BIG BUYING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1942, Page 6

BIG BUYING

FORCES' COMFORTS

IMPORTANT SERVICE

(0.C.) WELLINGTON, this day.

To provide comforts for the large number of men serving in the New Zealand Forces on !and, sea, and in the air involves buying in bulk on a big scale to .supplement gifts made and presented by the people of the Dominion. A special department of the National Patriotic Fund Board attends to this important work, not only to meet the board's own requirements but also in order to assist the Provincial Patriotic Councils to some extent. Cocoa and milk powder, coffee and milk, and items of that kind to enable refreshments to be provided in the institutional huts in the camps have to be ordered regularly. The orders are on a scale to make housewives gasp. Stationery Requirements There was an order for 10,000,000 sheets of writing paper and a similar quantity of envelopes. Already 3,000,000 sheets of paper of this order have been delivered. New Zealanders have the reputation of being good letter writers, and the accounts of the board for stationery b£ar testimony that the members of the forces are not neglecting their correspondence. Writing paper and envelopes last year cost approximately £40,000. To assist Provincial Patriotic Councils in making up parcels for dispatch overseas, the board some weeks ago placed orders for tinned fruits—2oß,ooo lib tins. Orders for recreational equipment and various indoor games are also large. For example, approximately every five months an order is placed for 172,800 draught board pieces. Radio sets have been provided for both overseas and in the Dominion. Most have gone overseas. Recently it was decided to supply some further sets for troops in outlying parts of the Pacific, and the greater part of an order for 50 sets now being executed is for these men. Sets have been provided for recreation huts in New Zealand, for men guarding vital points, and also for the men serving in naval units.

All the men serving at sea are looked after. They receive parcels from time to time and also recreational equipment. One day recently, equipment put aboard a small naval unit included the following:—Dart boards and darts, crib boards, sets of draughts, quoits, boxing gloves, punching bags, sets of playing cards, table tennis sets, skipping ropes, and a medicine ball.

It will be appreciated from the examples given that not only is it necessary to buy in a big way, but also that substantial funds are required to maintain such a service.

Another responsibility of the board is to see to the packing and dispatch of goods received through the Provincial Patriotic Councils. Lately large quantites of woollen comforts have been packed for use bv men on home defence duty during the winter months. At the present time some 5000 cases of gift parcels are coming forward from the provinces for shipment overseas. The checking, examination, and, where necessary, repair of cases is no mean task.