RED CROSS WORK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12070, 27 July 1917, Page 8

RED CROSS WORK.

RANGIOBA. The second annual meeting of the, Rangiora- Fed Crops branch v.-as held in -the Borough Council Chambers yesteida.y niternoon. There was an attendance of over seventy, the room being crowded. A Inrsrf and comprehensive display of work "'.is m a rip, and w.a« inspec-iec! with much interest. Tho Mayor (Mr (.'. T. Jennings) . t.-ccupied the chair.' and in opening tho martin?: far! 1 hhi Die, attendance being much larger than nt lont v?sr's meetinc must b* taken to indicate that interest in Red Cross work had increaped in a most gratifying manner. Tho annual report submitted stated that the branch had completed ihe second year of it r , existence, and the fact that -2368 articles were s">\it fonvard to the central depot, proved that although interest had at times slackened during Die year there, v.-bb still quite an appreciable amount of activity and energy among its worker.-. Money vas the first essential to n society of this kind, and the fact that the branch had had £2569 pasc ■ through its books in two year? f-poke for the liberality of the. Rangiora supporters. The handEouie. donation from the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association put the branch on a comfortable financial footing, and enabled the committee to discontinue tho monthly collection" which had been goiug on for ten rronths and realised £641 19s 3d. Appreciative, reference, was made to the generous assistance given by manv svm-pat-hisers. Tho 'report from the bsrdage department stated, that 13,534 articles had been made, and forwarded to the central depot. Special gifts had been received in the. department which were.a welcome addition to the regular work. Interesting proof that- tho branch's R-ed Cross goods wcte appreciated at the front was received by the secretary 'of the Auckland branch from a Xeboh lady, who is a worker in France. She wrote that goods from Fahiatua and Rangiora came.under her notice, and that the' flannel garments were particularly admired. During the, year a. consignment of goods, including bandages, was sent to the Eu:.«ian Red Cress.

The. depot report stared that .during the year a total number of 5561 articles had been forwarded to the central depot. In February 500 was spent in _ laying in a stock of material before prices advanced further. Perhaps thj chief feature of the depot work was the cutting out. and too much could not, be Faid in praise of those workers who gave up hours of their time in cutting out endless piles of garments for the sewers to put together. Special reference was mado to many members and organisations which bad assisted in the work. There were sixty-seven names on the home workers' roll.

The, balance-sheet, prepared by the treasurer, Mrs Will, showed that, including- a balance of £S'6 2s Id brought, forward, £1324 8a 3d had been received during the year. The main items wore :---Northern Agricultural rind Pastoral Association £639 13s 4d, monthly collections £227 17s, flower days £l2B 6s • 3d. voluntary donations £6O lis 3d, "Pinafore" entertainment £3l 12s 6d.' raffle of jewellery '£39 !}s, sale.' of sheep (Mr C. if. Elisor) £43 2s 6rl, North Canterbury Gun Clulr £l6 lis Cd, concert £3l 4s 6d and Double Hill do? trials £9 ~3s 6d. The 'expenditure,' which included purchase of material £916 4s 3d, donations to Comforts Fund' £3l 4s Cd and Cardigan Fund £2O, totalled'£97B 16s .id, leaving a. credit balance of £340 Us I<Vl. Tho Rev F. P. Fendall, in moving iho adoption of the report and Niliuirr.sheet, congratulated the members of the bra.nch on the splendid results of their year's work, nnd said that the large gathering indicated that there, would be an increased effort which the prolongation of the war demanded. Mr K. R. Good, in seconding the motion, and Mr .W. M'Gruer, in supporting it, nlso complimented the, branch on its work. The motion was then carried. Hearty votrs of thanks were passed io the president (Mrs AV. K, Barton), treasurer (Mrs "Will) and other of the executive committee for their enthusiastic services, also to Mr T. M'Gruer for acting a.s auditor. Officers were elected as follow: President, Mrs Barton; treasurer, Mrs. Will; secretory, Miss Glasgow; committee, Mesdarnes GibbsJordan, A. J. Thompson. Lane, H. -Tones, Jennings, Fendall, Micdouald, A. Hughes, and Miss Horrell; auditor, Mr W. M'Gruer. Tho chairman announced that the committee intended to organise, a- Surprise Packet Day in August. Ho also extended the committee's invitation to all Keel Cross workers to attend o. social gathering in the Oddfellows' Hall on Thursday afte'rnoon next. In concluding the meeting, the chairman emphasised the need for a. cousiderale increase iu the number of workers, especially | young people, for the bandago room.