CHRISTMAS EVE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 77, 26 December 1918, Page 6

CHRISTMAS EVE

AROUND THE SHOPS

HAPPY CROWDS IN WELLINGTON

THE CHILDREN'S DAY

This year's Christmas Eve in town was a happy, bustling evening, coloured by expectation of good things to come and brightened by the lifting of the war clouds; and withal an evening that found many people a little tired and a trifle perplexed. There never was in Wellington a. Christmas Eve when it was harder for the average parent—and the parents are the people who carry the real load of responsibility at Christmas time—to obtain all the good things that are considered proper to the', celebration of the "festive season." A very small ham was costing 125., and apples were priced at Is. per lb. Oranges (in very short supply) soared beyond the reach of the many at lfts. a dozen, bananas were scarcely "to be got at any price before the afternoon was ended; strawberries, eggs, cherries, and a dozen other thin.es had become dearer when they were needed most. But tho Christmas spirit rose superior to discouragement, and the crowds that filled tlie streets and moved busily through shops were r'ch with cheerfulness and good will. ■ For the children, at any rate, there were few shadows.

To compare the Christmas Eve of 101R with the eve e-f a year earlier is to realise linw dark and heavy was the war cloud at the end if 1917. and what heartfelt relief the l'fting of that cloud lies brought. Christmas of 1017 cam" at the rid of a third year of dreadful war. New Zealand was mourning its' dead and facing, tfithout illusion, the sacrifices that the new veer goi"" t" demand. Tt seemed that scarcely a family in the Dominion was not represented in the tens of thousands of m°n abroad, end for those men th« hallowed call, "Peace on eartli, good will towards men." at best a promise of indefinite fn'llnienf and at wo'-st a mockery. '[Vra was reason to believe then that, for New Zealand 1!)18 was going to he the married men!s year of war. Thousands of fathers and mothers made their Christinas plan® knowing that twelve months later the mother might havo to' fill little stockings unaided.

The Christmas of 1!)1S finds the shadow lift»d. - The of victory has been paid and its measure is known. There are brave lads who will not. return, end there were sad Jiearts on Christmas Eve over the gifts that need not he prepared. But there are a'so tens of thousands of N»w Zealand soldiers will reach their homes again during the next twelve months, and the sure knowledge of their coming, was with fathers arid mothers, wives end' children, this Christmas sea=on, 'The call had .sitn'ificne"e again after th<»' lone- venrs when its meaning was blurred bv the smoke of battle and the-tears of suffcrinjr.

■Some of these, thnujhts thrm"*li manv minds on Christmas Eve. "My daddv doesn't have to f"tht any more, and he will be home for next Christmas," said a. little lad confidentially (n tho snlesr-.-unnn who was wrapping h ; s narc n l. It was a big. bravo pared, thank Heavi. the so" - !- ef Mre J deserved bv a Ivr- who is wail'iif for th" return of a tidier-father. Mo t <> fortimVe irw« two children who had their fathnr. v st ; " in uniform, to watch their nurebasi". and tell of a diffc"nt and less Imppv Christ■mas. spent within sound of the guns un. rter leaden cities in A l "' fin™ was a mother said a Utt l " wistfully .that she not ne n d to take mneli home this Christmas, lwinuso her two hnr.s—fhere had bee" n. third—wer" still with the .Army. "They will Vith be back n«x( Christmas. and T shall have a busy time then." she ediVd srn«l ; nn-lv. "Thev always wero great bays for Clirist-m-is."

The custom of the Christmas gift has survived transplantation to New Zealand, and it appears to flourish in the new .soil. It seems to be ohserved by the. srroat majority of families in this country, and if it is bad for some generous pockets, it is good for the heart and probably for the soul as well. It is also good for trade, and shopkoners gorera'ly seemed well satisfied on Tuesday at the way the goods were flowing from their shelves. Of course, very many people disregarded the injunction to "shop early." They always do, and so there was much crowding and questioning on Christmas Eve. and much hurryincr of tired salespeople, who yet managed to preservo their smiles.

A word may be said here in defence of shopkeepers whose prices caused dismay among shoppers. A littles inquiry showed that there was far less exploitation about these prices than might, have been imagined at first acquaintance. Some tradespeople, particularly the fruiterers, lost money because of their inability to put their wares within the reach of the people. There wns an actual shortage of fruit in Wellington this Christmas, and the cause has to be sought further back than the local wholesale market. Apnles at Is. per lb, offered no profit at all to some sellers, since the- price was practically equivalent to the wholesale price, and the turnover naturally was comparatively small, A study of costs and prices would be out of place here, but so much ought to bo »aid lest hard thoughts, foreign to the true Christinas sentiment, should be allowed to linger.' , Christinas Eve, like nil the other good things, had its ending. Some people shopped early enough to get into the picture theatres, where they and their parcels performed strange evolutions in narrow passages and seats. Others made their final •purchases in frantic haste, as the closing hour of the shops approached. The out-going trams became crowded as the evening wore on, and loaded passengers good-huinouredly made way for one another. Tt is difficult to carry a doll, a parasol, time brown paper parcels, and a "scooter" in an .over-filled tramcar. But many people performed the apparently impossible with their loads, and by 10 o'clock most of the shippers, young nnd old, were nt.home, there to make their final preparations for the events to which Christmas Eve is merely the introduction.

So came Christmas morning. That morning belongs to the children, even more surely than Christmas Eve, and there is a grey hour when some otherwise perfectlv . well-couducM parents wish meanly that they, had the power to postpone daybrenlc, find so keep youn" eves closed v,ntil the normal hour of rnlfing. The ravishing of the.Christmas sinkings Wins very early in New Zenland. Milkmen who have i«v"r nr"vi. ously se»n th«i|- customers find astir, and m'Vht be allov-nd to watch t'" l r»aninir of lh" harvest of Christmas Eve shormnj* ;p iUny yot such l^ir'winlp. Should somef-hin" Ti" said of triimnnfc; ' f sr(UcVers." of C'" ,n l-ni-y e"'l thosn Ji"«inals that, inflnt'-'l vnntlifiil 111-path, expirrt stridnnflv n,"l T |, pc „ 'n rhrirtwnv. nvJ n,„ nerse*

',-'in|.7 1,, "Van affnr 5 nVWk 011 Christmas jr""-.ling deserve*— fn "vo in a house where there nr? no rh'ldrcn.

GOOD nrSTNWR IN AUCKLAND. By Tc>iranh—Press Association. Auckland, December 23. Groat business was done in Auckland on Christmas Eve. Money .was plentiful, and shopkeepers did business immeasurably greater than on any previous war Christmas.