FEBRUARY 1959

HOUSE MAGAZINE OFJ. SAINSBUBY LTD

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ROUND

THE BRANCHES

Looking down riverfrom the old bridgeacross the Derwent,some of Derby's historyis silhouetted against thewinter sun. The towersof Lombe's silk milland of the Cathedralflank the power station.

JS JournalH O U S E M A G A Z I N E O F J . S A I N S B U R Y L T D

FEBRUARY 1959S E R I E S N O . A 5 9

If you can write a letter you can probably write anarticle or a story for J.S. Journal. There are no limi-tations on subject matter though we suggest thatwriters should stick to personal observation or ex-perience for their material. For contributions fromJ.S. staff we pay at the rate of £2-0-0 for every 750words published. For photographs by members of thestaff we pay 10/6 for each print published.

Send your manuscripts or your photographs to:

The Editor, J.S. Journal,Stamford House, Stamford Street,London, S.E.I.

2 Derby

7 Think Twice!

8 Big Season

1 O Sweet Beet

1 5 Whist Drive

16 168 Streatham

Contents 19 Dances

2 2 Lightning Chess

2 2 They Got Married

23 Staff News

24 National Service News

24 Calais Trip

24 ?What

Our cover picture: Frost in Derby's Arboretum.

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Derby One 0/ Britain's most handsome zvrought-iron screens adorns Derby Cathedral. It is the work of Robert Bakewell, an 18th-century Derbyshire ironsmith.

Farthest Branch Derby, when we last visited it, was shrouded in ice. It looked, as our pictures show, romantic, beautiful and packed with history. The Romans started Derby with a little camp on the banks of the Derwent. Since then there's always been some­one living there. When the Normans made The Domesday Book they counted about 2,000 people living there—a sizeable town for those days. By the 18th century it wasn't a great deal bigger. But it was enterprising. John Lombe built England's first silk mill there in 1717. The vicar of All Saints' had his church pulled down and called in James Gibb, the architect who built St. Martin-in-the-Fields, to build him an elegant, classical church against the Gothic tower which was left standing. Bonnie Prince Charlie changed his mind there in 1745 and retired from the futile struggle for the throne of England. His loyal Highland supporters withdrew to Scotland and died at Culloden, after which battle the old clans were broken up and the bagpipes declared an illegal "instrument of war."

A few years later William Duesbury opened a china works at Derby. The Crown Derby works still flourishes though it passed out of Duesbury's family after the third generation. The "father of chemistry," Henry Cavendish, a splendidly eccen­tric, mad scientist, was a member of a famous Derbyshire family. He hated women and could hardly bear to speak to men. His orders to his housekeeper for meals were invariably written out and invariably commanded a leg of mutton for dinner (two legs if there were guests). He is buried in All Saints' (now the Cathedral), where lie others of the Cavendish family below the handsome alabaster memorial to the Countess of Shrewsbury. The Countess, better known as Bess of Hardwick, began married life at 12 years of age. She married four times and all her husbands left her property. By Sir William Cavendish she had six children, all of whom she placed in positions of power or influence and from whom descend the ducal houses of Devonshire and Newcastle.

3

Engineer Frederick Henry Royce is com­memorated in Derby's Arboretum. He built, with the Hon. Charles Rolls, the first Rolls-Royce car. It had two cylinders and developed ten horse power.

Nineteenth-century Derby grew prosperous and riotous by turns. Luddites smashed machines in John Lombe's silk mill. Trade unionists fought bitter strikes for the right to organise. A local man, Joseph Strutt, in 1840 set a national style by making, in the Arboretum, one of the first gifts of public land to a town in England. In the 1880s the railways came and Derby became one of Britain's great railway centres. Today, with a population of nearly 140,000, it is a prosperous town with many industries.

Our own branch there was one of the Thorogood shops taken over by Mr. John in 1936. The manager at that time was Mr. E. Pendrick. Today this busy shop is furthest from Blackfriars (our vans leave at 03.00 a.m., arrive about 08.30 a.m.), but in spite of that it is every inch a J .S. branch.

Bess of Hardwick lies in effigy on the handsome Jacobean tomb she had built for herself in Derby Cathedral. She lies buried in front of it with others of her family.

