GRATITUDE OR DISTRICT

Taranaki Daily News, 11 December 1930, Page 6

GRATITUDE OR DISTRICT

PLUNKET SOCIETY BENEFITS “ONE OF FINEST OF HOSPITALS.” VALUE OF CO-OPERATION URGED. Additional speeches in connection with the official opening of the various Patea buildings were made in the supper room of the Patea town hall at the conclusion of the afternoon tea. There was an attendance of about 200 people, the Mayor (Mr. F. Ramsbottom) presiding. Mrs. T. E. Roberts, president of the ( Plunket Society, voiced the appreciation of the society of the district for the help of 'the Hunter Shaw estate. Plunket work was recognised as a work of national importance and every Government and eVer-y Governor-General from Lord Plunket down had recognised this. The society had benefited more than any other institution in the land from the revenue of the Hunter Shaw estate and to Mr. Warren,- the executor’ of that estate, she extended the sincere thanks of the district’s society. On behalf of the Hospital Board the chairman, Mr. C. R. Honeyfield, said the district now had one of the , finest. of hospitals. To Mr. Warren for. the advancement of the' finance from the •Hunter Shaw estate he extended the thanks of the district. - Mr. Honeyfield also welcomed those present and expressed, pleasure at the large attendance. Mr.; A- Christensen, chairman of . the . library.’committee,-explained-,- the- will -of Mr. Shaw, who left Mr. Warren the sole administrator of the estatb and its revenue, so to Mr. Warren he extended the deep thanks of the .people. He was very proud of the . new library. Mr. Christensen expressed the hope that Mr. Warren would visit Patea in the near Juture. v.The town had every .'reason to be grateful for. the assistance .it had re-, ceived from the - Hunter <• Shaw estate, over flO,OOO being spent in Patea. On behalf of the people of Patea he thanked the Hom A. J. Stallworthy for making th© visit to Patea. - »

Speaking on behalf of Mr. Warren and Patea’s-benefactor the. late Mr. Hunter Shaw, Mr. T.: E. Roberts expressed the pleasure it afforded him to be present..

CO-OPERATION IN PATEA. Th© - Mayor thanked Mr., Stallworthy.' for. his attendance .and expressed the,hope thatthe enthusiasm, and co-opera-tion of Patea people-as evidenced during the =day‘ woqld be: enough to,Jshdw<; that ’any; appeals for Government assistance-.from-Patea' would,-have' good reasons behindJhem/ / ■ .’J ;■'(’/-■■ ; J : ' j"' In; (replying Mr. Stall worthy 'said it seemed " to; .him. .that/judging-' frofir. the evidences of co-operation he had seen nothing/could hold Patea .back.;’ . With ."regard: to; the allocation jof the, Hunter Shaw/estate revenue there could’ be no doubt as to the wisdom in supporting 1 buildings for the public of the nature. of those he had just opened. ' If there were co-operation throughout the country as he had seen in ' Patea there .could ba no' doubt of a victory over the hard times, Mr. Stallworthy said. For instance if New Zealanders would .only buy their own manufactured woollen . articles instead of spending £2,000,000 and £3,000,000 each year in importing those articles from other countries, what a difference.it would.make! ■'o thanked the Patea people for the manner, in, which he had been received. The Minister-left for Auckland by car at, the conclusion of the tea. , ' “I'honestly record my eulogy of his extreme conscientiousness and wisdom in 'the selection of the institutions and purposes of .his grants, as perfectly carrying.(put’the wishes' of. the man whose memory we honour to-day,” said the solicitor for the administration, Mr. T. E. Roberts, speaking of Mr. E. F; Warren, sole-executor of the estate of the late Mr. Hunter. Shaw, at the afternoon tea in connection with the official opening of five'Patea buildings by the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, Minister of Health, yesterday. " ‘, i . .' ,/■' ■■;/> ■ .NEARLY £lO,OOO IN PATEA. “Patea gifts,” continued Mr. Roberts, “have absorbed £B7OO. Fourteen Plunket societies throughout the Dominion(excluding Patea), have received £2400,. St. John Ambulance societies; £ll5O, various home’s for the aged £875, orphanages £1275, charitable societies for the relief of the poor £1175; hospitals (other than Patea) £575, Nurses’ Superannuation Fund' £750, prisoners’, aid societies £450, Jubilee Institute for the Blind £2OO, Girl (Guides £2OO and Seamen’s Rest £5O. The total is £17,600, and yop will observe that Patea has received half. • . ■/:../'.

' “The late Mr; Shaw and his family were Mr. Warren’s friends in tile early days of'.Wellington. Being sole executor of Mr.. Shaw’s will and empowered to distribute the residuary estate for charitable purposes, Air. Warren thought it. •fitting that ’there should.be some memo"rial of . a’ permanent character to Mr.' Shaw-’s memory in Patca, which had been’ his home, town for 60 years, and to which he -was deeply attached. “Mr. Warren’s stay in Patea during Mr. Shaw’s last illness afforded him opportunity for considering what would be the most suitable and beneficial form for such a memorial to take. In a-?ist-ing. towards the building of the children’s ward, in providing a children’s playground and other improvements in the domain and in providing the means for. the-permanent decent upkeep of the domain grounds and in erecting the memorial building to house the library and the Plunket. rooms, Mr. Warren did what he considered was due to the memory of. a worthy and honourable man and due also to. the district in which he had spent the greater part of his life and in the advancement and prosperity of which he was deeply interested. “One might have expected criticism of Mr. Warren’s choice of uses, criticism, of the .expenditure as not being charjitable. in its. narrow meaning of gifts for ■ the <pobr,”;- concluded Mr. Roberts. ■/‘Nor such criticisms ' have been heard. ;Mr. _Warren may rightly take pride in ithe;'general .appreciation of hisbeneficence- and'in-the resultant utility and beauty,”’.