BELOW THE SURFACE

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 115, 16 May 1936, Page 24

BELOW THE SURFACE

EVERYDAY GLASGOW

BURNS CLUB ADDRESS

In the course of a short: address on Glasgow to members and their friends at a meeting of the Wellington Burns Club in Nimmo's Hall this week, Mr. Will Appleton dealt particularly with the tragedy of the last decade in the closing down of so many of the shipyards. He quoted extensively from "The Shipbuilders," by George Blake, giving graphic pictures of some of the characters in the book, and incidents in the every-day life of Glasgow. The launching of a large steamer was described, and the tragedy portrayed when there was not a single order on the books, which meant the consequent dismissal of hundreds of men and the closing of the yards. The home life of Danny Shields, one of the principal characters, a bow-legged, broadshouldered riveter, whom a hard life and four years of Gallipoli, Sinai, Palestine, and Flanders had left with the heart and mind of a boy, was defined by the speaker. The principal recreation of Danny and his ilk—the game of Soccer football—was dealt with, and Saturday afternoon in Glasgow vividly pictured. As instancing the harm caused to the younger generation by the lack of employment, Mr. Appleton quoted an incident from the book where Peter, Danny's eldest son, gets into trouble through associating with a gang of lawless boys. A scuffle takes place in a dance hall, and a man is killed. Peter is arrested along with the other lads, and Danny goes to the prison to visit his son. "The boy lay on a pallet that reminded the father of hutments on the moors of Yorkshire. He had been asleep; but clearly not for long. His hair fell untidily over his forehead in thick, dark wisps. His eyelids were swollen and fiery and Danny knew that he had been crying. The young, loutish, stupid, pathetic face betrayed weariness and fear. . ...'He posed some automatic questions about the boy's health, his clothes, his needs, and to every question Peter returned an infuriating Tm not right sure.' That was the whole trouble, Danny reflected sorrowfully1. Peter and his' kind were never exactly sure. They were at eighteen, in mind exactly as they had been left by elementary education at fourteen. Nature had covered parts of their bodies with hair and given them urges, "but-the world of men' had denied them every decent means of expression. . : . That murder in Govan, that silly gesture with a knife, would never have been done or made by a boy who had not worn himself out in a fitting-shop or on the rusty deck of a ship in the making. ..." In describing some of the shop displays in Glasgow, Mr. Appleton said that the position was well summed up by Mr. Blake: ■ "Along the length of Glasgow's Unions Street stretches an array of foodshops. They are great, spacious places with wide, alluring windows piled high with rich and savoury things to eat. Here a nation of great bakers exhibits its expertness in cereal goodness. Cakes and biscuits and shortbread, colourfully packed, attract the most casual eye; from many of the doorways stream the intolerable odours of good food; cooking. .. ." .j Mr. T. C. Newton presided over the meeting and songs were given by ;Mrs. I Edith Pengclly, Misses Gladys Webb, Kythe Maciver, Janet Stirling, and Messrs. H. Matthews and J. Withers. Mrs. F. Hills was the, accompanist. At the conclusion of the programme, a hearty vote of thanks to the performers, and the speaker was passed on the motion of Mr. R. H. Nimmo, seconded by Mr. E. A.' Dawson. '• '