John Lombe's silk mill opened in 1717 on a tiny island in the Derwent. Today only the tower remains of the original structure.

Our farthest away branch at Derby. A general view of the

interior. This was one of the Thorogood shops

taken over in 1936.

Assistant manager Mr. Flint.

Manager Mr. E. H. Ramsden went to Derby as manager in 1956. He joined J.S. in 1924 and was first promoted to manager in 1936.

Miss Stringer, First Clerk (left), and Miss H. Smith. Miss Stringer

joined J.S. in 1936.

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Miss B. Smith and Mrs. Clifton, cooked meats preparation room.

Derby's warehouse. Mr. K. Brown and, at the bacon machine, Mr. D. Potter.

Below: poultry man G. Hardie plucks a pheasant.

Left: Miss Forman, housekeeper, and Mrs. Mellor.

Roundsman F. Wright.

Darts is a popular game at Derby branch. On the far left are the section trophies. The salesman is Mr. F. Whittingham, who holds the section championship. The ladies' championship is held by Mrs. Jean Henderson. Derby have high hopes of their chances in the Midlands competition at Leicester in March.

Think Twice! However intelligent men or women drivers may be, it does not mean that they will become good drivers. The physical side of driving is merely a matter of learning half a dozen various actions and co-ordinating them properly, and though at first these actions seem impossibly difficult, in fact it is easier to drive a car than it is to work some sewing machines. Some learners take to driving like a duck takes to water and others, well, you can talk until you are blue in the face and even then they still haven't a clue.

Our next move Behind it all there are two words that keep you out of trouble, and they are ROAD PROCEDURE. It does not matter how smooth your take-off is, or how great you are at gear changing, what really counts is if you are able to anticipate what your next move must be just that second or part of a second sooner than the other man. Some have this as a natural aptitude and, for them, driving is a relaxed affair. Others find it harder work and are far more prone to accidents. Take braking for example. A driver with good judgment, when approaching a hazard, sees it that fraction earlier, so starts to brake in good time, and if he has to bring his vehicle to a stop will be releasing his brakes gradually so the final stop will be made with minimum pressure or even no pressure at all on the brake pedal. On the other hand the less apt driver will not start braking until it is obvious to him that he is approaching too fast, then on go the brakes and they stay on until the wheels groan to a stop and the body jerks back into position. What a terrific strain there must be on the vehicle as well as the passengers' nerves, but this type of driver doesn't worry, for I am sure he just doesn't know any better, he thinks that is the way it should be done. The truth is he just isn't "with it ."

The most common faults of many drivers are cutting corners, taking them too wide, approach­ing turns too fast and in the wrong gear, and making insufficient use of the mirrors. After you have taken your next turn just think back on whether it was taken correctly, and be completely honest with yourself about your driving. A smooth and safe progress round any corner is impossible without the following points being observed. First, your positioning should be correct. That is, not too

In 1958 over a million motor cars were made in Britain, Of these rather over half were available for the home market, in a year in which credit facilities improved and restrictions on hire purchase were removed. With this sobering thought in mind we are publishing the article below. By J a m e s Clay , J.S. Driving Instructor.

close to the kerb nor too far out in the road. Second, use your mirror or mirrors before giving the appropriate signal. Third, change to the correct gear so that acceleration can be made at the right moment, and fourth, follow a safe and correct line round the corner.

Short way to an argument I would say the worst thing one can do is to criti­cise another man's driving, it is one of the quickest ways to start an argument. That is why a Ministry Examiner is forbidden to discuss the driving test after the candidate has taken it. Tempers soon become short. For example; if ever you have seen a slight collision, or been involved yourself, it is always the other driver who is responsible. But he is just as certain that you are to blame, and this isn't just a front to edge the blame, both drivers are convinced they are in the right.

I would like to quote you the following figures. In 1958 the number of casualties in road accidents reached 299,767, which is 821 per day. Deaths numbered 5,970, child casualties 49,863, which included 717 killed. The growth in the number of vehicles on the road must, of course, be taken into account. In 1958, the number of licensed vehicles went up to the terrific total of 7,900,000, an increase of 480,000. The long-awaited and very much-needed improvements to our roads will remove many of the existing hazards and will undoubtedly help towards reducing the accident rate.

