died away. Nb large donations have been received; in fact, the onty sums running into double figures are those of £4O Os 9d, contributions fro-m the Wellington Branch (received after the close of the financial year), and £IG 5s 6d and £l6 10s from the Canterbury Trained Nurses’ Association. Subscriptions, also, arc few in number. As a result, your committee have been able to add only £2OO to the invested capital, which is stiil far short of the £20,000 aimed at in our last report. On the other hand, advantage has been taken of the Government offer to convert per cent, securities, free of income tax, into 5.J per cent, stock. As the fund pays no income tax, bonds and inscribed stock to the value of £16,050 were so converted, which will increase the future income of the fund by some £l2O per annum. The remaining £3200 is invested in Post Office 5 per cent, and Soldiers’ Settlement per cent, loans. The total income from investments received last year wns about £IOOO. Applications lot help still come in. At the end of last year, March SI, 1922, there were nine annuitants on our books, and 13 at the end of this year. Another annuity has been granted since March 31, and it is difficult to see how further calls on the fund can be met. The withdrawal of the Government subsidy, as mentioned in last year’s report, necessarily threw a heavy additional burden on the fund, and, as we are officially informed that there is no probability of the subsidy being restored, your committee wish earnestly to impress on all who take an interest in the fund the urgent necessity of doing all in their power to obtain increased support, by way of donations, subscriptions, or prom orion of entertainments to raise money. The following members of the Central Committee retire in rotation, and are eligible for re-election : —l)r E. S. Manning (Christchurch), Dr .Tamos Young (Invercargill), Miss Lancaster, and Mr James Bcgg (l)unedin).. Tlie President, in moving the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet, said they had again to draw attention to the fact that they were not being supported by the public in the way of annual subscriptions as they had a right to expect. Their list of subscribers numbered 40. Nine of these were nurses and four medical men. Since the fund had been in operation they had been able to assist altogether 40 nurses, 21 of them received temporary help in the way of credit, and they knew that in the large majority of cases the assistance given was of considerable importance to them, and probably tided them over till they were able to resume their work. Of the 19 annuitants four had died. Three had recovered and resumed their work, and 12 still remained on the roll of their dependants. In this connection he might say that only the other day they lost one of their annuitants, Nurse Veitch. Nurse Veitch was for something like 20 years in the servico of the Dunedin Hospital Board. During a considerable portion of that time she acted as sub-matron. She wore herself out in the service of the board, and had it not been for this fund sKe would have been practically destitute. He quite recognised that there ought to be a retiring fund for nurses, a superannuation scheme on a large scale, but we had net got it. The only thing that nurses had to help them in that way was this little fund which they had started here as a memorial To nurses wTio died in the war. Air James Begg seconded the motion, which was carried. The retiring members of the committee named in the report were re-elected. The following officers were also re-elected. President, Dr H. Undo Ferguson; vice-presi-dents, Sir George Fenwick (Dunedin), Dr William Young (Wellington); hon. secretary, Alias H. Williams; hon. treasurer, Mr C. W. Chamberlain.

A Maori soldier who had applied to the Dannevirke branch of the Hawke’s Bay War Relief Association for temporary assistance was delightfully candid in his statement to the secretary. “I came to Darincvirke looking for work and also to go to the races to see if I could make any money, but I didn’t,” the Native told the secretary. Asked if he drank, he was equally honest, declaring that “ho did a little —■ nine pints a day.”—(Laughter.) Sure and certain—WADE’S WORM FIGS. Children like them.