School canteen and food (1917)

Post date: Feb 01, 2014 4:19:16 PM

Extract from the Parish Magazine of July 1917:

THE CANTEEN1.—The Wateringbury School Children's Dinner Canteen feeds, on five days in each week, 125 children, of whom about 110 have been accustomed to take their dinner to school instead of going home for it. By careful enquiry it seems that the amount of bread averaged 6oz. per child. The amount of flour used in the canteen is negligible, and the total amount of bread saved may be reckoned at fully 60 quartern loaves per week, or more than 11/2 cwt. of flour. If similar canteens were established throughout the country the bread problem would be quickly solved. Each child pays 10d. per week for his or her slip of five tickets. It is intended that the scheme shall be self-supporting; but possibly the price may have to be raised to 1s. At present the canteen receives some gifts of vegetables; and we are asked to invite the children to increase the supply by bringing something and leaving it at the Institute on their way to school. The Working Men's Institute have granted the use of their big room, which is filled with loaned tables and forms. A kind friend has furnished the canteen with the plates and spoons; and another all the tea-cloths, towels, etc. Messrs. Leney have given a generous subscription to meet the cost of gas for cooking. The K.E.C. have granted the use of their stove and have allowed the cookery instructress and her class of girls to cook the dinners on one day each week. A list of voluntary helpers would show about forty names—a big business it is to organise and carry on. There are two caterers, whose duty it is to supply the uncooked food. There are 16 cooks, who take duty in turn, two each day, having general supervision for the day, starting at 8.30 a.m.; and on some days there is an assistant cook to help to cut up vegetables for the next day. The school teachers generously give up a part of their precious dinner hour to marshall the children, and help to serve them. In addition there are 15 servers, who take it in turn to attend, three each day; half a dozen others hold themselves ready to act as cooks when called upon to supply a temporary vacancy; others who take turn to help four school girls each day in the washing up; as well as voluntary scrubbers of the room and washers of tea-cloths. There is a General Committee, which includes five working mothers and meets to decide important questions; and an Executive Committee, consisting of the Secretary (Miss Dorothea Livett), the Treasurer (Mrs. King), the two caterers (Mrs Flint and Mrs. Warburton), with Miss Hinton and Mrs. Smith as representing the schools.

The Canteen has now been going for a month, and on the whole the machinery set up seems to have worked with remarkable success, and as time goes on there ought to be little for the executive as a body to do. The hard work falls, day by day, upon the officials and upon the cooks and helpers appointed for the day. At first there was bound to be some little omission here or over-lapping there, causing trouble, but there has been no real break-down—good will and energy have tided over all difficulties. It must be recognised, however, that this is a big undertaking, and once begun must be carried on for the duration of the war. It will be a real tax on the helpers one and all. If only a few were to drop out it might end in failure. The important thing is that if anyone has to be away she should find someone to take her place. Then, with every worker sticking to her own job, the machinery will work smoothly, and when peace is restored Wateringbury will look back proudly on a real good bit of war work.

* * * * *

The Vicar has analysed the entries in Mrs. Leney's Egg Books (National Egg Collection for the Wounded) and has culled the following particulars:—They cover the period, July 21st, 1916, to May 25th, 1917, or forty-six weeks from the sixty-first week of the collection. (Particulars of the first sixty weeks were published in the Magazine of August, 1916). Mrs. Jude has given 2s. a week; Mrs. Lambert, £1 (9 1/2 dozen eggs); Miss Fremlin, 18 dozen eggs (in 19 weeks); Mrs. Flint, 8 dozen (10); Miss Hinton's collection (for self, Mrs. Jer. Harris and others), about 20 dozen (31 weeks); Mrs. Lemmens, 35 dozen; Mrs. Leney, 30 dozen (36); Gertrude Lankstead, 4 dozen (9); Mr. Brocklebank, £1 (about half expended) ; and Miss Goodwin, Miss D. Gator, Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. King, Canon Livett and Mr. Richards have contributed in eggs or money. Total number of eggs, 1,927; or an average of 3 1/4 dozen sent up weekly.