But in the meantime there is no doubt that all drivers after a time are apt to become slack in their attitude toward road procedure. So they find themselves in trouble, and usually blame anyone or anything except themselves.

If drivers were more honest with themselves and drove within their own limits, I know it would cut down accidents. The major causes of accidents are "human error" or just plain bad driving, lack of concentration, anticipation, and inconsideration, which always leads to trouble. To sum u p : did you know that every 90 minutes, every day, a person dies and 50 more are injured as the result of careless driving ? So please do remember the three main points of good driving:— 1 Concentration, 2 Anticipation, 3 Consideration.

7

Big Season With 20 teams functioning in the London Area and with six Country Sections running teams the Griffin Club is having a good season.

Perhaps one weak spot is with the Wednesday half-day closing areas. Until two years ago the Griffin had their own league, but with only four teams, it was decided that they should join outside local leagues. Though they are all finding it hard going all of them are gaining valuable experience as a result of this policy and have high hopes for the future.

The Griffin operates its own Thursday league and undoubtedly the standard is im­proving considerably. Also the fact that over a quarter of the games have been drawn this season shows the levelling up of the teams. A representative Thursday XI competes in the Beckenham Hospital Cup. We have won this competition twice in the four years we have entered and are still there this season.

All the Club's Saturday sides play in the West End League, which comprises business houses' clubs in the London Area, and all our sections are giving a good account of themselves. Consideration is being given to amalgamating the Depot teams and undoubtedly this would give the Griffin stronger sides. Although several grounds are hired locally, the majority of the teams in the Metropolis play at the club headquarters at Dulwich. What with the conflicting weather we have had in the past two months, heavy rain, frost and sometimes fog, it has not been very helpful to the ground and some fixtures have been postponed.

Still, we hope to finish all our football before the summer comes!

LES POTTER

Standing: J. Baigent, W. Whittaker, A. Bright, M. Powell {captain), J.Hinton. Kneeling: J. Hambleton, P. Barnes, M. Renn, D. Simpson, K. Carpenter.

t Y ' Standing: J.Jennings, K. Harris, P. Cowey,J. Goodall, P. Reilly, E. Izzard. Kneeling: W. Ross, B. Rose {captain), G. Sey, N. Cutts, J. Oakley.

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'F ' Standing: J. Young, P. Wilkinson, A. Reynolds, R. Coulter, N. Bunce, P. Brownlie. Kneeling: J. Vincent {captain), D. Bray, F. Tarrant, I. Dozin, J. Rose.

'Z' Standing: R. Warwick, P. Warnet, R. Mansfield, E. Muggeridge, J. Prendergast, T. Warrell. Kneeling: M. Taylor, L. Tredgold, G. Constable, S. Marshall {captain), J. Tobin.

F. Cowey of' Y' Section in possession against 'Z' Section.

Sweet Beet A survey of the British home-grown sugar industry

In 1747 a Prussian chemist called Marggraf dis­covered that the sugar in sugar-beet is the same as the sugar in sugar cane. For half-a-century this useful information excited very little interest of a practical nature. It took the blockade of Napoleonic France to get action. Cut off from supplies from West Indian cane plantations. Napoleon decreed, in 1800, that 70,000 acres be planted without delay with white Silesian beetroot, the original plant of which all modern strains are descendants. The pressures of war developed the beet sugar industry and its growth continued into peacetime. By 1880 more than half of the world's supply of sugar came from beet. By 1914 sugar beet was the source of more than four-fifths of the sugar consumed in Britain. Since most of it came from Europe, the 1914-18 war cut us off from our sources of supply. Rations were short, prices were high. By 1920 Britain had made up its mind to have a sugar industry of its own.

While there are good strategic reasons why we who live on an island should have home-grown supplies, there are also very sound agricultural reasons advanced for the encouragement of the sugar-beet industry. Beet is a fallow cleaning crop; it benefits the following crop. It also gives a good cash yield per acre. Root crops produced for animal fodder only are expensive in terms of labour costs; beet, however, provides both fodder and a cash return.

