enough sugar to go round. The “Hoarding Act” distinctly stated that the
order did not apply itself to “sugar obtained for the preservation of
homegrown produce”--so I appealed to my old friend, Sir Thomas Lipton,
not only because he was a friend, but because he was a grocer, and as
such, would be sure to know what quantity of sugar he might or might
not sell to any customer. But----! Here comes in another story!
A short time previous to the Sugar-Comedy of “Much Ado,” I had been
approached by two gentlemen from Birmingham on behalf of the Y.M.C.A.
and Sir Arthur Yapp (then Director of Food Economy) to help the Society
by a subscription. I gave a hundred pounds; and a generous friend of
mine, on hearing what I had subscribed, gave another hundred. In the
warmth of this success I wrote to Sir Thomas Lipton and asked him
boldly for another hundred. I received a truly heart-rending reply to
the effect that he was a “poor man,” and “could not afford so large a
sum,” but that if I had asked him for ten or fifteen pounds he would
have gladly subscribed. I at once seized the opportunity and begged
him to send the fifteen. He did so, and I wrote my acknowledgments,
assuring him that when he went to heaven that Fifteen Pounds given to
the Y.M.C.A. would be an extra feather in his Angel-Wing! (I do hope
he will one day show that letter to Sir Arthur Yapp!) Then, feeling
I had not yet done enough for the Y.M.C.A. Huts, I agreed that the
Cinema company, then running some stories of mine on the “film,” should
give a few “shows” of them in Stratford for the sole benefit of the
Y.M.C.A., and I am glad to say that they drew packed houses and brought
a substantial result. For this and such assistance as I had freely
given to help on the good cause I had a note from Sir Arthur Yapp
expressing his “most grateful thanks.” And now we can _revenons à nos
moutons_--that is to say, I can return to the Sugar version of “Much
Ado”--but I would earnestly request my readers to “mark, learn, and
inwardly digest” what we may call “The Y.M.C.A.-Yapp Interlude.”
As I have already stated, I could not get sufficient sugar from the
local grocer to preserve the fruit in hand, and as fruit is perishable,
and there was no time to be lost, I rang up Sir Thomas Lipton on the
telephone and asked him what he could do for me. The familiar “Glasgie”
accent came harmoniously along the wire--“Ye’ll never want for sugar so
long as Tom Lipton’s on the ‘phone!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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