The auto of a worki

“Some seed fell on good

fruit”—Matt XIII, 8

Edited by MARGARET FAIRLEY

biography Ng woman

ground and brought forth

previous instalments, the author told of her childhood in England, how she was aban- doned by foster parents, placed in a home, shipped to Canada to work on a farm when she was 10 vears old and sent back as “in- corrigible.” A fem years later _ she returned to this continent to escape the prospect of life a Lan- cashire sweatshops, married an American whose advertisement in @ matrimonial column she answer- ed and went to live in Philadelphia. Her husband enlisted in the Can- adian army, was wounded over- Seas in the First World War, and ‘on his return was injured while working on a farm. For several dears the family—there were now three . children—lived a hand-to- mouth existence, oftimes on relief, always on the border line of starva- tion, Finally they took up a gov- ernment grant of land in Muskoka.

the Toronto Art Gallery there is a small picture of a man with Sreat outstretched hands groping _ his way; he is close to a yawning Precipice, and ‘over his head and before his eyes is a dense cloud of Newspapers. He has no chance of avoiding falling into the abyss.

I often think that I must have 80t such a big dose of real knowl- edge in my early days that I never had to learn not to believe all that the newspapers told me. And dur- ing my life in Muskoka I manag- ed to reach out to another kind of Paper, by :

It must have been chance which Put in my hands a copy of an English paper called the New

er. But no, I don’t think it Chance -at all, There must have €€n someone in’ that neighbor- hood who was reaching out as I Was, and who left the paper lying 8found ready for me to pick up. I liked the paper, and wrote a let- ter to the editor asking for pen- __ Pals, saying I was lonely and liv- ing far from libraries and book Stores, : _ The result went far beyond What I expected. I got letters. 8nd papers from Australia, Eng- “8nd, Scotland, Wales, France; I Teceived a whole year’s subscrip- tion to a paper called Inprecor, _ Which told me things I could ‘Rever otherwise have known; I _ 80t letters and books from the ~ Salvation Army in England. __ Above all I began a long corre- - SPondence with an old man in a y. He was an Australian _ Who, with a few friends, had Pought a boat in their youth and _ Sailed up the Panama as far as Asuncion, He was a socialist, and © did a great deal to deepen my derstanding of the connection i th en my ‘poverty and his, and ? ive me a wider knowledge of oe lives of people in many parts by (He World. He must'be dead a ¥ now. I lost touch with him he- eS Tape neither he nor I could af- “etd to buy postage stamps. ty at other of my correspondents this time sent me some vol- mes of the Thinkers’ Library, ae began to read history and to i ae to place my life in the great haw’ of mankind. If we could | yuP Our children to do this we nant be giving them an import- Ae clue to understanding. ; Tn Muskoka, though the strug-

‘Sle was hard, T) had the satisfac- ton 9

ay

eg

Forni

f creating some sort of a

home. But there were other things to think about. My boys were out and away with the other thousands of unemployed getting their tough education. I was de- termined that my little girl should go to high school, but that was out of the question where we lived.

I worried about it day and night. What sort of a future was there for her? How could I give her a chance? I must somehow find a way for her to get-the training which I had not had. That has been the age-long driv- ing motive in the minds of par- ents. It is a ‘motive which has pushed men onward.

r knew that worrying only made matters harder for everyone; it is hard to be a good mother when you have no security, and when you are very poor you tan only stumble along. But I felt some relief and peace and even security when one day I decided to leave Muskoka and take Mary to To- ronto for her schooling.

Was I running away again? Perhaps, but it did not feel like running away, more like a hope- ful running towards. JI had no illusions about finding life : any ° easier for myself, but for Mary it meant the hope for a better ilfe. So I packed my bag and took her to Toronto and cut myself loose

from all ties with the children’s father.

- CHAPTER 5 BE Toronto I worked hard with a. clear purpose, to give Mary an education and good food and tidy clothes. But for some months I Was earning $4 a week, and paying out $3.25 in rent. So the two of us ate food costing 75 cents a week. A little later I was earning $8 and © this seemed, and indeed was, a relief from the extreme of desti- tution which I can now hardly be- lieve was my experience. __ Always, at the back of my mind, ° I knew that there were people

worse off than I had ever been, and I knew that our “way of life”

was closely dependent on: theirs. ~

I have never heard that phrase without remembering the poverty of India, South Africa’ and all — the colonies. How can people de- fend “our way of life’? They do not know what it is like to be so poor. ee

My work was all in other peo-

ple’s homes. I did not want-a —

home like theirs, but I hoped for a graceful little home with room for books and record-player. Not a radio; I have too often been _ bothered with the foolish talk and music over the air. I like to ghoose my music to fit my mood. How much music has meant to me, Whenever I have had just a little more than a bare pittance «I have bought a book or a*record, and the reward has been beyond © my telling I think music and books have taken me into a world where all good pedple should be living, a world of truth and hon-' esty, away from the lies and noise. — ' But there was no money for such things yet, and there were lies and noise enough in many of | the homes where I worked, wash- — ing, ironing, cleaning, waiting at table. : { oe : That waiting at table teaches | you a lot about people. How they worry about appearances, how they put on airs with visitors, how hard they try to be some- thing which they are not. (To be continued) — is

SET UP AT UFAWU CONVENTION

Wage increases, milk rollback, urged by new auxiliary council —

THE IMPORTANT role that women’s auxiliaries can play in assisting the development of the trade union movement in B.C. was emphasized by leaders of the Aux- iliary Council in’ the fishing in-- dustry during the recent annual convention of Fishermen and Al- lied Workers Union here.

