ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, DUNEDIN

New Zealand Tablet, 11 August 1910, Page 1265

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, DUNEDIN

LADIES' CONFERENCE " The annual meeting of the ladies' conference of the *-'-. Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Dunedin, was held in St. OP Joseph's Hall on Friday afternoon. His Lordship the Bishop presided, and there was a fair attendance of mem- ■ bers. -•' "?-,; \; " - The annual report, which was read by Mrs. Hussey (secretary), was as follows — 'ln presenting the twenty-

!l W r ! V' epo * and balance sheet, your committee are pleased to claim that the work of the women’s conference on nnrl +w n +io de P au l. Society is being steadily carried demand FV t r+? • operatlons generally are successful. The tii krS f lot il ng g r °ws eve year, and we think the aiS OThnSf, f t\ e l abllshment of sewing guilds in town iit nr?S that , they . can meet in convenient centres IX Ali°^ SeS and P rovid e clothes in abundance for the needy. Aheady several members have notified their wil--3 S + to Jmve these meetings conducted at their houses. ala ll t l l t at ?\ 1S , step wlll J? e the means of attracting a large number of helpers. The question of forming a separate womens conference for South Dunedin is worthv of consideration. Now that the men’s conferences are in active work, greater efficiency may be expected by the cooperation of the several conferences. The question of the division of the annual general collections will also be a matter for consideration. We tender our sincere thanks to h. S Wdsbrp.the Bishop, the clergy, end tHlh those who have helped in any way the work of the society.’ General .-Thirty-eight meetings were held • 2 women were sent to Mount Magdala, 3 gfrls to the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage, South Dunedin, 7 children to the orphanage at Nelson, 1 girl to her home in Wellington, 1 girl to Greymouth, and 11 children were baptised The society distributed a number of new boots blankets members! ° f * klndS ' At present we have 10 active

Balance Sheet,

•i • .lordship said he had very great pleasure in presiding at the meeting of the society. The report of the work during the year was very satisfactory indeed. . It snowed how zealously they had worked, and also the charity or the people who had contributed over £73 at the church collections. It would please him very much to see the society extend its work to other places, as was suggested in the report, and this matter was worthy of their best attention and most serious consideration. , The suggestion with regard to having sewing meetings at the private residences of members was also one which was worthy of consideration, as such meetings would prove very useful in bringing people together and might be turned to good account in various ways. Every pastor was very desirous of having 1S vj e ?*^ e ited in doing good work, and the proposal would be a means of bringing the Catholic people together, and thus getting them to know one another. This was a matter which the members should keep in mind. They should remember that the ladies’ society was established by St. Vincent de Paul himself. One day a lady informed St. Vincent that a certain family stood badly in need of assistance, and when he went to visit the family with the object of relieving their wants he found that.many others were bent on the same errand of mercy, so that this family had a superabundance of the necessaries of life. It then occurred to him that it would be well to arrange the giving of charity on a systematic basis, so that there should be no waste, ana with this object in view he established a society of ladies to look after the wants of the’poor, and he urged his missionaries to push on the work of establishing such societies wherever they went. In conclusion his Lordship said the members were doing excellent work, for which God would reward them, and he desired to congratulate them on the success of their efforts during the past year.

The report and balance sheet were then adopted. Mr. Gumming, of the Patients and Prisoners’ Aid Society, congratulated the society on the excellent work it was doing, offered his best wishes for its welfare, and paid a warm tribute to the zeal and devotedness of Mrs. Jackson. He would be prepared at all times to give the St. Vincent de Paul Society all the assistance in his power, and he felt that if the public were only better acquainted with its work it would receive still more liberal support than at present. The election of officers resulted as follows:President, Mrs. Jackson. (re-elected) vice-president, Mr. Mowat (reelected); treasurer, Mrs. Cantwell (re-elected); wardrobekeeper, Mrs. Swanson (re-elected); secretary, Mrs. T. J. Hussey (re-elected).

A vote of thanks to his Lordship the Bishop for presiding brought the proceedings to a close.

Receipts. i To Balance, July, 1909 £57 14 5 Subscriptions ... 39 11 7 Donations 19 19 0 Church collection ... 73 12 4 £190 17 4

„ „ Expenses. .oy Groceries ... £20 18 5 Coal 14 9 9 Boots 8 8 6 Drapery 32 14 2 Telephone 5 0 0 Urgent board 12 16 6 Nourishment, meat, etc. ... 2 18 4 Tram fares ... 1 17 6 U.8.8. Company 10 12 6 Donations Mt. 6 Magdala ... 5 0 6 .Furniture 3 0 0 S u n d r i e s — school books, marriage licence, wedding ring, cab hire, &c. 6 14 147 7 Balance ... 66 6 7 £190 17 4