HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 189, 20 August 1901, Page 2

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD.

TnE Hospital and Charitable Aid Board met on Monday. Present: Messrs. Corkill (chairman), Wilkinson, Liardet, Sutton, Lopper, and Stohr, Oa the question of confirming the minutes Mr. Sutton asked if the salary of the senior nurse at Hawera had not he l n raised to £is. He uoderjtrod that this hsd bien arranged and hestu<»6sted that the clerk should pay the bdy in quostion the difference betwt ui. .£4O and £45.

The Chairman Baid be thought the best course would be for Mr, Sutton to give notice of motion to increase the heid nurse's salary at Hawera to <£4s, the increase to be respective. Mr. Sutton agreed to this course, and gave notice of motion accordingly. Mr. Wilkinson inquired whether the Henui refuge was still us?d by the old men. He thought that in the interest of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood the building should not be inhabited by a class of men who were a nuisance to the residents. The Chairman said the inmates were removed to the new home, but it was uot desirable to leave the building untenanted and have the windows smashed. The minutes were then confirmed. The Hawera House Committee's report was read. It stated the Hospital r of was in the same deplorable sta e of leikage, which could not be located. Mr. SuttoD in moving the adoption of the report drew a'ten tion to a case in which the wife of an applicant for cbarit ble aid had a, smalt property, but urged that an allowance should be ncrde.

The Chairman stated that the Bord could o; ly afford relief on having tha] amount charged on the wife's prop. rty. A discussion endued in which Mr. Stohr pointed out that pos'ibly the proi er'y was fully charged, aud Mr, Wilki son, while recogni.-irig the princ p'e ll f pro f( c 11'■ o ratepayers, urged that a case c.il!ir.g for urgent relief should bd attended ti. The police reported that the man fcad always been a sober, industrious man, whose health was broken, down and that the case wss a very de-' serving one. Prom tbe correspondence read it appeared that wife refused to consent to a lien on her property. Mr. Wilkinson said it was hnrd when a woman w->s k«eping a roof over

•he head of herself and husband and wss binvd from obtaihing n iiof. It wss eventually resolved that the committee's report be adopted. The Chairmin seated th»t the New Plymouth House Committee" had no written report but had had several meetings. The old men had been placed in the new rsfuge, but that morning the caretaker had- announced that a man named Burrow, from Eltham, had caused trouble. He s'a'ed Hiat tho man had b en supplied wi'-h----beading, etc,, but that the m-.n was hnlf-witted when it suited bis purpose. Asa pillow-slip to this man's bed bad disappeared tho. inference was thai; it had ?one in an unauthorised direction. I With Whence to the final payment on account of tbe buildiDg there were sime sanitary appliances which had cot yet arrived from Scotland, and the architect proposed that £IOO should be held over. He pointed out further that there was a need for the provision of suitable access to the kitchen and scullery from outside the building. Ai discussion ensued, when some of the members complained o - ' this requirement not having been included in the original p'an. The Chairman said th« p'ans were evolved from several grtab brains, the architec', three doctor?, and three members of the boird having a hand ie tin matter.

Mr. Lepper remarked that to far as the board was concerned the "great' oiiud " was the chairman's.

It was decided to inspect the building later in the day befoie deciding on the matter. Mr. Lepper ssked if the o'd men were only receiving ha'f-a-pound of buttar per week, and urged that the quantity be increased to a pound, Mr. Liardet seconded. The Chairman strongly protested. He said the man had already a liberal diet. This was an old-stauding matter with Mr. Lepp°r, The butt tr given out was often allowed to get rank through not being us:d, Mr. Stohr mentioned that on a recent visit with Mr, Lepper th>y found that 4|lbs of meat was all that had been cooked for 20 men. He said the men jealously guarded their allowance of butter, sometimes hiding it in their bedding. Mr. Liardet was averse to iedividuil ration?, and advocated the bread bting buttered by the cook. The Chairman stated that at a great many bouses in New Plymouth the allowance of butter did not run to half a pound. Eventually the original motion was withdrawn, and on the motion of Mr. L'ardet it was decided that the bri ad be cut and buttered for the men, it be'ng understood that the allowance was not to be limited to half a pound pjr head. Several chuitible aid cases were dealt with. An application for reduction of hospital charges in tl.e case of J. Reading, Normanby, was read.-Oa the mo ion of Mr. Sut on the charge was reduced t1 15s a week, ' Thomas Hargraves applied to have his six children boarded out, as they we»e unmanageable. The Chairman s'ated applictnt wts an able-bodi d rnaD, The clerk reported that the magistrate had been applied to with a view to commit the children to an industrial school, but he lmd decliued to make the order. The matter was left in the bands of the chairman. Leave of absence was granted to

Messrs Mackay, McCullum and Olliver, Applications. were received irom Gertrude D ivies, Kata Murphy, and Clara Heffernan. The names of the two former were ordered to bo placid on the probationers' list, and the latter was to b« informed that a doctor's certificate must be sent.

The South Canterbury Board wro'e relative to co-operating with them io urging the Government to provide means of treating cases of consumption.—Agrsad to.

A circul ii' from the Waikato Board was read urging co-opjration in securing an amendment of the Charitable Aid Ajt, especially in regard to section 74, Tbe alterations proposed were (1) a better definition of the word " settlement," and (2) that the right to recover from another Board for tlw mafntenance of a pauper who had come from an outside district should bo -übjoct to (a) the Board at once returning the paupers to tboir own dtrrricts unless electing to pay for their maintenance; (b) in the case of hoapi-1 tal treatment the Board receiving the [p.itient to take no risk except in cases of emergency, when 'the relieving | Board bhould at onca notify the other 1

Board; (c) in all ca<es of charitable relief the relieving Board to show it has exhausted the means of the person before claming on the other Board. —Agreed to. Several applications for remission of hospital fess were declined. Th'i Public Trustee notified that .£l3 12. 7J on account of the legacy of P. Ourcjr.in was ready to be paid over. The r-signa ion of Mr. Coulter, gardener at Hawera Hospital, was acceptrd. The Napier Board fent in a claim for over £8 for sending a 'family back! to Stratfor d. The question of relieving the same family waa discussed, and the case was left in Mr. Liaidtt's hands to deal with. An extension of a month was granted to the Bye-laws Csmmittee wherein to bting up its report. Accounts amounting to £BOB lis 8d were passed. The Board then adjourned.