NO HOMES OF THEIR OWN

Southland Times, Issue 23254, 17 July 1937, Page 8

NO HOMES OF THEIR OWN

SEVENTY PEOPLE IN INVERCARGILL APPEAL FOR MONEY FOR RADIOS There are 70 people in Invercargill who have had to forget cherished dreams of earlier years; they have lost, or never achieved, that least pretentious but most keenly sought ambition of every man and woman—a home of their own. They have one communal place of residence where as much as possible is done for their happiness; but whatever happiness they achieve must be tinged by regret that a home of their own is denied them. They are the people of the “Old Men’s Home.”

To bring some brightness into the lives of those 70 people—and 30 other bedridden patients—an appeal is to be made to the public of Invercargill, beginning on Monday, to raise funds to install radios in the Dee street infirmary, where the former inmates of Lome Farm are now living. The appeal is organized by a committee consisting of Messrs D. J. Wesney (chairman), S. G. Ward (secretary) and G. E. T. Dorman (treasurer). On Monday circulars, explaining the purpose of the appeal, will be brought by post to most homes and during the week boy scouts—who are giving their full cooperation to the cause—will distribute from house to house, pamphlets giving fuller details. The secretary has told The Southland Times that any donation, however small, will be most acceptable The names of those who give contributions of five shillings and over will be published in The Southland Times. I PROMISE TO PATIENTS | So confident are the organizers of I the scheme that it will meet with I the success they feel it deserves that they have already promised the patients in the infirmary that the new Southland hospital will not be alone in having radio equipment. And both the staff and patients are now busy convincing themselves that this optimism is justified. A reporter of The Southland Times who visited the infirmary yesterday discovered that for himself. The matron (Miss C. M. Fitzgibbon) and the nurses are just as eager as the patients that radios should be installed in the hospital. Their eagerness not spring from the fact that music will lighten the burden of their duties. It probably will not. They are anxious that the efforts they are making to cheer and make content their charges will be given impetus by that brightness which only radio can bring to such a place.

The old men and old women—it is not only the male sex which finds its way into an “Old Men’s Home”—are also keen in their anticipation of the new pleasure radio will bring into their lives Those who are bed-ridden expect long hours to brightened and those who are able to gather in sitting room or smoke room look forward to a fireside to which will be brought the form of entertainment they most desire. The same applies to the 30 other patients in the infirmary—not old people these, but people who will probably never leave their beds again. They, too, see in the promised fruits of generosity some measure of relief from days that drag wearily into nights, nights that seem reluctant to give place to day. “And it all rests with the people or Invercargill,” said Mr Ward, who had accompanied the reporter on his tour of inspection. “If they could see for themselves they would realize the cause is a worthy one.”