T o 40,000 British growers who between them plant 400,000 acres of beet a year there are many advantages in beet cultivation and all our govern­ments over the past 35 years have made it worth­while for farmers to produce this raw material. Today about a quarter of the nation's sugar de­mand is supplied by the home industry and during the war it produced the equivalent of a half pound domestic ration weekly for the entire population.

Development of the home industry hasn't been simple. Not everyone agreed that it was a good thing and for many years there was a curious prejudice that beet sugar was inferior to cane

This is a British Sugar Corporation factory at Cantley on the river Yare. It is the largest and the oldest of the white sugar factories.

The photographs illustrating this article are reproduced by courtesy of the British Sugar Corporation.

10

sugar. This is an old, dead story now but there is a good deal of argument still about the artificial fostering of an industry which couldn't invariably be profitable under conditions of "free-market" economics. Britain is part of a Commonwealth of countries some of which grow cane sugar, want to sell it here and are good markets for our exports. The balance of interests between these raw sugar producers, our big refining and shipping concerns and the home industry has created a complicated structure of price guarantees, acreage limitations and other checks. Britain is not, however, alone in making such artificial arrangements. Eighty-eight per cent, of the world's sugar is produced under some sort of guarantee or subsidy and what is known as the "world price" of sugar is the price of the other 12 per cent.

Controversy apart, the home industry has grown into a sizeable business since the twenties. Of root crops only potatoes have more acres of land given up to them and it has been claimed that beet cultivation was the saving of East Anglian arable farming in the hard years of the thirties. The industry's protected position has one valuable side effect. Research into development is financed by an annual levy, which at the moment is 2d. a ton on all beet delivered to the British Sugar Corporation's factories, and is paid by both the growers and the processors. An annual crop of 5,000,000 tons will provide about £80,000 for research. The money is spent through existing organisations like the Plant Breeding Institute at Cambridge or the

Rothamsted Experimental Station. Three problems currently occupy much of the attention of researchers.

Mechanisation which would prevent the heavy demands on labour in the spring (thinning and hoeing period) and autumn (harvesting).

Control of the virus yellows disease which in 1957 caused losses as high as 30 per cent, of the estimated yield in some places.

And thirdly the breeding of a variety of beet with a seed which would produce a single root instead of one to four as they do now. This would cut out the "singling" operation in the spring.

The use of machines for sowing and harvesting has developed rapidly. As recently as the end of the last war it was still argued that you had to lift beets by hand or they'd be broken and bruised. Two-thirds of the crop is harvested mechanically today and with results that, at best, compare very favourably with hand work. Under good conditions a modern harvester can lift over a hundred acres of beet in a season. Sowing is done from unit drills which plant several rows at once and thinning is also done mechanically to reduce the number of plants to about 30,000 roots per acre.

The "singling" operation, which makes a sudden demand for all hands to the beet fields in the spring, is done as soon as the roots have pushed up their first two leaves. Because sugar beet seeds are clusters containing one to four true seeds, it is essential to go over the whole crop and, wherever more than one plant is growing at a single point,

Lorries loaded with beet make their deliveries from

September to January.

To fiET SUGAR from

S U P BEET

CAR&ONATOftS."^ juice >s pmifi'ed "i

wpun'CeS We fi'/fejW f 1

in filD«rs(Mirfce^,F,j.

pull out the extra ones. This "singling" job makes room for the root to grow to full size. It has to be done quickly as delay can reduce the yield, so researchers are working hard to evolve a beet seed that will have only one germ in each cluster. They have produced such seeds already but for one reason or another they haven't got a wholly satis­factory result. They are, however, expecting success in this field and in their efforts to produce

a really big sugar-beet that also has a really big sugar yield.

The farmer gets his seed from one of the 18 factories of the British Sugar Corporation. Once it is harvested he sends his crop back there (9 of these factories are in East Anglia) by road, rail or river. The factory take a sample on which his pay­ment will be based and the refining process begins.

First of all, the beet are washed. The mud is

12

carried away to settling tanks and the roots go to the slicing machines. In these the beet are shredded into short V-shaped strips. This shape exposes the largest possible surface of raw beet to the hot water in the diffusers where they go next.

