A PERMANENT HEALTH CAMP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 6

A PERMANENT HEALTH CAMP

y’Hi< announcement made on Saturday evening at the Rotary

banquet, that one Rotarian had purchased a tract of twenty acres near Castlecliff for the purpose of establishing a permanent health camp for the children of the Wanganui district, will be welcome news indeed to this community. The gift is a generous one, and the purpose in view a desirable one, and the method by which it is sought to gain the end is a proved one. The initial work of the late Mr Lethbridge in fostering the. health camp movement should never be forgotten, and in this movement it would be appropriate if the name of that benefactor of the children could in some way be perpetuated for all time; for without Mr Lethbridge’s initiatory effort if would never have attained the momentum it now possesses. Dr. Elizabeth Gunn has certainly proved the value of health camps for the children, and for her to return to New Zealand with the knowledge that the health camp will henceforth be a permanent institution will indeed be an encouragement for her to continue in her work with increased zeal. It is a singular but significant fact that Dr. Gunn’s health camp activities overshadow, in the public estimate, all her - other professional duties. The public benefactor, who bestows his valuable gift of land at Castleelift’ through the agency of Rotary, has indeed made a benefaction which will be deeply appreciated by the general public of the district; his conduct will aet as an example to other people to consider in how they can aid the community of which they are members. People appreciate that .Fortune is fickle, bestowing and withholding -with equal uncertainty. A A man may, and sometimes does, make a fortune by reason of some qualities of his own; but, chance or good luck have much to do with what is called success. In his Biography, Lord Haldane relates the following

“A distinguished living statesman and man of the world once asked me whether, even with the aid of such knowledge as experience had brought, I would like to try to begin life anew. My answer was in the negative. ‘For,’ I added, ‘we are apt greatly to under-rate the part which accident and good luck has already played in the shaping of our careers and in giving us such success as we have had.’ His rejoined was to the same effect as my answer to his question. ‘I would not,’ he said, ‘myself try again, for I do not feel sure that good fortune, irrational as it has been, would attend me in the Same way.’ ” Such views expressed by an able advocate whose professional income reached £20,000 a year, should make men of lesser achievements review their own estimates of themselves and their accomplishments. Public benefactions are an acknowledgement of the contribution of the community’s part in the success which attends a man’s efforts. Benefactions denote rather a modesty of self-stimate than a proclamation of selfimportance. The incoming president of Wanganui Rotary appealed to the Rotarians of the district to make the health camp their especial concern, and his appeal brought forth an immediate response. The success of the permanent health camp will be regarded now as an assured faet. Wanganui Rotary has assuredly placed itself on the map. Long may the movement prosper: may, also, the example in public benefaction so set be soon followed by like generosity in others.