CHRISTMAS IN BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 78, 27 December 1926, Page 9

CHRISTMAS IN BRITAIN

MANY HOMES COLD AND CHEERLESS GREAT- SCARCITY OF COAL HOUSEWIVES’ PROBLEMS Christmas was cold and cheerless in many homes in England, owing to a great scarcity of coal. Though railway lines were blocked with coal-laden trucks, householders were unable to obtain supplies.

BY TELEGRAPH.-PRESS ASSOCIATION. Copyright. (Rec. December 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 24. Thousands of British farililies were unable, in the words of the war-time song, to “keep the home fires burning” this Christmas, because, strangely enough, coal is scarcer than at some periods during the six months’ strike. Merchants blame the railway companies, and the latter blame the merchants. The fact remains that the railway lines are blocked with coal-laden trucks, yet householders are unable to obtain coal. Even the King’s gift of coal to the poor of Windsor became lost on the railways and was found at Nuneaton yesterday, after covering 20 miles in twelve days. Special efforts are being made to secure delivery, to-day.

London, December 25. Christmas Day will be remembered in many London homes as a cold, damp, and cheerless one, because of their coalless plight, in some cases worse than during the strike. The strange spectacle was witnessed in some districts of merchants doling small day’s supplies to queues. Innumerable housewives faced the problem of forcing a large turkey into a small gas oven and cooking with a gas pressure which was greatly weakened owing to general resort to this method of preparing dinner. Many poor folk gathered round oil stoves, lhere was an unprecedented demand for rabbits in the districts affected _by the strike. In spite of the difficulties, however, everybody was wonderfully cheeiful. Money has been circulated with seemingly the usual freedom. There is a general feeling of thankfulness that the year is ending with the hope of better times in 1927.

KING’S GIFT COAL ARRIVES (Rec.. December 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 25. The King’s coal arrived at Windsor and was distributed among eight, hundred poor inhabitants, all over the age of 60 years. COAL-OWNERS’ GRANT TO AGED MINERS (Rec. December 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 25. Members of the Nottinghamshire miners’ new non-political union were pleasantly surprised by the receipt of a grant of £lO,OOO from the coal owners, from which they paid ten shillings each to aged miners at Christmastide.

QUIET CHRISTMAS IN PARIS AND BELGIUM SHORTAGE OF MONEY (Rec. December 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 24. The “Morning Post's” Paris correspondent says that Christmas promises to be quiet in the gay city, the quietest since the Armistice. Tables are still available in the leading hotels which a year ago were unprocurable. Managers of shops and stores agree that a wave of economy has swept over France. Messages from Brussels also ’ report that Christmas is quiet in Belgium, as ,-the people have no money.

EXTREME COLD IN FRANCE SPIRIT OF GAIETY MORE SUBDUED (Rec. December 26, 11.5 p.m.) Paris, December 25. The weather is so cold in EasternFrance that wild beasts have been driven from the forests to seek shelter and food in the villages. A herd of boars last night from the Argonne Forest invaded the suburb of Vitry le Francois and were hunted by an armed posse. . The temperature in the Vosgesjs lo degrees»centigrade below zero. Gales, snow, and ice are reported even in Biarritz. Several deaths are recorded from the cold in Eastern and Northern France, while the Mediterranean coast reports an inch of snowfall. Paris spent Christmas Eve in the traditional manner, supping in cabarets, but the spirit of gaiety was distinctly more subdued than during the past few years. Currency troubles and the extreme cold are held responsible for the diminution of the celebration.

FRENCH PRESIDENT’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE NEW SPIRIT IN 1927 (Rec. December 26, 11.5 p.m.) Paris, December 25. President Doumergue gave the Press the following Christmas message: l — L like Dr. Stresemaan and Sir Austen Chamberlain, am convinced., that 19-< will see a new spirit and new conception of international affairs - more widely spread through the minds of the peoples; and then there will really be something changed in the destimes of humanity.”

FESTIVITIES AT DOORN (Rec. December 26, 11.5 p.m.) New York, December 25. Messages from Doorn state that, surrounded bv friends and relatives, the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm spent one of the merriest Christmases since his exile. None of the ex-Kaiser’s own children,

£ SA S‘“ r irSf tree was felled a week ago under Wilhelm’s P ersonal h f and placed in the great ha 1, where the task of decorating it fell chiefly to Princess Hermine, who also super intended the distribution of gifts tc thrown open to all the household.

PROSPERITY CHRISTMAS IN UNITED STATES (Rec. December 26, 11.5 p.m.) New York, December 25. With trade agencies in New York am other large cities reporting Christmas purchasing of the greatest volume H the historv of the country, the United States celebrated Yuletide on a lavish scale Large industrial corporations declared special dividends toffifl'iig more than five hundred million dollar., while bonuses distributed in the financial districts of New A ork and large business organisations throughout country are expected to aggregate over two hundred million dollars. The cna itv distributions wete unprecedented, the “New York Times” alone raising 250,600 dollars, while the country total is estimated at five Hundred millions. .' The festivities in the large cities is reported to have assumed unprecedented heights. Night life wa's given free rein. This Christmas has been dubbw “Prosperity Christmas.”