WAIKATO'S OLD MEN

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14798, 11 November 1921, Page 4

WAIKATO'S OLD MEN

TO GO TO MAUNGAKAWA. HOME ON A HILL TOP. BOARD COMBS TO DECISION. The male occupants of the Old People's Home at Hamilton are to be removed to the top of Maungakawa Hill, seven miles above Cambridge, to the site at present known as Te Waikato Sanatorium. This decision was come to by the Waikato Hospital Board, yesterday, on a majority vote of seven to six, without the vote of Mr Dent, a member who pleaded that on the absence of accurate data he did not feel justified in voting on so important an issue. The whole matter was recently discused by the Legal and Finance Committee, who, in turn, referred it back to the whole Board.. When the matter came before the Board, yesterday, Mr C. J. W, Barton (Hamilton) said he had been accused of battling for Hamilton, but he did not think if the old men were removed to-morrow Hamilton would shut up shop. The only thing that guided him in his opposition to the Cambridge scheme wlas that the expense of putting the old men seven miles up a hill miles away from a station, was ioo great. Some figures had now been evolved, which showed that by the removal of the old men the loss to tlie hospital would be £6OO a year in pigs, bacon, poultry and vegetables. The cost of carting from Cambridge to the Sanatorium averaged on prewar figures, £I3OO a year. The" old men would require medical attention, and the figures supplied by Mr Dickinson for attention at the Sanatorium prior to the war was £IOO a year as a retaining fee. A cook, laundress and assistant would cost £SOO a year, while . the expense of/ shifting the old men was set clown at £SO. Pumping would cost £250 for wages alone. The lighting was generated by a kerosene motor, and figures could not he accurately obtained |or this. The question of linking-up with Hora Hora had been considered, and it was found they could get one and a-half miles of line at £BOO. On top of this they would have to get an a.c. motor, at a further cost, probably, of £BOO. A gardner would be" required at, say, £2OO a year. Mr Blackman: More like £4OO. Mr Barton said he was putting the figures as low as possible, and was not embellishing them in any way. It had been suggested that a oneton motor should be secured for the /carrying work, but the speaker did not think a ton lorry would do the work. A similar lorry' in the borough cost £350 a year to run. Mr Barton added that he was quite sure when everything was boiled x down to the lowest, they would find the cost of keeping the old men at the Sanatorium would be very muct* greater than at present. Mr T. Hinton: Twice as much. The Sentimental View. Mr Barton said that apart from sll this, there was the sentimental view, and he questeioned very much whether it was the right thing to put old men on a hill top. They should have an • opportunity of seeing their, friends, and civilisation occasionally,'as they had not. long to live. He thought the rigid thing to do was to purchase a suitable piece of land somewhere handy for the purpose. Mr G. Dickinson: We have been going to do that for years. Mr Barton: Yes, but I am on the Board now, and hope to see it carried out. (Laughter.) The speaker quoted from a letter written by the Director-General ol Health, in which he gave, as one of the chief reasons for closing the Sanatorium, the tremendous cost of upkeep owing to its remoteness from the railway station. Mr C. Johnstone, in seconding Mr Barton's motion, said he was one of the chief advocates of the change when it was first mooted, but after viewing the place, and hearing Mr Barton's figures, he thought it would be a fatal mistake to put the old men up there. He did not thipk the v ßoard would be able to run the home at Cambridge at less than £3OO a year. The arrangement, at the best, would only be a temporary one, and it would be nothing short of insanity to put the old men up there. He thought they should, instead, purchase a piece <>* land adjacent to the town, and proceed immediately to erect a new home. Mr J. Anderson, in supporting the motion, said he felt that if the reasons against the original proposal were strong enough to induce Mr Johnstone to change his opinion they must be very good and very strong ones. Mr Potts commented upon the high cost of building at the present time, and counselled caution in the matter. Mr 11. Tristram said something must he done to relieve the congestion at the hospital, and he did not see any reason why the old men should not be sent to this beautiful spot on Maungakawa, for a period at any rate. He Thought the old men would appreciate the change. It would be a different , thing if money were available for a new home. Mr G. Dickinson, speaking in opposition, said the suggestion for the change came from their medical superintendent. He wanted additional room for the patients, and he also wanted to get rid of the pig styes in the vicinity of the old men's home, with their smell and their flies. The speaker thought very little expenditure would be required to convert the present sanatorium buildings. He also believed that the additional expense to the Board would be very little, and he hoped the Board would accept the Government's generous* offer- He had an offer from Crowther and Bell, carriers, of Cambridge, to cart up all the material required at 35s a ton. A Lovely Spot. Mr J. J. Rybum said that although the Department's offer appeared generous, he did not think it prudent to remove the old men to Maungakawa. Mr J. B. Teasdale regarded the spot as a lovely one. There was sufficient fruit, there almost to supply the hospital, while excellent vegetables could be grown there, and pigs and joultry could be reared there just as cheaply a s at Hamilton. Re felt that the place could be run at half' the cost estimated. Mr Hill opposed the motion on :ne grounds that the need for additional room at the hospital was absolutely urgent: that the present was not an opportune time to start a big building scheme of any kind; and that the change could be undertaken for a period of'two or three years, by which time Hie cost of building would have fallen, and tlie Board would also have on idea whether the change was profitable or otherwise. Mr J. P. Bailey (chairman) stressed the need of additional accommodation at the hospital, and said the Board would not be doing its duty to 'he ratepayers if they did not provide this accommodation. He thought Mr Barton's figures rather hard, and th'it Hie expense of keeping the men on Maungakawa would not Up so greal as made out. On the motion being put il was lost, as stated, by seven votes to six.