THE HONGKONG! TELEGRAPH. SATURDAY, MARCH
19, 1938.
LIFE IN BRITAIN-1938
RICH
MEN'S
Close-up
of a
MINING
A
TOWN
TOWN
where the women look older than they are:
Where
four families out of five live on less than £2 18s. a week;
Where couples have been courting for years and years but have never had the money to marry:
Where some people have never heard a" talkle":
Yet, a town where the people have never lost their courage and energy.
That is the urban district of Nantyglo and Blaine, a mining town in Monmouthshire, where 40 per cent. of the insured workers are unemployed.
Just what is everyday life like in such a town? What do people do? How do they keep up their spirits?
Last summer a man went there to ask them questions. His name way Phlip Massey and he went into home after home making simple direct inquiries about the way in which the familles there- employed and unemployed-live.
He publishes his findings to-day entitled "Portrait of 0 Mining Town" (price sixpence). Here are some of the things he discovered:
Leisure
NOE there were crowds to dances, they put down 18, at the door and dressed in their best. Now, even those in work cannot easily put down 18., and many ask for tickets beforehand and have an account to pay 3d, a week for them. changed, there is no "best" now. and girls rarely have new shoes or dresses. Very little betting is done. Most have no interest and ne money.
Dress also has
About half the people inter- viewed had wireless in their homes. either the "plug in the wall"
To-day's Thought
QUE civilisation is a dingy, ungentlemanly business:
it drops so much out of a
-R. L. STEVENSON.
man,
(local relay system) or old sots
of their own.
The majority of people prefer "good" music. The local band is cxcellent.
One great need is a swimming- bath. The ponds in the district aro increasingly used. Many people have been drowned in these ponds, which are contaminated no well as treacherous; dead dogs have been seen there, with chil- dren swimming within 30 yards,
The chlef pince for conversation for men is the club. Women talk mainly in their homes--and in cach other's homes.
C
Religion
HURCH. and chapel attend- unces have fallen off greatly of late years and continue to fall, particularly where few social activities are run in connection with them. The number of women who attend 13 considerably. greater than the number of men. The chief explanations given for the fall in attendances were:
(1) Same general decline in positive expression of belief as in all parts of the country, plus cjject of declining population;
(2) No clothes decent enough for
chapel,
(3) General apathy arising from
continued unemployment;
(4) Sociat activities handi- capped by absence ministers,
of
One man said that the religion which
exists to-day is more genuine and less hypocritical.
It is interesting to note that de- spite the very great decline in church-going people do not like voting in local elections for a can- didate who is an atheist,
B
Shopping
IGGER shopkeepers in the town seem to find they have...
give to.
some short-term credit, even to unemployed people, to keep business, but most of the smaller shops. seem to conne themselves nowadays to what is virtually cash trading.
Many shopkeepers get into debt, which is not surprising in view of
yet the people have never lost their courage.
the debts owing to them.
One shopkeeper, who gave credit freely. like others in the coal stoppage of 1921, had debts of £2,000 owing to him in six months.
Some familles got as much as £10, and even £60, in debt to a single shopkeeper. The shop- keepers know that most of these debts will never be repaid.
In general, the people owing such debts continue to deal at the same shop, and the old debts are recognised by both parties as dead and gone.
Books are not often bought now: the cinema has hit this trade. People may look well-dressed, but behind this
appearance is the denial even of necesalties—for a good appearance.
There is no doubt that the net incomes of some shopkeepers are lower than their unemployment, allowances would be.
Food
TN general, expenditure on food would be about £1 a week for a family of four or five with the head of the family unemployed and 303, to 35s, where he is work- ing. Fresh milk is absent from a large number of budgets and the average consumption in the dis- trict is less than one pint a day per family.
In many unemployed families the expenditure on food per per- son per meal was 12d.-an a four- meal-a-day basis.
