"WHOAMT' LANCASHIRE."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1273, 31 October 1911, Page 2

"WHOAMT' LANCASHIRE."

AFTER FOIITY YEARS IN WELLINGTON. MR. JOHN KERSHAW INTERVIEWER It nuist 1)3 very interesting to visit) one's native pUce ufler an abscncc of forty ynyt. ]Jvrn the dnllcst towns ?hn\7 UlO \vonrill3 effects :if 'i'imo in 0110 way or another niter the lapse of :o many year.*. Mr. John Kershaw, ltnown prominently throughout New Zealand in connection with tho Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, nnd ut prcrelit the corre-.'-jHindini: rccretary of the Cummitteo of the New Zealnnd branch of tho Order, has just had that experience, of which he speaks entortaininjily. As f«ou ns he arrived, in I/omlon in April Inst h« loft for Manchester, but returned south almost immediately to attend the annual mooting of tho English Moveable Conimillee, M.U., 1.0.0. F., wliicli was held at Brighton at Whitsuntide. "You Mil jtirigo the rizo and importance of this gathering," said Mr. Kershaw, "when 1 tell you thut there were 700 delegates present from nil parts of England, and even beyond England, for I was admitted to the privileges of a full delegate as representing the Kew Zealand district. It was tho height of the seaeon at Brighton, and the whole placo waa on fete over th* big influx of people, for many of tho delegates brought their wives and families. There was a groat church ps.radc 011 Whit Sunday, ami 011 Monday the delegates were formally welcomed by the Mayors of Drighton, Howe, ami Ixiwes, who did a great deal towards the entertainment of tho visitors. As you can imagine, a meeting of 700 delegates Uil;es some superintendence, and I liavo nothing but praiso for the maimer in which Grand Master liamea kept tho big gathering in ordor. Tho National Insurance Bill. "Coiwideration of the National Insurance Bill overshadowed everything elso of the Committco meeting. Previous tu my going Ilonio 1 gathered that tho board of directors (tho executive of tho order) wcro opposed to the moasiirc in the abstract. Later, a oop.v of the Kill was supplied to the Grand Master by Mr. Lloyd-George, nnd whether or not he (Mr. George) told them that tho measure would go through in any case, there was a cliango of front after tho measuro had been perused. After ilio Bill was exhaustively discussed nt tho big meeting at Brighton, a resolution was pnssed approving its principles. Tho clauses of the Bill wcro (alien seriatim, and it was resolved to make certain recommendations by way of amendment in order to conserve the interest of friendly society members. Tho Bill created great interest throughout Great Britain, as it affected so many jieople in different ways. Particularly did it interest the medical fraternity. AVhilst I was in Manchester a coiifcrenco of medical men, attended by 1200, was convened solely to discuss the Bill—and thev wero only members of the Manchester branch of tho British Medical Association. The matter which agitated tho doctors was the rate of pay. Lodgo doctors in Kew Zealand get .£1 or .CI ss. per year, which includes attendance upon the member, his wife and family, and medicine. At Home tho benefit only extends to the member, and the medical man gets is. e. year. He wishes thia amount raised to lis. per annum, so far as mcdical benefits under the Bill are concerned. What this incrt-ase asked for means may bo gauged from tho fact that thcro are over n million members of Oddfellow Lodges attached to tho Manchester Unity alone. On returning to Manchester I had tlio pleasure of_ meeting the board of directors in session. I was rreeived by theiu formally, and mado reference to the Oddfellow movement in New Zealand. In Lancashire, "Tlio transport-workers' strike was on in Liverpool when we passed through to Dublin. There wo saw an immense crowd round St. Georgo's Hall, listening to the spcrches of the strike-leaders. Tho traffic was not nearly what it was ordinarily, and lorries were being escorted from the warehouses to tho trains by mounted police. Considerable hardship was suffered by the poor, and tlioro were many' scones of violence, but these, I understood, wore not caused by the strikers,, but by loafers and wasters, who took advantago of the position to get what they could how they could. In somo cases tho lorries wero attacked and plundered in daylight. When wo returned from Dublin and the Isle of Man we encountered nnother strike. Tho railway men had come out. Wo could get 110 further than Fleetwood—tlie terminus of tho Dguglas ferry boats, and (hero hundreds of passengers were stranded, aud tho Wesleyan and other churches wero thrown open to accommodate the people. We proceeded by way of Blackpool to Lythani by train, where wo took lodgings until the strike ended. Stranded "WaktS." "Every year each town in Lancashire has what is known ns its 'wake,' which means its week at the seaside. The operatives pay a weekly sum into a fund termed tho holiday fund, and at the end of tho year this sum is distributed, with interest added, and in August they depart to spend a week at one or other of the watering places— Southport, Blackpool, or even Douglas. There was a big party of them at Douglas when we were there. When wo arrived at Blackpool we found affairs in a very peculiar state. Ke.ilway traffic had been entirely suspended, .and there wero thouhands "of people who had been enjoying "the wakes" stuck up. Many had been there a week, and spsnt all their money, but could not get back , to their own towns for lack of the means and wherewithal to travel. Again, parties from other towns were waiting to come in on ■ their appointed date. The result was n complete block. All the amusements vero stopped, as 'tlio wakes' people had spent all their money, and the lodging-house-keepers did not know where they were. Many in desperation tramped their way home—3o or (fl miles—others more fortunate got a. lift on wagons bound their way. I saw one wagon loaded with barrels rushed by people who had ascertained that it was bound llicir wav. Hundreds of people slept m the fields at night, and 'padded tho hoof by day u&CK to' homo." Work From 6 a.m. Until 5.30 p.m. "I had been away from Lancashire nearly forty years, and found on my return that' the hours of labour m tho mills had only been reduced one lialfiiour per day. Tlie men and women commence to work at G a.m., have half an hour for breakfast, an hour for dinner, and knock off at 5.30 p.m.-ten hours a day! 'Iliey work those hours for fivo days ft week, and from 0 a.m. to noon on Sntimlavp. The children who toil in tlio mills work from 0 a.m. to noon ono week, And from 1 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. tho next. In tho few hours at their disposal they go to school. There is not 'much time for play among tho poor children of a Lancashire mill-town! Wliilo tho wages have increased, the cost of living has gone up in proportion; but I must sav that the sanitary conditions of tho mills have been greatly improved 6inc« my lime." Bowls. Mr. Kershaw ir- a prominent member ot Iho Victoria Howling Club. When in Lancashire ho was tempted to try his hand at the game he is ro much attached to, but found it was hardly tho samo game that we play in New Zealand. There ihc "jack" is onlv a little smaller than the bowl itself, nnd is binwd in iho same manner. There is also a crown in the green which is pur,-.ling to theso u«ed to the level sward. In this game it is i»'isiblo to joe (he bowl running off «"a.inst the bias, owing to the "crowned' or slighUv-raiscd centre of the green. This game prevails all over ].«nc<iKhiro and Yorkshire to some extent. Iho public greens were not nearly so well Kept as ours, but he could not speak for tho private ones. _ "With regard to the question of gaslighting, with which industry .1 liavo been so' long connected," Mr. Kershaw remarked, "I found that pis was holding its own in Great Britain. By the introduction of the high-pressure system of lighting, together with the adoption of the inverted burner, a very r.lrons and effectivo competitor has been provided against tho electric light." Mr. Kershaw is to lie welcomed by Wellington Oddfellows this evening.