"That’s Us" Says Whangarei £2000 Art Union Winner

Northern Advocate, 9 May 1939, Page 8

"That’s Us " Says Whangarei £2OOO Art Union Winner

“'J'HAT’S US!” CRIED MRS R. STEWART LAST NIGHT, WHEN A NEIGHBOUR RUSHED IN TO TELL HER THAT “OPTIMIST,” OF EWING’S ROAD, WHANGAREI, HAD WON THE FIRST PRIZE OF £2OOO IN THE “YOU NEVER KNOW ART UNION.” ' yOnly a few minutes before, Mrs Stewart had listened to the news over theA’&ifo; fry : , > -«» .v .. Usually when art union results are announced she takes down her ticket and compares its number with those read out. many disappointments had made her careless; anyway she liitened with only “half an ear” last night. j- When the announcer stated “Optimist,” however, her heart leaped; when “Ewing’s Road, Whangarei,” she realised that good luck had at last come her way. ’ ■f;- ; The neighbour found her in a state of rare excitement. ..“When I arrived-home from work she was shaking like a leaf,” said Mr Stewart, in telling the tale this mornin g.

Mr Stewart is a miner who has notse;en the inside of a mine for five years, when'he 'was thrown out of work at Hikurangi. jSince then he has known hard times. Hdthas been engaged on various types ofi/casual work, until at last he obtained employment with, the Fagan Ljfhe Company. A Hard Struggle slt was a hard struggle, although for thria> past year and a half I’ve been fairly fortunate,”. Mr Stewart commented. ’ . fIShV * ' providing for a wife and three children is no easy job when the pay ch’eque”does hot come in regularly. Mr Stewart has been trying and trying to improve his position, and not without sdme measure of success. Recently he secured a position in his own line—tunnelling—in Hawke’s Bay, 'qnd he has been saving diligently to pay for the shift. This new job is to start at the end of the month. In W Hawke’s Bay Job Offering i [“Now I’ll have no difficulty in making the shift,” he commented, stating that in all probability he would accept the job. But really he had made no plans. “It’s hard to realise that to-day my bank account has/jumped to £2000,” he. said. > In fact, he is not quite prepared to accept the radio announcer’s word. He would like to see the number in print, and compare it with the number of his • lucky ticket. Mr Stewart smiled when he recounted how the ticket had been purchased. I Ticket Bought on Last Day His wife was in Whangarei on the very last day that art union tickets could be purchased. She .went to a James Street hairdresser, and asked for a ticket. In glancing through the book, Mrs Stewarf,noticed that someone had used the nom-de-plume “Pessimist.” She 'flicked over a couple of leaves and took a ■ ticket, using “Optimist” as her pen name. “And you need to be an optimist these days, particularly if you want to win an art union,” Mr- Stewart smiled. ; “Any possibility of a trip to Scotland following your good luck?” Mr Stewart was asked, when he said he came to New Zealand from Scotland 13 years ago, and has lived in and around Whangarei ever since. [The Optimist shook his head.

“No,” he said. “At least not for a number of years. The children are too young yet—my eldest girl fs nine years old, my boy is only six, and the youngest is not quite two years old.” However, Mr and Mrs Stewart and their three children are assured of a comfortable living for a good many years to come.

Too long have they known the discomforts of an inadequate income not to appreciate the value of money. Certainly they will put their £2OOO windfall to the best possible use.