COMMUNAL LIFE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4529, 28 January 1942, Page 6

COMMUNAL LIFE

CAMPS FOR WAR INDUSTRY WORKERS - IRISH EXPERIMENT An experiment which is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom has begun in Northern Irejpnd. Hundreds of men working together in war industries have left lodgings and —in some cases—their own families, to live in a communal life in specially erected huts. The scheme, which has been sponsored by the Northern Ministry of

Commerce, has the support of the workers and their trade union leaders. The huts are sufficiently near the factories to enable the men to get to and from them easily, yet a sufficient distance off to allow the hope that they are outside the target area. It is hoped that the scheme will serve another purpose also.' It had been found that women refused to be evacuated from danger zones because they knew that if they left their husbands the men would be neglected. Now it is hoped that families in these areas will agree to evacuation, knowing their menfolk will be living comfortably.

In the huts the men have every attention. A chef, formerly employed in a London West End luxury hotel, is in charge of the catering, there is a sick bay, and the various rooms are light and airy. Hot and co* z showers have been installed, and besides a restaurant and canteen there is a “quiet” room and various facilities for entertainment. There is also a special room for drying wet clothes. Certain rules for the running of the huts have necessarily been drawn up, but they are not rigid, and it is expected that the men themselves will form committees and, generally speaking, say how they wish the camps to be run.

In each hut there are 12 men, and so far as possible friends are housed together. The weekly charge is 22s 6d, a sum low enough to enable the men to pay their way and keep their wives and children in a reception area. For this amount they receive two main meals a day and three at week-ends.