Aim of the Auxiliary Council, which was set up during the con-

‘vention, is to strengthen the work

of the unicn by coordinating the work of auxiliary locals and help in setting up new auxiliaries.

The council has a perspective of running a workshop in Vancou- ver on such topics as how to run an*auxiliary meeting and how to set up a new auxiliary.

There were 12 women delegates present at the UFAWU convention from such scattered places as’ Fort Langley, Prince Rupert, Lad- ner, Steveston and Vancouver. In addition there were 13 auxiliary members attending the parley, and six visitors from points which in- cluded Owen Bay and Victoria.

Tom Parkin, northern union or- ganizer, officially. opened the first annual Auxiliary Council conven- tion. Last year Parkin was one of the most ardent advocates of such a council, and it was because of a resolution passed at the 1950 convention that the council was finally set up.

After the main report was pre- sented, local auxiliary activities were reviewed. Reports from Lad- ner, Vancouver, Fort Langley, Steveston and Prince Rupert were accepted and it was suggested that locals should be established in the near future at New West- minster, Albion and Whonnock.

The Ladner local is at present the largest and most active, with 43 members. An annual bazaar helps to finance its activities.

Vancouver local held a success- ful Christmas party last year and is striving to increase its mem- bership. A representative was sent to Victoria on the hospital insur- ance lobby, and the local has taken a strong stand against the incredse in BCHIS rates. During the UFAWU convention the Van- couver local sponsored a women’s luncheon attended by more than 50 union delegates, auxiliary mem- bers and friends.

Steveston auxiliary held a Christmas party for children and is currently active increasing its membership, Fort Langley set up a new local recently. At Prince

.Rugert a new local already has

25 members, with a functioning visiting committee and social com- mittee. — rs ‘ Elected as Auxiliary Council of- ficers were: Mrs. Wreatha Dean, Ladner, president; Mrs. W. Bur- nell, Fort Langley, vice-president; Mrs. Isabel North, Vancouver, sec-

_ retary-treasurer; Mrs. Grace Stey-

ens, Vancouver, and .Mrs. Molly Cosulich, Ladner, organizers. Fe Resolutions adopted by council

‘and passed by the union conven-

tion called for: ~ ee --@ A substantial increase in wages and prices in the fishing ~ industry this year. >

@ Municipal and _ provincial governments to extend recreation- al facilities for young people, as a part of the fight against juvenile — delinquency. 5 :

@ Avroll back of milk prices to 15 cents per quart and a govern- ment subsidy to producers. —

@ Low cost hospitalization; ad-

ditional facilities; all persons with ¢

incomes under $1,000 be exempt from BCHIS payments; no in- crease in premium rates.

a ISABEL NORTH

around the kitchen mixing a batch of baking powder

- Vancouver.

_ woman on the relief rolls. That showed me that only

- signatures on the Stockholm ban the bomb petition.

‘Mary Gawrycki is truly

WOMEN OF THE PEOPLE — 6

Mary Gawrycki

“WHY DID YOU collect signatures for the Steck- holm peace petition last year?” I asked Mary Gawrycki as we sat in the cheerful, bright kitchen of her home in the Grandview district. aK

“Why: I just had to try to stop bombs from falling on us,” she replied, with deep feeling in her voice. “My husband received pitiful letters from the old country during the last war, first telling him that his father had been killed by the Nazis and how the Nazis fed his poor mother kerosene soup while she was suf- fering from cancer.

“Then he heard of the horrible experience of his cousin, who was arrested by the Nazis and forced to dig his own grave. Miraculously, he escaped and joined the guerilla forces, and eventually played a part in driving the fascists from Berlin.

“With these experiences in our own family, how can my husband and I ever forget what war and facism means? I am a member of a Russian cultural organization which was banned during the war, but we never stopped doing everything we could to help defeat Hitler and Mussolini.

“Now war threatens the world again. And who will deny that the signatures which people gained for the Stockholm petition~helped prevent atom bombs being dropped in Korea?”

Mary is a member of the Russian Canadian choir and is “a very. reliable member” I was told by another person in the group. She gave an example. One evening last fall when the choir was scheduled to re- hearse, Mary was held up and robbed in her home just before the practice was to start. Mary went right ahead and attended rehearsal,-reported the rob- bery later. “Why didn’t you tell us right nig 6 the police wanted to know. ‘Why, I’d have been late for choir practice if I had stopped on the way down:” replied Mary.

All the time we were chatting, Mary was bustling

biscuits and occasionally peeking out the window to make sure that the neighbor’s two youngsters who were playing on the lawn with the little pups were not getting into difficulties. ;

- Mary Gawrycki was born at Arran Saskatchewan, and lived on the prairies until 1938, when she came to . While in Saskatoon during the Hungry Thirties one of her neighbors was unable to get relief, although she was destitute. Mary said: “I got a bunch of the people together and went to the city hall and the relief office, and we managed to get the

when people work together can we accomplish any- thing.”

x

Mary remarked that she collected “only” 700.

“I feel guilty when I think of how many more I could have collected,” she says, “and that’s why I’m working so hard with the new petition calling for a Five Power _ peace pact.” - up ; eer These words need no enlargement to show ‘that a woman of the people. — VI

DEWHURST." ‘

5 YEARS AFTER V-E DAY a . We Continue | ‘ : A ‘THE FIGHT FOR PEACE’ Lithuanian Literary Society

Vancouver Branch

,

PACIFIC T