COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 107, 7 May 1943, Page 4

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

MEETING GAS SHORTAGE HOUSEWIFE'S EXPERIENCE How one housewife in t^^ la t he has met the situation created by the present gas shortage is told m the following letter. — . "With memories, of one nights disappointing repast of cold meat and b'-ead and butter still m mmd, sne writes "and the pangs of hunger left unappeased by the tomato saupand toast of the next evening I turned home from work to-night in an prideavour to forestall the stop work' tactics of my formerly trustworthy gal stove. Everything was cooking well, and I had visions of a tasty meal to set before my famUy on their return home at 5.15. But, alas fate was against me, for, after a few warning splutters, the |^ s died away altogether, and I was left with a half-cooked meal. "What to do now? I had no other means of cooking, and the meal was uneatable as it was. Then I remembered that in my early training in the E.P.S.O. it had been my duty to take an inventory in my locality of houses which were equipped with coal ranges, and, cheers, there was one over the road. I dashed over to see whether my neighbour had a fire on and, if so, whether there was room for my ill-fated dinner. My luck was in, not only was the range glowing, in top gear, but my more fortunate neighbour was the possessor of an electric range as well and was eager to help me in my predicament. "Just at that moment there was a knock on my neighbour's back door and, om opening it, she found Mrs. Next Door on the porch with two pots and a steamer in her hands, and asking if she could possibly find room for them on her range. Mrs. Good Samaritan also invited her in. . "As. we tended our respective - meals; we decided that to-morrow we would cook our vegetables all togetherin some of Mrs. Good Samaritan's big saucepans, and so save the bother <pf having numerous smaller ones on "the stoves. "If meals are planned with a minimum of cooking, and, if . this can be done in a community manner, housewives, particularly those who go out to work, should find the problem simplified. Awkward though it is, we know, or hope, that it is only a temporary inconvenience. At least we have our homes intact, which is much more than our sisters overseas have enjoyed during the war years."