1885-1904. “The W.C.T.U. Indispensable."

White Ribbon, Volume 10, Issue 115, 15 December 1904, Page 8

1885-1904. “The W.C.T.U. Indispensable."

It was in 1885, nineteen years ago, that the members of the newly formed Christchurch W.C.T.U. turned their minds towards methods of work. Prohibition was almost undreamt of, the enfranchisement of women merely a subject for academic discussions. But the drink evil w r as constantly forced upon the attention of those who took “ For God, Home, ami Humanity as their motto, and an earnest desire to do something of a practical nature to lessen the traffic was felt and expressed. The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show was about to be held, and the usual saddening and degrading sights of drunken men and lads were likely to l»e witnessed. The question was raised as to whether the drunkenness would not he diminished if a cup of refreshing tea could be bought on the show ground at the same price as a glass of iieer ? It was thought that it would, and Mrs Packe (wife of the late Lieut-Colonel Packe), the then president, undertook to persuade one of the local confectioners to take a booth on

the show grounds and provide the cup which cheers but not inebriates at the modest charge ol threepence. From shop to shop she went, meeting everywhere with a decided if courteous refusal. It was explained to her that the cost of labour made her project impossible. There would be furnaces to erect and keep tired, water to fetch, cups, saucers and spoons to be washed, and any small profit that could l>e made after tea, sugar, milk and firing were paid for would be more than swallowed up by the cost of rent of ground and tent, and the hire of labour. Then these rash women said 44 We will try it ourselves, and all the labour shall l>e volunteer labour, and our risk will be grea'ly lessened.” Ami so without business experience the members of the Union set out to do that which professional caterers had declared to be impossible. A site was engaged, a tent procured, the as#stance of the Y.M.C.A. enlisted, and at the due date the ladies might have l>een seen with their arms deep in tubs of hot water while their gentleman friends perspired under the weight of buckets of the same fluid clean from the furnaces or dir y from the washtub. It was an experience novel then but since many times repeated. The tent of 1883 wa«, compared with the present

day, but a poor affair. There were no conveniences and the work was greatly hampered by this fact as well as from the lack of previous experience. But the experiment was appreciated by the public and the members were greatly encouraged at finding that it had been carried out without any loss. The following year the attempt was again made with the same financial result. And it may here be said that for the nineteen years that the W.C.T.I . flag has been hoisted at the Show' Ground the results have been financially encouraging. Some years there h?s been a profit out of which grants have l>een made to the various departments of the Union’s work ; other years the takings have been sufficient to pay all expenses, anti only in one yeai, when a gale wrecked the tent and destroyed the great r part of the viands and crockery, has there been a loss. In the course of time the A. and I*. Association removed to their new grounds and decided to limit the number of booths. The action of the W.C.T.U. had created a demand for refreshment of a non-alcoholic nature, and the Association decided that the site set aside for a booth for this purpose should be publicly sold by auction. It was also stipulated that the successful bidder should be compelled to supply a luncheon at a price fixed by the Association. While the Union had never been without friends in the Asso*ciation, it had also strong enemies, and probably a majority of the members of the A. and P. Association were either actively or passively hostile to “ these temperance women.” However, the W.C.T.U. is not easily turned hack from anything it has once set its hand to, and the courage of our Christchurch members rose as their difficulties increased. The money was borrowed to pay the heavy rent demanded in advance by the A. and P. Association. Friends skilled in the work sketched out plans for a spacious luncheon booth with an outside counter, at which tea, etc., could be sold to those who desiied only slight refreshment. Arrangements were completed for its erection ; for the putting together of tables ; for the hire of chairs, crockery, knives and forks, and all other requisites; for the baking of meats, the stewing of fruits, the making of pies, jellies, custards, blanc manges, and whatever else was needed to make an appetising lunch. The ladies were on their nettle. The pub-

lican’s lunch was to be higher in price than theirs, but they resolved it should be no better. They reasoned, “If we can draw the public to our luncheon they won’t he so likely to drink.” And they did draw the public, who came in tired, hot, and hungry, and went out as satisfied and delighted with the daintiness and cleanliness of the serving as they were with the quality of the fare. “ There were real ladies waiting on us,” one man was heard to say. It should not be forgotten that the booth owed much in its appearance to decorations of greenery supplied and fixed by gentlemen friendly to our work.

We have seen that the tirst experiment of supplying tea at a moderate charge, and the second one of providing a tasteful and appetising temperance luncheon, had both been successfully carried out. Since then every year has seen the enterprise repeated on an increasingly larger scale. There have been difficulties. There have been years when the tent rotted through being put away in a damp condition when the table cloths went mouldy when the rains descended and spoiled even more than the attendance. There have been times when the publicans wished to outbid us for th'- site, when our enemies in the A. and P. Association said that women had no right to go into these enterprise s, and should leave them to the professional caterers. But the Christchurch Union has felt that its presence on the show grounds has been a power for good. One featute of its work has not hitherto been mentioned. From the very outset the W.C.T.U. booth has been the centre for the distribution of literature faring on the subjects to which the Union devotes itself. How many leaflets have been distributed, and how much good they have done, can scarcely be estimated. But we believe we may safely say ‘that no organisation in the colony has more practically followed

Neal Dow’s advice to “ sow knee deep with literature ” than the Christchurch W.C.T.U.

The change that has come in the attitude of the public mind ir regard totemperance has this year been shown in the action of the Canterbury A. and P, Association towards the W.C.T.U. For many years the want of conveniences has made the task of providing for the wants of thousands of

people a very difficult one. The Union has repeatedly approached the Association with the object of coming to an arrangement whereby the members would feel justified in taking the risk of erecting a kitchen and other requisites. But the Association has always refused to en er into any arrangement. However, “ the Union has,” as a Committet man put it, “proved itself indispensable,” and alongside the site of the W.C.T.U. booth there has now’ been erected an up-to-date kitchen arrangement.

A building So feet long and 12 feet wide has been built, providing a storeroom 30 feet long, a kitchen of the same length, while at one end is a smaller room in which to make salad and prepare other food for the tables, and at the other end is a cloak room for the use of the lady assistants. 'I he storeroom is provided with benches and cupboards. A special feature of the kitchen is the arrangement f or the supply of hot and cold w ater. Water is laid on from the main well on the grounds to two 400 gal. tanks that stand at the back of the kitchen, while inside there is another 200 gal. tank and three 20 gal. boilers, all connected by pipes and taps. The inside tank and boilers are heated by means of gas, so that the old trouble of ordinary boilers outside, the carrying of water, and the smoke nuisance will be entirely done away with. Each boiler is provided with a tap, from which to fill the tea urns, and there is a large sink for w ashing up purposes provided, with hot and cold water. Both the storeroom and kitchen are connected with the luncheon tent by sliding doors, through which the food is passed. These kitchen arrangements are the most complete of the kind to he found on any show ground in the colony.