"PAPER, PAPER!"

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 127, 1 June 1938, Page 21

"PAPER, PAPER!"

CRY OF THE SETTLERS

SUPPLIES BY RAILWAY

The other day I visited a home that was situated in one of the loneliest parts of the country, writes A. Thornton in the "Adelaide Chronicle." Though it was within a quarter of a mile of a railway line there was no railway station within many miles. Despite their comparative isolation, the people in that little home were kept up to date wth world affairs. They had a far wider selection of reading matter than is to be found in most city homes. _ Several trains passed there daily and a few minutes before each train was due to' pass one member of the family went to the side of the line and shouted out as loudly as he or she could, "Paper! Paper!" The passengers tossed all sorts of papers out to them. Each daiy they managed to get at least one copy of a daily newspaper from one of the capital cities, but in addition to the dailies they got a large variety of period-, cals, some very good books, pamphlets, and advertising matter. One day during my stay there the collection of papers thrown to s them from the train windows, included Melbourne and Sydney dailies, weekly papers from Brisbane, Melbourne. Adelaide, and" Perth, several overseas periodicals, a novel by Zane Grey, a pamphlet advertising a correspondence college, a number of leaflets containing Communistic ■ matttji - , a collection of religious tracts, a small Bible, a radio paper, a sporting paper with the name of a "good thing" written across it in blue pencil,; and even some trade journals. , The papers thrown out of the trains to these lonely settlers are greatly appreciated. There are no talkies, dances, or other forms of entertainment for these people to pass away their spare time, so they spend it reading. Many of the children of these settlers in the lonely parts of the country along the railway lines have derived the greater part of their education by studying books, papers,, and magazines thrown to them from train windows by passengers who realise just what these things "mean to them..., Of course settlers in lonely places are not the only people who ask for papers from train travellers. Fettlers along the line shout out "Paper!" as the trains flash by. These men are often camped for long periods away from any settlement where they could buy a newspaper,, so without the generosity of, train travellers they would not be able to keep in touch with the world by means of the newspapers. Swagmen also seek the hewspaper from the trains. Should a swagman camp near a train line he waits for a train to approach and then shouts out the familiar' "Paper!" One of these swagmen started a kind of travelling library with the books and magazine!? that he had obtained in this manner Instead of carrying the swag he wheel-

Ed it along" in a small four-wheeled cart, and in the cart he also carried a supply of books and magazines. These were loaned to settlers and other swagmen' for ' a small reading fee. , Sometimes he called at a lonely farm and exchanged a dozen or so books and > magazines for a similar number that ! the farrrier and his family had read. Of course, he charged twopence or three- > pence exchange for each book.- He > wasi'a welcome visitor to lonely homes and camps, and he managed to make enough money to keep himself well. The newspapers which he received from the trains were carefully folded and sold in the towns to butchers and fish shops, who were always glad to buy any clean newspapers for wrapOne swagman I met folded newspapers up and cut inner-soles for his old boots. He reckoned a d ° zei } thicknesses of newspaper would last ' a man for several miles. This man also liked to get newspapers wit|l wide margins. The margins of iinprinted paper were cut off and used: tor cigar- ' ette papers. , • - . '

Politicians often throw their: pamphlets from train windows when. Passing through their electorates. Oi course these people have postal votes, so that the train window method is a good one for getting into touch with the remote settlers along the line. One man with a very Wrge electorate used to buy bundles of old newspapers and inside each he would place one of his election leaflets. He reckoned that an this way the leaflets was sure to be read, but if they were merely dropped out of the train window the lonely settlers merely glanced at them, and

didn't bother to pick them up. Next time you are in a train and hear the familiar' shout of "Paper! paper!" toss out any reading matten that you have finished w4th. The cry of "Paper" does not come from cadgers, but mostly from lonely settlers and others who find it difficult to get reading matter any other way. In other circumstances these people would readily pay for the reading matter. I know one woman who always carries an extra suitcase with her luggage This suitcase is filled with old periodicals that she had collected from neighbours and bought from secondhand bookshops. She travelled extensively about Australia, and whenever she heard the call "Paper!" she opened the case and dropped a few of the magazines out of the carriage window. She has distributed papers in this way in every State of the Commonwealth.