The County Council medical re- port for Blaine Boys' School last year showed that only 6.3 per cent. of the boys were "excellently nour
TOMBSTONE HUMOUR
OUR ancestors seized every op-
portunity of expressing them- aelves when erecting memorials to their
dear departed. Curiously
the road,
She closed her eyes and said.
"My God!"
From Devon we get a glimpse enough, most of the ancient epitaphs into the character of Mary Sex- Bavour of a certain humour, intend- ton's sepulchral neighbour:-
ed or otherwise no one will ever know. Here Is a gem from Cul- г0982-
A soul prepared needa so delays. The summons comes, the saint
obeys,
Swift was her flight and short
Here lies the body of Mary
Sexton,
Who pleased many a man and
never vexed one,
Not like the woman under the
next stone.
Two verses on a Hertford stone
Swan Culbertson
Frith g
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COUNT THE “TELEGRAPHS''' EVERYWHERE
tell their sad tale:-
Grieve not for me, my husband
dear,
1 am not dead but sleeping here,
With patience wait, prepare to
die,
And in a short time you'll come
to I
I am not grleyed, my dearest life, Sleep on, I have anether wife, Therefore I cannot come to thee, For I must go and live with she.
In Norfolk, John Racket doce not: appear to have been held in high esteem:-
Hero Hes John Racket
In his wooden jacket.
He kept neither horses nor
mules
He lived like u dog,
He died like a dog, And left all his money to fools.: In Somerset there lived a poor)
Neglected by his doctor, 11-treated by his nurse, His brother robbed the widow, Which made it all the worse, From America comes this torso message:-
Beneath this stone-a lump of
clay
Lies Uncle Peter Danels, Who, early in the month of May Took off his winter flannels.
•
**
-
Much nearor home, at Preston- pans, We find the following epitaph:-
William Mathieson here lies, Whose age was 41. February 17 ho dica, Went Isabel Mitchell from Who was his wedded wife "The fourth part of his life.
The soul it cannot die, Though the body bo-turned- to
ished "
compared with 14.0 per cent. for the county as a whole.
And 27.7 per cent, were below normal, compared with a national average of 11.3 per cent.
H
Holidays
ERE are some of the answers given to Mr. Massey by un- employed men when he asked them about their holidays:
"I never got away-not oven odd trips. My wife goes now and again to Abertillery by bus."
"My wife took a day off to visit our boy in the Midlands last year,"
"I get a day out perhaps once a year."
"I never get out of Blaina.” And here are some answers that he got from men in work:
"We get three days stop in August, but can't go away. All I can manage is a day at Barry.”,
"We have had no holiday since 1919."
"I have never even had a day out since I was married. My wife saw the sea once, but the children have never been away.”
M
Snobbery
TR. MASSEY went
round asking people if they thought there WRA much snobbery in the town. Here are one or two of the answers that he got:
"Some people educated at the expense of the County Council are snobs. Those whose parents have made the blg sacrifices are generally not.""
"Some teachers are snobbish and selfish."
SIMPLE
MEALS
THE Kitchen Committee of the
House of Commons is not happy. Like the average housewife, il is feeling the general rise in the price of food. But, mone than that, its receipts are failing steeply, Honour- able members are not indulging in Auch lengthy and expensive meals as they used to. More and more meals are being served In the tearooms, and fewer and fewer in the dining-
rooms.
Since the Labour members. grew in numbers the favourite repast in the "best club in London" is high tca. The dish most often called for is the homely haddock-and-poached cgg.
reason
As for the members of the Upper do Chamber, they
not eat in the House to the same extent as the elected legislators, for the simple that noble lords generally adjourn in time for dinner. Some- times, of course, there is a late sit- ting of the House of Lords, and then the lords require sustenance like anybody else.
And, with what do they stay their noble stomachs? With ortolans, truffles, and all the delicacies of the season? Far from it! The caterer for the House of Lords revealed some time ago that the most popular dish on these occasions was sausages and mashed potatoes!
