TRAMWAY COPPER TRAIL

'INTERVIEW WITH MR L. B. HART. Always a busy man but now hot ! upon the trail it was with difficulty jour representative obtained a few minutes with Mr L. B. Hart, the deputy chairman of the Christchurcn Tramway Copper Trail. "Want to know all about the Trail, eh?"' said. Mr Hart in reply to a question! j "Well, it's like this, you know. There I is no need for me to tell you about [the work of the Lady Liverpool iFund, that's well known", and I think I everybody will agree with me that lit would be a crying shame if that | work had to be stopped for want of 1 funds. Yet this is what is staring | them in the face, owing to the large-ly-increasing number of parcels sent i monthly, and to the increased cost of the various articles sent in those j parcels. Consequently the ladies j connected with the fund have ap- ; pealed to us for help, and we are re- ; sponding and now ask for the cooperation of the public. We propose !to raise funds by seeing how many j miles of tram rails we can cover I with coppers. Of course it would I be impracticable to actually lay the pennies on the rail, as this would not only interfere with the whole tramway service, but would entail too much labour putting the pennies down and picking them up again, and besides there would not be j enough pennies in circulation for i the job. So we have had printed ticI kevs with an imprint of a pennv, ! and these are sold at one pennv each, j Every ticket is numbered and as ten j pennies go to one foot we know by | the number sold exactly- how many feet, yards or miles of rail are covered each day. This in itself would be very interesting, but in order to j make the scheme more interesting |we have divided the whole of the | Christchurch Tramway System into i six districts, each div'-ict having a ! distinctive colour. ! The following colours have been allotted to the various districts:— ( 1. Opawa, St. Martins, Cashmere, L Sydenham—Pink. 2. Coronatfon Street, Lincoln "Road, Riccarton—Green. 3. Fendalton, Papanui—Yellow. 4. North Brighton, Dailington, Linwood, South Brighton—Blue. 6. Cranford Street. Edgeware Road —White. C. Sumner, Woolston—Buff. Every district will therefore endeavour to cover the most miles, and already they are keenly taking the matter up, form ing local committees and pushing the sale of their particular coloured tickets. By means of I coloured devices in Cathedral Square ; the public, will be able to ascertain 1 the position of the different districts, j s/> the interest will be maintained and competition kept alive. This makes the scheme doublv interest- | ing, but we go farther yet. A large number of the tickets will bear j lucky numbers, which will entitle ■ their holders to prizes varying in value from ft to £1(»0, ! thanks to the generosity of several | well-wishers. Those numbers are contained in a sealed envelope and i are unknown by anyone connected : with the scheme. So you see. by buyj ing a penny ticket a purchaser not I only covers a tenth of a foot of trami rail, but he helps his district to the I proud position of heading the competition, and at the same time stands j the chance of winning one of the ; numerous prizes, and lastly and j greatest of all. he helps to maintain i a fund which is sending "000 parcels ! a monthTo our boys in the trenches." "But does this clash with the Red Cross?*' "Ah! I am glad you asked me that, for it gives me the opportunity .of saying emphatically 'No.' The Red ! Cross Fund and the Lady Liverpool j Fund are equally deserving of supJport. Both are doing the very best of work and each has a definite but j different object. The Red Cross ! Fund looks after the wounded solI flier, the soldier in the hospital. The j Lady Liverpool Fund looks after the | unwounded soldier, the soldier in the trenches. The wounded and the -unwounded soldier need our help, our sympathy and our encouragement, and surely we. living at home in comfort and safety, thanks to their noble efforts, can afford to remember them both, and we will remember them, won't we?" And before our representative I could answer in the affirmative as he , intended, Mr Hart was called away, iso there was nothing else leff for i him to do but to go and purchase as | many tenths of a foot of tramrail as | his meagre salary allowed. He founds on inquiry that tickets, j either singly or in rolls, can be ob- ! tained ;>t the office of the Organising j Secretary. Mr C. W. Hervey, Cathei dial Square, and that they will also be obtainable at the Lady Liverpool Tent in the Square every Wednesday lor at any time from,any member of j the local committees or tramwav officials. .12