BOOKS FOR SOLDIERS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 52, 1 March 1919, Page 20

BOOKS FOR SOLDIERS.

One of the activities of the Auckland ' Women's Patriotic League, which has gone forward during tne war period with but little advertisement, is the preparing of secondhand books for the troopships. This holiday season has brought in a large supply in the bint-, about the city than at any previous time, and Miss Basten, the convener, explains this by ' the fact that so many who usually leave i during the holidays have remained in ;jtown since the epidemic. During the •last four years the committee of willing : workers has accomplished a gigantic :j task in a very quiet manner. A record ■ I kept of the books received shows that i, 7.000 cloth bound books, as well at, over j 90,000 magazines, have passed through .the hands of tbe ladies engaged in this - useful work. Each magazine was stripped i, of cover and advertisements and reij bound in a plain tone. Al! the clean ~ hooks are selected for tho hospital ships . j and convalescent homes, and this part of the work will still be needed for a long time to come. But it is the books that : have gone on to the troopships that will . be remembered by many a reader in the long slow voyage across the world. j These were packed into parcels of ten ; ; for ease of handling, and then into .cases for camps an transports. When the work was started the committee consisted of two enthusiastic workers. , and now, at its closing, thirty workers .are engaged. Much good work has lieen ■'put in by many voluntary workers, who j came down day after day, year ir. and ; year out, and wrestled with musty books land papers so that the men might he kept supplied with something to pass [the time. The ordering of this work fell upon Mis. Hasten, tlie convener, and Mrs. Wesley Spragg. deputy, assisted by Miss Nixon, who dnk up the secretarial part, while Mrs. Dui'aur and Mi.<s Spragg .made themselves responsible for the packing, no light matter. Part of the ; work is seeing that when a troopship ' I returns, the men receive the daily papers j when they receive their mail. With the j local papers they also sent out the j southern weeklies and dailies, and if a | troop train goes south the Literature ! Committee sees to it that a supply of books is placed on board for the use of the soldiers to enliven the lono- journey. I The supply has been kept up in a j surprising manner, and from places as far apart as Whangarei and Waihi cases .arrived regularly, while Devonport and the local book bins also were well supplied. Books even came into the com|mittee from Palmerston North with the | request that they be forwarded to the men in Samoa. Now that the need for ; tho camps is disappearing, the suggestion ! has been made that the organisation j should continue iLs work in another ; form for the benefit of the people in the bnck blocks who are deprived of any of the advantages to be gained in the city. A regular supply of books and magazines | would mean untold enjoyment to very many people in the isolated settlements who cannot afford to buy for themselves. Especially is this the' ease with the 'younger folk, who feel the isolation and lack of intellectual stimulus. It is this ; need of further intellectual enjoyment I which is pressing so many into our* cities

whether they understand the reason or not, and a love of books might in many instances counteract it if the books were to be had; which at present they are not. When the Literature Committee meets to discuss its future policy the matter will probably be brought forward and some scheme be devised by which such an exceUent work as the committee has done can be continued in another form.