Simplicity Preferred
It happens more often than one would think that people whose purses can command the most costly dishes in the world are pleased with quite simple fare. More, they seem to prefer it.
The Duke of Windsor, when he was the Prince of Wales, was the despair of his hostesses. They would put before HR.H. the choicest efforts of their highly-paid chefs; and he would turn away from them and nak for a slice of cold ham and some salod. Ham and salad is within the reach of everybody, but the Prince was quite content with It. At times the Prince would turn into a small club in the purlieu of St. James's, and order a plain chop from the grill.
The late George V was very fond of scrambled eggs at lunch-time; and he never had more than two dishes at any meal, British Royalty generally has shown a fondness for homely food. The Duke of Cam- bridge was quite happy with
Dork
and King Edward VII liked a simple steak at times. On other occasions he would be rather more juxurious; and his steak would be well steeped in part wine for an hour before it was cooked.
It seems that dictators are just as simple in their repasts as hereditary monarchs. Herr
Hitler seldom touches meat. He says himself that' if he does not have eggs and salad he has salad and eggs. There is no doubt that the Fuchrer could Indulge In the richest dishes that Germany produce-if he liked. But, somehow, he does not like.
can
Signor Mussolini lives on macaroni, fruit, and salad. He also drinks milk in some quantity. Paste, vege- tables, and milk-Il Duce's table could scarcely be simpler.
Millionaire's Buna
There is no snobbery here." Snobbery exists among some teachers. Not the councillors, many of them are unemployed;
The Inte Marquess of Clanricorde, and not the council employees, many of them are from the pits."
who was a millionaire in pounds, not "There has never been any real
in dollars, was noticeably simple in his tastes. At times he would be snobbery hore. But before the
noticed sitting in his Pall Mall club, War there was some standoffish-
contentedly eating a couple of buns ness of shopkeepers; now depres-out of a paper bag for his lunch. slon has made a difference, ending. The Duke of Portland is one of the all this; all feel as workers now."
Shopkeepers used to be tin gods; now they mix much more freely with all sections in sport and social life.
Future
HOSE are the things that Mr. Massey has to say about the town as it is how. But what of the future?
Most people have come to see that so long as the present Government remains in office, the only hope for their children is transference to England.
But they know that that only makes the town more derelict than ever for those who remain behind.
Mun after man and woman after woman told Mr. Massey that
they wanted A Labour Government because the Labour mon understood the distressed areas and because they had a plan for reviving them and not just abandoning them.
The polley of abandonment means turning Nantyglo and Blaina into a town of old-age penaloners. Already It seems to the visitor to be a place where there are no young men.
clay,
Yet meet again they must. At the last day Trumpets shall sound, archangels
cry
"Como forth, Isabel Mitcholf And meet Wm. Mathieson, in the
aky f
Douglas Roxburgh
wealthiest men in Great Britain, but his Duchess has not touched meat for years. The late Rance of Sarawak, widow of Sir Charles Brooke, the white rajah (not the present rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke) was also a strict abstainer from meat.
The Marquess of Cholmondeley,'n very rich man, likes à plain grilled sole for dinner; but Instances could bo multiplied indenattely. Any manager in London's West End will tell you that some of the wealthiest men in the world will order a simpler meal than will some success- ful bookmaker or publican.
Some of the great men of the Immediate past were very simple in their tastes. Even after his en- ormous success, Charles Dickens would revel in what he called a "red-hot chop" at his favourite lavern
DO Hampstend Heath, Thackeray never could resist that very homely dish, boiled beans and, bacon.
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BRITISH
ACROSS
1 This should have capital results
for 10 across (10)..
p
One would be a person of prop- erty to this beheaded this (4). 10 Το do with trade, foreign
thanks included (10).
11 Included in the first-aid box
(0).
12 The short measure is certainly
dishonesty (5)..
15 It's
a man that can afford it that plunges (5).
18 Wherein one may study the
growth of mankind (5), 10 Two
is
(7).
