TRAMWAY COPPER TRAIL.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16267, 18 July 1918, Page 7

TRAMWAY COPPER TRAIL.

interview with mr l. b. hart,

Always a busy man, but now hot upon the trail, it was with difficulty anr representative obtained a few jointitee with iir L. B. Hart, the deputy-chairman of the Ohristchurch Tramway Copper Trail. "Want to know all about the trail, eh?" said Mr Hart in reply to a question. "Well, it's like yjjs you know. There is no need fox m e to tell you about the work of the • Lady Liverpool Fund; that's well known, and 1 think everybody will agree with me that it would be a crying j} that work had to be stopped for want of funds, let this is what is staring them in the face owing to the largely increasing number of parcels sent monthly, and to the increased cost of the various articles sent in those parcels. Consequently the ladies connected with the fund have appealed to U3 for help, and we are responding, and now ask for the co-operation of the public. We propose to raise funds by seeing how • many miles of tram rails ffo C an cover with coppers. Of course, it would bo impracticable to actually lay the pennies on the rail, as this irould not only interfere with the whole tramway service, but would entail too much labour putting the pennies down and picking them up again; and, beiides, there would not be enough pennies in circulation for the job. So we have had printed tickets with an imprint of a penny, and these are sold at one penny each. Evory ticket is numbered, and as ten pennies go to one foot, we know by the number sold exactly how many feet, yards, or miles of rail are covered each day. This in itself would be very interesting, but in order to make fcho scheme more interesting we have divided the whole of the Christ- | church tramway system into six districts, each district having a distinctive colour. "The following colours have been allotted to the various districts:— 1. Opawa, St. Martin's, Cashmere, Sydenham ... Pink. 2. Coronation street, Lincoln road, Ittccarton .<■ ... Green. 3. Fendalton, Papanui ... Yellow. 4. .North New Brighton, Dallington, Linwood, South Brighton ... ... Blue, fi. Or ant or d street, Edgeware road ... ... White. 6. Sumner, Woolston ... Buff. "Every district will therefore endeavour to cover the most mues, and they are keeniy taking tae matter * up, forming local committees ana pushing the sale of tneir particular coloured tickets. By means of coloured devices in Cathedral square the public will be able to ascertain the position ot the oitferent districts, so tiie interest will be maintained and competition kept olive. This makes the scneme doubly interesting, but we got farther yet. A large number of the tickets will bear lucky numbeiß, which will entitle the holder of that ticket to a prize varying in value from £1 to £100, thanks to the generosity of several well-wishers. Those numbers are contained in a sealed envelope, and are unknown by anyone connected with the scheme. So you see by buying a penny ticket a purchaser not only covers a tenth of a foot of tramrail, but he helps his district to the proud position of heading the competition, ana £t the same time stands the chance of winning one of the ndmerous prizes: and lastly, and great-' est of all, he helps to maintain a fund yrhicfi ia sending 7000 parcels a month to our boys in the trenches." "Bat does this clash with the Bed GrwsP"

"Ah I I am glad you asked me that, for it gives me the opportunity of say- ' iiig dthpb'atieally 'No.' The Red Cross Ftmd and .the Lad; Liverpool Fund are equally deserving of support. Both are doing l the very boat of work, and each has a definite but different object. The Red Cross Fund looks after the wounded soldier, the soldier in the hospital. The Lady Fund looks after , the unbounded soldier, the soldier in the trenches. The wounded and the un wounded soldier need our help, our sympathy, and our encouragement, and surely we, living at home in comfort and safety, thanks to their noble efforts, can'afford to remember them both, and we will remember them, won't weP" And before our representative could answer in the affirmative, as he intended, Mr Hart was called away, so there was nothing else left for him to do but to go and purchase as many tenths of a foot of, tramrail as his ready cash allowed. ' •

He found on enquiry that ticketß either singly or in rolls can be obtained at the office of the organising secretary, Mr 0. W Hervey, Cathedral square, and that they will also be obtainable «t the Lady Liverpool tent in the Square every Wednesday, or at anytime from any member of the local committees or tramway officials. 47