FURNISHED ROOMS FOR 12/6 BUT NOT AT WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 7, 4 July 1949, Page 5

FURNISHED ROOMS FOR 12/6 BUT NOT AT WHAKATANE

It is possible today to hire a furnished room for 12/6 a week and to buy meals, good meals, from cafes at prices from 1/6 to 2/6. No it is not at Whakatane or anywhere else in New Zealand but in England. So says Mr W. Dreghorn, ex-Whaka-tane teacher, who left earlier this year to return to England, in a letter to the Beacon.

Mr Dreghorn gives the prices of some commodities in England and they make interesting comparisons with the prices of this country. Tea 3/2 to 3/4 a lb, coffee 2/10 to 3/4 a lb, cocoa 2/6 lb, sugar 5d lb, butter 1/4 lb, margarine 9d lb, 20 cigarettes for 2/7 and 3/6, beer 1/1 a pint, Austin 8 1940 second hand £490. Those are some of the pi’ices but it must be remembered that those commodities are not always available. In some the same refers to this country too.

Relieving Teacher Leaving New Zealand Mr Dreghorn travelled to England to resume teaching. For a while he relieved at the local Margate Primary school and his remarks on the conditions there are interesting.

“I had a class of 35 seven year old infants, all from working class homes. They certainly looked much poorer than Bay of Plenty kids. “All these children get a very good two course dinner at 5d or five meals for 1/10. Teachers pay a 1/but if on duty get it free. I usuallly gave them a second meal by describing to them the social afternoon tea parties on the sunlit lawns of Whakatane.”

Infant teaching is the hardest and most exacting work, according to Mr Dreghorn. The teachers deserve every penny they get as there is a shortage, especially women teachers, which makes the work harder.

“My salary was £l4/12/6 a week. Rather large? But this is high because relieving teachers are not paid for holidays,” he points out.

While taking his seven year old class Mr Dreghorn recorded the cockney conversation of some of his pupils. Teacher: Do you like sitting next to Raymond Pamela? Pamela: Yessir, e’s my sweetheart. His First Day

On the first day he had only been in the class room for two minutes when this took place. “Pleassir Charlie spit on . me. Sir he keeps on spitting at us and he gobbed on him and all.” And to end the day he was told this. ‘ “Plessir Smify swore.”

But despite all this Mr Dreghorn advocates teachers coming down to the level of seven year olds at some time in their careers. “It is good training,” he says. Mr Dreghorn’s letter to the Beacon was a hand printed, well illustrated collection of seven foolscape pages. He concludes by promising a further letter from Gravesend. Kent.