20 Part of the body (5).
21 Serpentine study of horse and
Boldiers (3)
22 Has a lending part, but is not
complete (7).
23 The strongest of the birds?
(5).
24 Contact with it often makes for
keenness (5).
20 This form of Ish is yellow (5). 20 A useful make of rife (0), 31 One may use coal coln for
It is recorded that one night, when great house where he would feast he was engaged to dine at some on the finest delicacies, he happened to hear that bolted beans and bacon was "on" at his club, the Reform. 33 Comment (19). He immediately sent an excuse to his would-be host, and enjoyed a solitory meal of the homely fare he so loved.
this but only at times (10). 32 No exclamation can adequately Indicate this old fellow (4),
Tennyson loved plain roast mut- ton, "cut in chunks," ns he onco explained to a horrified girl who sat next to him at a dinner-party, and this simple taste was shared by his friend and contemporary, the states-
man, W. E. Gladstonb. As for our modern authors and sages, we have the illustrious George Bernard Shaw, who sustains
example of
life on huts' and fruitsplat
Michael Campion
DOWN
2 Poplar's source of nourishment
and support. (4).
3 This specimen is more
enough (6).
4 Bird (5).
than
5 Is usually taken from the ball,
and is mostly drunk: (B).
5 Wood is often this to be its end
7 folk sort of disease must not be concealed, not if in the early stages (10).
8 Does this male-factor record ́hly mladotnes. In his second "hal??-
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X, ZANO,
Hongkong, 10th March, 1238.
A BROKEN DOWN SYSTEM. This is a constilen (or disease) to which zway namosare given but few really understand, - Ít Is aluply weakness—a break down as it werw of the vital forons that sustain Ebm wyslazu. N matter what may be its angsen (they are almost Dumberless), ie symptoms are such the same), the more promicant belog sleeplessneSE, VERSI of protricion or, weariness," depression of spirits and want of energy for all iba de dinarg Fairs of Uk. Now, what alone is essenzia) de all such cases in increzand vitality vigour, vits) Strength tod energy to throw of these morbit feelings, and ex night succeeds the day ihlat may be more certainly secured by a touren ne THE NEW FRENCH REMEDY,
THERAPION NĚ. 3
than by any other known combination. Bo sumky as it is taken in soodedanon with the printed directions will the shattered health be restor THE EXPIRING LAMP OF LIFE
LIGHTED UP AFRESHIN and new Glistence imperiad in plaos of what had solutely mad worn-out, qued up and valna less, Thli preparation is suitable for all agen Constitution and ponditions, is either sOK : KOŠ 2 En diMontt ta imagine a disease of derangement whose main feature is wackness, that will not be apemilty and permanently ornoome by tale recuperativa essence, which” la destined to cast Into oblivion everything that had preceded for this wide-spread, socurge of humanity. English Prica Bu, dd, Cuentare un elska WEA. TUSEER HEIDE 53%. Let Ciszen Co. Haveresoon Rd, DE, WE A, LONG, JU
CROSSWORDS
13 To do what the parts of this say would be monotonous enter- tainment (7).
14:China is this example of horpe- play in a rough setting (7).
10 Is this body of troops in isola-
tion? (10).
་
16 What English is to the English
(10).
17 Range (6).
13 Progress on this varies const- derably with the inclination (5).
25 Can one get trunk calls from
his charges? (8).
26 Nothing in classical weapons
appeals to a sense (5). 27 Swinish
voto about Д Very Hmited company (5),
28 An army clique is again ar-
ranged (5). 30 This game sounds Egyptian
(4).
:
Yesterday's Solution
BBL U EF 0 WIPERISH VELLUM
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LABURNUM LIGHTS
THREE BOURE KA V. 1 TECA EINDEN DOLPHIN PERIW10 JEONA | I
NOAH OY CLUB TYLE BTEVEN HELP MATI
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PONOBO CAMELL
LEIK B 1 A