SPIRIT OF GOODWILL.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 954, 26 December 1933, Page 8

SPIRIT OF GOODWILL.

Christmas in the Public Institutions. GIFTS FOR PRISONERS. The spirit of goodwill entered all the public homes and institutions on Christmas Day, and the inmates had good cause to know that the outside world had not forgotten them. True to its motto, “ Service,” the Christchurch Rotary Club, besides tending for needy families in the city, did not forget the hundreds of orphans at the various hom:s. Each orphaned boy or girl received an envelope containing Christmas greetings and a ►shining shilling Nearly every institution had received gifts from wellwishers, and these kind acts prompted a great deal of gratitude. Discipline was relaxed a little at Paparua Goal, Sunday rules being observed. Yesterday, then, the prisoners were allowed to remain in the exercise yard between 9 a.m. and noon, and attended the Christmas service conducted in the assembly hall. They returned to their cells till two o’clock, and during this time Christmas dinner was served to them. After that they were allowed to remain in the yard again until four o’clock, when they were locked up again for tea. Many Gifts Received. In response to an appeal made by the Revs F. R. Rawle and J. A. Allan, Anglican and Presbyterian chaplains of the prison, a large number of gifts had arrived at Paparua to be distributed among the men. These parcels of food, tobacco, reading matter and similar articles were gratefully received. Roast pork and. plum pudding provided the Christmas dinner at the Addington Women’s Reformatory, where arrangements were in the hands of the Salvation Army. On Saturday the inmates were given a high tea, followed by an entertainment. Many gifts had been received here, too, and these were distributed. Yesterday morning an Anglican service was held at the home. To add a further note of cheerfulness, the various rooms had been gaily decorated with streamers and foliage. At the Christchurch Public Hospital the nurses and patients entered into the festive season in earnest. Following a party in the new home on Friday night there was the delightful ceremony in the children’s ward on Saturday evening—the visit of Father Christmas. Then the nurses visited the various wards, singing carols. On Sunday they decorated the wards and on Christmas morning services were held in the hospital chapel. Christmas dinner followed for patients and the staff, and in the afternoon visitors were allowed from 2 till 4 p.m. Home-Grown Dinner. The institution’s farm provided a handsome Christmas dinner at the Sunnyside Mental Hospital. Following a choral service on Sundaj' morning, presents were handed out to the inmates. The afterngon being fine, many of the patients were allowed out in picnic parties, while others stayed at the hospital for an entertainment. A number of patients were allowed to visit relatives. Christmastide at the orphanages spells happy times for the youngsters, and this year proved no exception. Upwards of seventy kiddies at St Saviour’s had the time of their lives at a big Christmas party on Saturday afternoon, this being followed by a Nativity play. As a crowning excitement, Father Christmas arrived at the home yesterday afternoon and unloaded his weighty sack. To-morrow the children will leave for a holiday at Sumner. The boys at the Presbyterian Home left on Saturday to spend a holiday at. South Brighton, so they had their Christmas dinner on Friday night, which was followed by the distribution of presents. At the Presbyterian Girls’ Home toys and other gifts were given out by Father Christmas on Saturday night. Many gifts of eatables and toys had been received from wellwishers, so what with the Christmas dinner and their presents the girls fared well indeed. Carols were sung in the morning. A Really Good Time. The girls in the Salvation Army Home in Papanui Road had a really good time this Christmas. Yesterday was heralded by a special breakfast, after which the girls attended a service at the St Albans Citadel. A Christmas dinner equal to the best, consisting of lamb, green peas, new potatoes and plum pudding, containing coins, was then served. In the afternoon visitors to the home provided an entertainment. and the girls presented songs and dialogues. For tea. something special in the way of jellies, salad and fruit was provided. There was another entertainment in the evening. The dining-room was beautifully decorated with orange and gold streamers and Iceland poppies. A special Christmas dinner and tea were provided for those at the Salvation Army Men’s Home, and yesterday morning they attended a carol service at the home. The men had already received their Christmas gifts at a function the previous Saturday, wherf the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.) and Commissioner Cunningham paid a visit. Many of the patients at the Cashmere Sanatorium were able to visit their homes for the Christmas festivities. Those who were forced to remain received extra delicacies and gifts from the Service Society and the Hospital Lady Yisitors’ Association.