WHAT LONDON IS DOING

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 138, 7 March 1929, Page 8

WHAT LONDON IS DOING

DULL DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS LURE OF COMPETITIONS

(By

Nellie M. Scanlan.)

Dominion Special Service. London, January 8. What Is London doing during these dull, dog days after Christmas? Fog, sleet, frost and snow are our portion climatically. We can expect that for the next two months. Society .is seeking sunshine in Egypt, on the Riviera, in Tunis. The more adventurous have gone to South Africa, which is becoming quite fashionable between seasons. The energetic are in Switzerland in the whirl of winter sports. You cannot get away from England to any of these winter havens without crossing the Channel, and this revives the old scheme for the Channel tunnel. Once upon a time opposition to this railway beneath the Channel was based upon Imperial defence. Aviation has changed things considerably. If England is ever attacked, it will be ny air. Repeated rough crossings have converted most of the House of Lords as well as the House of Commons. The latest tally of opinion gives: For the scheme, 17 Lords, 46 Commoners. Against the scheme: 11 Lords, 1 Commoner. Neutral, 2 Lords, 21 Commoners. -..There already exists 2} miles of completed tunnel under the Channel, three-quarters of a mile on the English side and one mile and a half on the French side. This was constructed so long ago that the present generation scarcely knows of its existence. While society is avoiding the fogs, London’s work-a-day millions are finding their thrill in the competitions which are being designed to bolster trade. The orgy of Christmas shopping usually, means a period of financial recuperation, unless some special stimuli are applied. While theatres are half empty, long queues wait to get Into klnemas. There is not an empty seat at any performance. An evening newspaper, last week, offered £lOO for the best criticism of any film showing, the criticism to be written on a postcard. Every evening three or four of these were published, and the writers received 10s. 6d. each. At the end of the week the winner got his £lOO. So great was the success of the competition that an additional £5O was given as second prize. One can imagine the delight of the twenty or so kinemas which have been packed to the doors. No doubt their appreciation, however expressed, is reflected in the raising of the prize this week to £2OO. It all sounds so easy. Just go to a picture, write what you think of it on a postcard, and the £lOO may be yours. There is no great risk or hardship involved. Now, however, another newspaper has leapt in with the offer of £lOO for the woman who gets the best bargains for £5 during the This may be all right as an impetus to business during the dull days, but it has another and quite a serious aspect Many women become reckless among the bargains. It takes a steady head to keep to urgent necessities, and resist the lure of something that is merely cheap. With the prospect of that £lOO, how many women—and women who cannot afford it—are seeking not what they actually need, but useless goods and garments, simply because they appear the greatest bargains? The Invoices have to be produced and the purchase proved. But what is cheap If you need it is often very expensive if you don’t. I am afraid there will be many unpaid bills in some- poor households because the lure of that £lOO proved irresistible to the mother. Daily I. am expecting the scheme to spread to other classes of momentarily depressed trade. Then, no doubt, when some domestic tragedy or unhappy incident occurs, as a result of the quest for that £lOO, the competitions will suddenly cease, and business will fall back into its normal stride. Among the New Year events is the proposed National Symphony Orchestra, controlled jointly by Sir Thomas Beecham and the British Broadcasting Company. The 8.8. C. will manage the business-side, and Sir Thomas will be Tsar, musically. The 8.8. C., which shares the usual unpopularity of nearly all broadcasting directors, is courting further animosity by extending its publishing department. Its magazine and booklets, librettos, etc., are a great source of income. Threat of a further extension in the direction of a literary magazine has brought a joint complaint from the London publishing houses, who resent this competition. They all pay income tax, and the 8.8. C. being a Government Department does not. A limitation of the activities of the 8.8. C. will probably be the result of this agitation.