"GIFT HOUSE"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 127, 31 May 1941, Page 11

"GIFT HOUSE"

SUCCESSFUL RAFFLE

A YIELD OF £10,500

The "Gift House," which was built in Raroa Road, Lower Hutt, as a voluntary contribution to the war effort, and which has been rallied for patriotic purposes, was handed over today to the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Council. A short ceremony was held outside the house, preceding which Mr. J. W. Andrews, Mayor of Lower Hutt, announced the winners of the raffle as follows:—

First prize (house), No. 212182, "Mac," 5 Lucknow Terrace, Khandallah.

Second prize (section at Paekakariki), No. 17656, "Optimist," c/o W. 8., Wellington.

Third prize (groceries), No. 668107, Raymond Cato, Lower Hutt.

On behalf of the builders, subcontractors, and workers, Mr. P. Fifield expressed his pleasure at such a wonderful opportunity arising of showing in a tangible form the co-opera-tion between the builders in the cities of Wellington and Lower Hutt. There were roughly 220 voluntary contributors, covering every phase of construction and fitting. As for the workers it was a good job well done.

Mr. W. E. Jones, chairman of the controlling organisation in the construction of the house, spoke on behalf of the Hutt Valley builders and kindred associations, and read a long list of those who participated in the gift.

He then presented the keys of the house to Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, Mayor of Wellington, who attended in his capacity as president of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Council. The documents relating to the house were then presented by Mr. N. T. Gillespie, Lower Hutt City Solicitor.

In a short speech, Mr. Hislop thanked all concerned. The raffle, he said, was the second most successful of any yet held in New Zealand for patriotic purposes. It had yielded about £10,500, subject to audit, and he had heard that it created something of a record in that all the tickets were accounted for before the drawing. The Christchurch raffle, conducted along similar lines, was the only one to better it.

The house was then inspected by those present.