13

This is how the beet looks after it has come through the slicers. The strips are V-shaped to expose the maximum surface to water.

This is where the beet gives up its sugar. Once the raw juice is extracted,' the shrunken shreds of pulp are moved off to driers. Molasses is sometimes added and the stuff is either bagged or pressed into blocks. Its value as cattle fodder is roughly the same as oats. The animals love it.

The raw juice is now pumped into carbonators. It looks like thin runny black treacle when it goes in for its treatment, first with quick-lime and carbon dioxide and then with carbon dioxide alone. This is a purifying process which precipitates impurities in the juice so that they can be filtered out. The quick-lime and the carbon dioxide used are pro­duced in the factories' own lime kilns and in the case of a big plant up to 20,000 tons of limestone will be used in a single season. After treatment with sulphur dioxide and yet more filtration the purified juice is pumped into the evaporators.

These immense tanks are ingeniously connected so that steam from tank number one heats up tank number two and so on. It saves a lot of fuel. As evaporation proceeds the amount of sugar in relation to water increases until the syrup is ready for the vacuum pans.

If you heat liquid in a vacuum it "boils" at a lower temperature than at normal atmospheric pressure. It needs less heat (and so less fuel) to make it "boil" and the process is faster. There is also, in our case, less risk of sugar destruction or

A bank of evaporators in a sugar factory at Felstead.

discoloration. After about two-and-a-half hours of heating in the vacuum pans, the "pansman" starts crystal formation in the syrup by the sudden addition of a few sugar crystals. The job is one which requires long experience. The size of the crystals which form is determined by the size of the crystals added—granulated gives you granu­lated, caster sugar requires the introduction of finer crystals.

The resulting mixture of crystals and syrup now flows into a battery of centrifuges. Each one con­tains a fine wire mesh basket spinning at 1,000 revs, a minute. It separates syrup from crystals at the rate of about one hundredweight every minute.

The crystals are dried by blasts of hot air in granulators and when cool are carried away on-conveyor belts to be packed.

The yield from a daily throughput of about 3,000 tons of beet in a big factory is about 380 tons of sugar, 220 tons of pulp cattle feed and 120 tons of molasses. Lime for correcting soil acidity is also produced as a by-product of the pro­cess. The total daily throughput of the Corpora­tion's factories is almost 50,000 tons. If you could produce sugar from beetroot at the same rate on the kitchen stove at home it would take nearly seven pounds of beetroot to produce one pound of granulated.

You'll be relieved to know it can't be done.

14

'N' Section's successful whist drive at the Canteen was held

on December 19th and some 120 players turned up at

Blackfriars for it. Mr. Steward was M.C. On the right, a few of the tables, and below, four

studies in concentration.

N Section Whist Drive

Prizes went to Mr. James of the Office who

was first in the minia­ture. Mr. George

Bradbury first in the gent's competition (he

beat Mr. James by one trick) and Mrs. Steward,

who won the ladies' prize.

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168 Streatham — a branch refitted

Our branch at 168 Streatham High Road opened in 1913. Our pictures show it as it is today after lengthy refitting operations. The picture above shows the grocery department in which shelf space has been increased. In the picture is Miss McCarthy.

Left, Manager at 168 Streatham since 1947 is Mr. H. G. Edwards. He joined J.S. in 1927 and first became a manager in 1936. With him is Mrs. Blackwell. Right, Mr. E. Hacker, Assistant Manager.

16

E I G I S H

A view of the fresh meat

department, showing a new style of

shelving and the meat rail at low level.

Behind the counter are Mr.

Hale and Mr. Reader {right).

MR. A.DOWLEY, Acting Head Butcher.

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MR. W. COLE, is S.S.A. secretary for Streatham section.

A general view of the new interior.

MRS. G. LEWIS. MISS JORDAN, First Clerk, M I S S W R I G H T .

17

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/Wove, MR. GINN

ar f&e bacon slicer.

Left, The new warehouse. MR. STRANGE.