*****

WATERINGBURY WAR HOSPITAL SUPPLY DEPOT.—The following articles have been sent away through Mrs. Lambert to the Central Depot, Surgical Branch of Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, for use in our various war hospitals and those of our Allies :—114 new huckaback towels; 74 bedjackets; 23 shirts; 22 suits pyjamas; 43 large limb bandages; 12 small cushions; nine triangular bandages; nine washing gloves; eight face flannels; ten pillow cases; one feather pillow; three pairs socks. In addition, Mrs. Lambert has provided material for, and knitted, 270 face swabs. Also £25 5s. 7d. has been given by the following:—Mrs. Brocklebank, Mrs. and Miss Cator, Mrs. Flint, Miss Fremlin, Miss A. Goodwin,Mr., Mrs. and Miss Lambert, Mrs. Leney, Mrs. Livett, Mrs. Southwell Sander and Mrs. White. Thanks for help in needlework and for washing towels and pillow cases is gratefully tendered to the following :—Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Beeston, Mrs. Benfield and family, Miss Brooker, Miss Gator, Mrs. Chambers, Miss Cross, Mrs. English, Mrs. Flint, Miss Fremlin, Miss Goodwin, Mrs. Hills, Miss Hinton and the school children, Mrs. Leiiey, Mrs. Livett and family, Mrs. Lemmens, Mrs. Longley, Mrs. Luxford, Miss Moody, Nurse Porter, Mrs. Southwell Sander, Mrs. Sidney Smith, Nurse Smith, Mrs. Warburton, Mrs. White, Mrs. Wolfe. Special thanks are due to Miss Giles for cutting out all the shirts and pyjamas. The following are some of the remarks made on receipt of the parcels in London :—"I like your shirts and pyjama suits immensely, they are delightfully made ; the socks are delightful, too, and the bedjackets. . . . I am very grateful for this consignment at the particular moment, and will be only too glad to receive another from you in due course"; "A very handsome and much appreciated gift"; "All very nice."

*****

Mrs. Julia Smith sends the following from The Limes, Bow Road, under date June, 1917 :— "Being kindly permitted to take this means of performing what is to me a pleasing duty, I beg to express my deep gratitude to the many subscribers who have so generously contributed to the testimonial which has been presented to me, and to Mrs. Leney for the beautiful purse which contained the money. It is a great happiness to me to feel that I have been thought not unworthy to receive the kind and good wishes of so many on my retirement from business. I offer my grateful thanks to all."

*****

SUGAR2.—Some weeks ago the Sugar Commissioners announced in the Daily Papers that sugar for domestic jam-making might be obtained by people growing their own fruit on application through their regular grocers. Those who took advantage of this arrangement have received a first instalment designed for making jam from soft fruit, another instalment for hard fruit is to follow.

More recently, Mrs. Heron Maxwell, of Great Comp, who is Hon. Sec. of the Village Gardeners and Allotment Sub-Committee of the West Kent Women's War Agricultural Committee, obtained a special concession from the Sugar Commissioners on behalf of the cottagers of West Kent who grow their own fruit. It was necessary that the distribution should be carried out as speedily as possible and arrangements were made through the registrars representing the Committee in the parishes. About 90 parishes applied for sugar, and 55 tons have been distributed at 6 1/2d. per lb. Wateringbury's allotment was 18 cwt., which was weighed out by willing helpers to about 120 applicants on two successive evenings in the Church Rooms in amounts ranging from 5 to 30lbs. After the first evening it was found that in a few cases the preliminary circular notice intended to be left at every cottage had miscarried, and on the second evening a few people who had applied for large amounts were asked to be content with a few Ibs. less in order to meet the wants of fresh applicants. The goodwill displayed smoothed the way of readjustment. The registrar, Miss Livett (who is to be congratulated on the success of a difficult task) wishes to acknowledge the valuable help of the teachers and school children who distributed the notices and tho ladies who served out the sugar. Perhaps it may be well to emphasize the condition that the sugar must be used exclusively for jam-making. We do not want prosecutions under the Defence of the Realm Act !

Miss Guest, a Canadian lady, who is demonstrator appointed by the Board of Agriculture, working for the same sub-committee, recently gave an interesting lecture in the Institute to an audience of 27 people on drying fruits, jam-making and kindred matters. Space and time forbid details. Perhaps we may be able to return to the subject on a future occasion. One would also like to say something on a subject of great importance in war time on which experts are now engaged in shedding light to dissipate our general ignorance—the relative values of different kinds of foods And National Baby Week is drawing our attention to a still more momentous matter. It is really tragical that a great war should be necessary to wake us up to the extreme importance of the conservation of human life. Closely connected with this is the housing question, which was recently brought before a Parish Meeting at the request of the Government.

A slight confusion crept into a paragraph of last month's magazine, which we wish to apologise for and correct: Alfred George Harding was killed in France last autumn, and Arthur Henry Hodge was drowned when H.M. Destroyer "Derwent" was mined in the spring.

Rainfall for June, 2-77 inches ; for March to June inclusive, 7'86 ; for the six months, Jan. to June, 11-65.—A. L.

Notes:

1. See also School Dinner canteen-Menu   and School Dinner Canteen - Letter to The Times. In May 1917 Lord Devonport, minister of food, exhorted the country as follows: "We must all eat less food and especially we must all eat less bread...The enemy is trying to take away our daily bread. He is sinking our wheat ships. If he succeeds in starving us, our soldiers will have died in vain."

2. 60+% of Britain's sugar was imported from central Powers before outbreak of the war. The March 2014 Journal of Kent History has an article about how the sugar allocated to Crockenhill by the war Agricultural Committee was used for 8 weeks in a co-operative scheme and sold at a profit which was used for the War Memorial Fund. Possibly more sugar was finally allocated, 160 tonnes, in this scheme than the 55 tons referred to above.