A number of the friends of the King's Daughters' Society were present at the laying of the foundation stone of the Convalescent Home for Children, on Saturday afternoon. The site, a short dis-tanoa out on Hhungjao Road, is admirably adapted to its purpose and the children will have the benefits of country air with accessibility to town.
Mrs. Henman, chairman for the occasion, called upon Dean Symons to open the ceremony with prayer, after which Mr. H. G. Simms, Chairman) of the Municipal Council said in' part:—It has often been remarked that Shanghai can show no great evidence of that public spirit which is such a feature of great cities at home, wher wealthy citizens present a park, or a museum, or library, or endow a hospital, as a mark of their goodwill towards the city where their fortunes were built On the other hand, while there are no great monuments of public spirited generosity in Shanghai, we can point to public spirit on a more modest scale, and the King's Daughters' Society stands well in tha forefront. It is a happy title denoting service of the highest order—that is, voluntary service in alleviating distress among those less fortunate than themselves. With the limited resources at their command they can show a: wonderful record of assistance rendered.
It has been the Society's ambition for a long time to provide a home where children discharged from the hospitals could go to recuperate their strength instead of going back immediately to unhealthy conditions, due to overcrowding and insufficient nourishment, often necessitating their re turn to hospital. The names of the late Mrs. Garner, who was the Society's Treasurer, and the late Mr. W. 8. Jackson will always be associated with the starting of this Home.
Practica, EvipeNce or INTEREST.
From a financial point of view it was an ambitious project for a comparatively small Society, but there is the satisfaction to-day of seeing the result of their labours taking practical shape. Of the money now in hand, which is suffice lent to pay for the land and the builder's contract, about half has been contributed by the general public, including the Shanghai Football Association, the Shanghai Rifle Association, the Shanghai Golf Club, the Shanghai Scottish, S.V.C., the Ministering Children's League, the Union Church Ladies' Society and the Sunday' School, the Paper Hunt Club, and the New Engineering Works, the other half by the Race Club, partly in memory of Mr. W. 8. Jackson, who took such a keen interest in the scheme for a Children's Convalescent Home, and partly by contributions from proceeds of race meetings.
Several thousand dollars are still required to pay for the fittings and furnishing and the maintenance of the home. To meet this a fete to be held in October is being arranged, and in the meantime I feel sure the public will come forward and give further help to the Society.
On behalf of the Municipal Council, I wish the King's Daughters' Society every success and prosperity, and we are always ready to_do what we can to assist them.
Mrs. G. H. Stitt then performed the stone-laying ceremony, using a new trowel for the purpose, which was presented to her, as was also a large bouquet tied with ribbons of the King's Daughters' colours—purple—proffered by little Jock Cuaper residents have written to the Chapei Waterworks Company protesting against the unhealthy state of the water that is provided. It is stated that the water is green in colour and frequently contains little fish, shrimps and other insects. These are not appre ciated even when cooked. In the raw state they are still less enjoyed. With fish at its present price, Chapei residents had better be careful about their protests. Remember the story of the customer in a restaurant who found a chicken in his egg.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.