HELPING THE POOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20603, 30 June 1930, Page 10

HELPING THE POOR.

EFFORT BY TRAVELLERS. CITY'S FINE RESPONSE. DONATIONS OF £ISOO MADE. MANY PARCELS OF CLOTHING. Auckland made a splendid response on Satnrday to the appeal of the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association for money and clothing to assist the poor and needy of the city. By midday one of the sheds on Central Wharf resembled a large second-hand store, with articles of clothing of every description piled high. In addition, officials of the association deposited in the bank throe large bags filled with silver, notes and cheques, of a total value of about £ISOO. " The manner in which the people of Auckland have helped us is above praise," said Mr. R. Glover Clark, organiser of the appeal " I think wo have more olothing than we obtained through our last appeal, and only slightly less in cash." The deserving nature of the*cause led to unstinted giving by aIL Even people in poor circumstances' gave to help those less fortunate than themselves, and there were numerous . cases where men, • saying that they had only had casual work for months, slipped small silver coins into collection boxes. Workers Number 2000. Workers in the drive, numbering nearly 2000, made an early start. By eight o'clock 500 mofor-cars afid lorries were patrolling the streets of their allotted districts. The city and suburbs were divided into 40 districts, each with its main depot, and cars laden with parcels were' soon making their way back to have their contents transferred to motorlorries by small bands of Boy Scouts, some of them staggoring under the weight of the parcels they had to lift. A car was emptied and was immediately driven away to other streets; lorries were laden with parcels and despatched to the depot at Central Wharf, and there the mounds ' t of clothing grew higher and higher throughout the morning.

The travellers received invaluable assistance from 350 scouts, 200 girls from city business houses, and a number of boys from the secondary schools. The girls canvassed the city with collection boxes and, notwithstanding the fact that there had been a street collection on the previous day, Queen Street pedestrians gave cheerfully. Some Pathetic Incidents. The day was not without its pathetic incidents. A traveller called at one house in a poor district and met a small girl coming out of the gate. He explained his mission and asked her if anyono was at home. He received the reply that her mother had gone out to get some food and that her father was away looking for work. Then the child pulled from her pocket a lone penny. She had one to spend every Saturday, she told the traveller, so he could have this one. The collector entered the gift on his collection card. Then ho put his hand into his pocket and as he walked off tho girl gazed wide-eyed at a bright half-crown lying in her hand. Another case demonstrated tho manner in which the poor are always ready to help tho poor. One traveller returned to the depot with a child's sock, perfectly knitted. It had been given to him by a woman, who told him that she had nothing else to give_ and had been unable to complete a pair of socks because she had no moro wool. However, she gave him tho sock as a sample of what she could do and said that if anyone would provide her with wool she would knit socks for tho "little ones." Oases ol Poverty Noted.

There were streets where poverty faced tho collectors and yet even here offers were made of little things which the donors thought might be of use to others. They were proud when they were accepted, but the collectors saw to it that the givers would not be the losers. Cases of poverty wcro carefully noted and another result of the dr'ivo will be that many people too proud to ask for assist ance will receive it freely when the distribution of clothing is commenced this week. By mid-day the city had been thoroughly combed and the stacks of parcels at Central Wharf, which had commenced with a bundle from Waiheke Island, all but filled the shed. As each lorry arrived a certain amount of hurried sorting was done, principally with tho object of finding articles to auction at tho Commercial Travellers' Club. Tho auction is a tradition with the travellers. They mado spirited bids fora weird array of articles which they had collected. Children's toys, vegetables and battered headgear all came under the auctioneer's hammer and tho sale resulted in tho addition of about £3O to the cash collection. One warehouseman left the club bearing in triumph a silk hat which had seen far better days and for which ho paid £5. Government Subsidy Requested. Tho wharf shod with its niassod collection of clothing was opened for inspection yesterday afternoon and a collection from visitors rosulted in the addition of a further £6 to' the fund. The work'of sorting and distributing tho clothing will commence to-day.. . .. The money collected will bo divided between tho various charitable organisations of tho city \yith tho exception of 10 per cent, which, every year is devoted to tho Blind Soldiers' and Sailors' Fund. A request was made by tho Drivo Committee for . a Government subsidy on the cash collected and a reply was received on Saturday stating that tho,matter.was i being considered by tho Cabinet. ! The commiteo which organised the appeal and carried it out so successfully j consisted :of Messrs. C. C. Bach;' R Glover Clark, J. A. .Cahill, N.. G. Cam ;eron, W. H. Prentis, A. Thompson and VV., M. Ingram. Since the closing of tho drive several people have telephoned the Commercial Travellers' Club saying that 'they wore away, when the collectoracalled and were unable to hand over parcels of clothing. -Arrangements have been made tc* send motor-cars* to any, such houses if donors telephone the secretary, Mr. Cahill. * "