TRENTHAM ART UNION.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IX, Issue 172, 7 July 1919, Page 7

TRENTHAM ART UNION.

* The Tea Booms of Messrs. Kirk- ’ caldie and Stains in Wellington «.i j Tuesday night revea,ed a busy seen j wncn the press representative looked m 'about mm? o clock. In the centie oi j the room were long tables, and at each > side of these were seated scores of I voluntary workers who were strenuously ’ occupied* in opening and sorting tno J mail of the last two days in connection j with the Trentham Dominion Scholar- ’ ships Art Inion. This mail consisted ! entirely of applications for tickets, en- ! closing amounts varying from one shil- ; ling to five pounds. There must have ; been some thousands of letters, and ! w nen it is considered that this enormous * bau h represented only two days’ mail, ; it will be recognised what a task is involved in opening up all letters, writing out receipts, and recording and dispatching tickets to each applicant. ; I’m chasers w ho have written for tickets I ai.d who do not receive them for a day * oi two. Will now understand tno reason .lor .my slight delay in this respect A largo majority of the letters con- } tabled coupons clipiHtl from newspaper I* advertisements, indicating the poweriul ■ iiiintem e ol adveiUsing upon the st..I c.-ss of this scheme. One letter, by the i way. came from the Bell-ringer ot tic I late Queen of England. Many ot tic joihers were from soldiers, and soldier, I relatives, and good wishes for tho su< - Ik-ss of the scheme on behalf of the soldiers’ children were plentiful. One point was very strongly ilhr,-trati-d in the opening ot these letter.-. A gnat many were requests tor one | shilling ticket. In each of these cases ; the send ‘r has to spend lid for postage land also'to iMicloso an envelope bearling another 1 Jd stamp lor th.- return oi 'the ticket. Tais represents 3d on each ’of these shillings—a gain to the Go- | vernment of 25 per cent, on the receipts in each case. When the Art I I nion was launched, a request was i made to the Government to grant free j postal facilities in its favour, but this was refus’d. It is obvious what a i handicap tins has been to the cause, as | there can bo no doubt at all that the »cost of postage deterred thousands of > people from sending for tickets. I Tho workers on Tuesday evening were i volunteers from the staff of Messrs, j Kirkraldio and Stains, Ltd., and the | industrious and methodical manner in ; which thev discharged their duties <1 '- J mon st rated that they were all warm ; : upport.'i s of this worthy object. I A considerable amount of work still ‘remains to ba done before the commitj tea can proceed to the drawing, which has been fixed tor the 31st July, at the ? Town Hall, Wellington.