176 Streatham Hill

Our other branch opened in 1920 in new premises put up on a site which had been bombed in a Zeppelin raid. It took the place of a branch at 101 opposite, opened in 1895. Manager is locally born Mr. E. J. Collins, who remembers schoolboy raids on orchards behind the row of houses once on the site. He joined J. S. in 1922, became a manager in 1939 and took over at 176 in 1956. He is seen above (left), talking to Mr. P. Moore, District Supervisor. On the left is Mr. C. Humphreys, Assistant Manager.

18

imfits WBSsm**

Owwww! At the Stamford Players Dance they came dressed to dance the whole night through !

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Social

Whir l

Rollicking times when 'X' sang Auld Lang Syne

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Staff Turns! At Coventry's Dinner and Dance on January 3rd guests were entertained with a witty and polished cabaret show by the branch staff. It went down a treat.

At { J X T O P Q they start their dancing at an early age. January 12th at the Headington Conservative Club. »

«W$BK S O U t h a m p t O l l Over 150 guests turned out for

* Southampton's Section Dance on December 10th.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

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Haverhill Looks like a really sociable evening was had by * guests at the Section Party on January 17th.

* * * * * * * *3» 3p «]€ *jc *j» 5j>

Cha Cha Cha At Lewisham on December 10th. Prizes, pretty girls and the latest steps.

Whoops!

Lightning chess There has been a feeling for some time in several quarters that far too much serious chess was played each season. As a result a lightning chess tourna­ment was devised to take the place of the annual Office v. The Rest match.

There was no doubt afterwards, in the minds of those who took part in the first tournament on January 7th, that lightning chess had come to stay.

The umpires thoroughly enjoyed the many hilarious incidents, while players gained many grey hairs and shattered nerves. As the competitors umpired when not themselves playing, mental balance was preserved.

The winner was R. Malham of the Sales Office. D . s. OSBORN

Above are Messrs. Sadler, Barber, A. Lovelace {dressed for a really fast mate) and J. Stanfield, and below, pressing the timer, is Mr. Sadler with Mr. A. Dove and Mr. Stevens.

On December 13th, 1958, Mr. I. Kingman and Miss M. Quinn, both of Marble Arch branch.

They got married

On December 27th, 1958, Mr. L. Fisher of Northwood branch and Miss J. Smart of Ealing branch.

On January 10th, 1959, Mr. R. Langley and Miss D. Martin, both of Cambridge.

Obituary

Stamford Street 's Pagoda Our next door neighbours, Burn Brothers, have left and here's how their building looked when the wreckers moved in. It's all gone now.

Staff ews Transfers and Promotions Managers

j . CHARLES from Spare List to Ballards Lane

A . B . D A V I S from Ballards Lane to Swiss Cottage for opening

Assistant Managers s. M. TREWHELLA from Marylebone to

Swiss Cottage F. L. KEMP from Paddington to

Swiss Cottage R. J E S S U P from Boreham Wood to

250 Kentish Town

We are pleased to record the following promotions:

To Assistant Manager p . j . TAPPER 339 Palmers Green

To Head Butcher E.TAYLOR 17 Forest Gate

We regret to record the deaths of the following colleagues and send our deepest sympathy to all relatives:

A. CLARK, who retired in 1957 after 44 years' service. Engaged originally for the branches, he worked in Walthamstow before coming to Black-friars as a Warehouseman. He had experience of various departments in Stamford House and also worked at Fleckney and Saffron Walden. In 1947, following ill-health, he was transferred to the position of Timekeeper and remained as such until his retirement, although latterly he had been compelled to work part-time only. He died on January 4th.

H. W. HAYES, who retired from the firm in 1939. He had been with us for over 30 years having begun his service at 140 Finchley Road. His last branch was 16-20 Holloway, whence he retired as a Porter.

E. A. LANGFELD, who joined the staff of the factory in 1935 as a Cleaner. Ill-health later compelled his transfer to Timekeeper and it was from this position that he retired in October 1957. He died on January 3rd.

C. MOORE, who was engaged as a Warehouse­man in the Depot in December 1945. After a period as a Checker he eventually took on the duties of Despatch Clerk and in 1953 was trans­ferred permanently to the night staff in the Ware­house Office. He died suddenly on Christmas Day, aged 55.

