SURPRISE PACKETS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 144, 13 March 1919, Page 3

SURPRISE PACKETS

TRAVELLERS' EFFORT ON BEHALF OF MERCANTILE MARINE

A GREAT COLLECTION OF PRIZES The victory effort of the Commercial Travellers' Association on behalt ot tne mercantile marine was launched yesterday afternoon to the accompaniment ol expressions of praise and of high conndenco from three Ministers of the Crown. At 3 p.m. the doors of M shed inJervois Quay were thrown open to a number of Wellington business men. and these had the privilege of being iirst to view tho magnificent display of pme3 ranged about the place. Sir .Tames Allen lAcHiig-Priine ter), the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald (Minister of Agriculture), and the Hon. G. W. Russell (Minister of Public Health) inspected the exhibit?, and afterwards spoke in the highest terms of wlnu thev had seen. , Mr. C. W. Rushbrook. president oi the C.T.A., expressed pleasure at the support which tho effort had met with Irom the merchants of the country, lio was satisfied that the public would get good value for their investment m tickets, and would not bo disappointed m any way. The trouble was really on_ the other side—the association was giving ajvay too much value. Thy however, to get rid of all the 100,000 tickets to-day. Sir .Tames Allen said that whenever the commercial travellers put their band to tho plough they never turned back till they had completed their job and done, it' well. He wished to tell the public what a. snlendid collection of goods the travellers had got together. Everyone who bought a ticket was certain to 'get value for it, and might even get such value as a motor-car worth dfidoO. The public in buying tickets could lie assured not only that they would get. value for their money, but al?o ( th:it. tliev would be doing splendid work m providing 1 for the men of l'-e mercantile marine. He congratulated the travellers on 'the collection, and on the way in which it was laid out. He could not but believe that the nublic would support the effort to the full. The men of the mercantile marine had not had the glamour attached to their work that was attached to fighting in the trenches;but they had had dangerous work to do, and they had never failed in it. He hoped thev would not think that they had been forgotten, but would rest, assured that, when the time came their services would lie recognised. The soldier received his war Tiipdal for going into danger, and the men of the mercantile marine who had similarly none into danger might rest assured that they would be provided with some corresponding decoration. Without them, New Zealand could never have sent away its men and its produce, and they had' a record to be proud of. I e hoped that in years' to come they would have the intense satisfaction of realising that they hn'<l fully p'ayed their pari, and that the Empire stood on more solid ground and a surer foundation than ever 131 The'Hon. Mr. Russell said that what he had Just seen had been a revelation to him. After nil, though it was only what he might have exnected to see when lit*knew that the C.T.A. had had the matter in hand. This effort, which was perhaps the wind-up of such patriotic efforts in the country, was magnificent one, and he hoped that. tlio'is""ds would go hikl see the dispiaj. Probably never in tho history of New Zealand had there been such a magnificent collection of gifts mad" to provide funds for so worthy and noble an object. The industries of the country were worthilv represented among the contributions. He was prepared to predict that by 9 p.m. there would not be one ticket of the 100,000 offered remaining unsold. The Hon. Mr. MncUonald, like the previous speakers, paid a tribute to the energy of the commercial travelers in patriotic w6rk. After four and a. half rears, when it mielit have been thought that they would have tired, they hod outshone themselves, and he was conndent that they would receive the reward ■of their industry. Whatever they might do, they could never do too much for the men in whose interests they wera working. Some of the Prizes,

The exhibition was thrown open to the general public last evening. It was one well worth seeing The spacious shed lent by the Harbour Board was Rally decorated with bunting, and. the vast assortment of irooils to be given as prizes was very prettily arranged on handsome-ly-draped stalls. Generally "speaking, every type of ware to be seen in the city shops was and this was only natural when practically every business had contributed something. There werf* groceries, drapery, fancy goods, sewi'n? machines, general produce (including 500 bass of potatoes), a eanicra_, watches, silverware, glassware, << .£25 banjo, e.p. wave, toys. 5000 packets of cigarettes, and crockery. The random mention of these articles, however, is finite inadequate to convey an idea of the variety and extent.of the field of possibilities open to the buyer of a shilling ticket. In one comer of the shed were a Shetland pony, a polo pon}, and a "oat, and outside stood a motorcar, with a placard announcing that it was one of the many "chances." Some of tho prizes the association could not. of clourse. exhibit; for sections of lanrl may be viewed, but not in a shed; and free trips about the country are rather vugue, intnnsrible things for the purposes of an exhibition, but are, none' the less, well worth winning. The sale of tickets is to begin at 8 o'clock this morning. ■