G. W. WEBBER, who joined the firm in 1898 at Hoxton. He later transferred south of the river and saw service at 44/46 Lewisham and Coulsdon before going to 9/11 Croydon. It was from this branch that he retired in 1944, having spent most of his time in the Despatch Department. He died on January 9th.

Mr. A. Clark. Mr. E. A. Langfeld.

Marr iages ( B E T W E E N M E M B E R S OF J. s. S T A F F )

We send our very best wishes for their future happiness to Mr. R. Langley and Miss D. Martin, both of Cambridge, who were married on January 10th, 1959.

23

News f rom our Nat iona l Servicemen M. F. DITTON, 51 Ealing. Hong Kong (Army). His job is that of a wireless operator in a tank and he is also trained to be a tank driver. At the moment he is stationed in the Sek Kong Valley, which is between Kowloon and Hong Kong. D. FLAHEY, Guildford. Germany (Army). Obviously had an excellent Christmas, including the early morning mug of tea containing rum, served up by the Sergeants, He also took part in a Skiffle group and apparently made quite a din. He finds the local people very friendly, apart from the girls. M. J. HORTON, Ruislip. Cyprus (Army). At the moment they are in the middle of winter, but apart from very heavy rain storms, which are not very pleasant whilst living under canvas, he finds the weather little different to the average English summer. He is driving a 10-ton truck back and forth across the Island, but is now finding it somewhat boring and may, therefore, take on a job as a Barman until he is demobilised. N. A. JONES, Kingsbury. Hong Kong (Army). During a recent infantry scheme he was attached to a Ghurka Regiment with a wireless set strapped to his back, and whilst scrambling through jungles and up mountains, fell about 50 ft. Fortunately he escaped without injury,

but had an easy time after that since the wireless was smashed beyond repair. J. H. MANN, Apex Corner. Eastbourne (R.A.F.). He is in the R.A.F. Police stationed at Beachy Head. He is living in a nearby hotel and is not looking forward to returning to a normal base which is, apparently, what will happen in the near future. J. W. SALLIS, Oxford. Nairobi (Army). He finds the quality of the meat very high, but the standard of slaughtering low. Butter is very much like New Zealand, but the eggs are rather small. Very good Cheddar and Gouda is made in Nairobi, and it is the only cheese the Army have so far used. Fortunately, he has met a family who at one time lived at Oxford, and he has had a number of invitations to their home.

Welcome back to : J. SKATES resumed 12.1.59, at Southall. The larger part of his period in the Army was spent in Germany. A. HUNT resumed 26.1.59, at East Sheen, after two years spent in the R.A.S.C.

Corrections Thanks to several readers who wrote or phoned to point out that 73

:Croy~?on opened in 1930, taking the place of a nearby J.S. shop, 65 Croydon, which opened in 1899. And to others who pointed out that 6 Nofwich opened in 1913 not 1931.

Guess What! They didn't book in time for the

S.S.A. trip to Calais

Book NOW for June 14th. Your section Secretary

has full details

? W h a t Last month's object was the catch on a meat saw. Prize of a £1 Premium Bond goes to Miss P. Carrington of Norbury branch along with our best wishes. This month: there isn't a quiz picture but we plan to continue the feature in the next issue.

K.J.L., Hopton Street S.E.I

To 6ET

SUGAR from

S U P BEET Start

pull out the extra ones. This "singling" job makes room for the root to grow to full size. It has to be done quickly as delay can reduce the yield, so researchers are working hard to evolve a beet seed that will have only one germ in each cluster. They have produced such seeds already but for one reason or another they haven't got a wholly satis­factory result. They are, however, expecting success in this field and in their efforts to produce

a really big sugar-beet that also has a really big sugar yield.

The farmer gets his seed from one of the 18 factories of the British Sugar Corporation. Once it is harvested he sends his crop back there (9 of these factories are in East Anglia) by road, rail or river. The factory take a sample on which his pay­ment will be based and the refining process begins.

First of all, the beet are washed. The mud is

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carried away to settling tanks and the roots go to the slicing machines. In these the beet are shredded into short V-shaped strips. This shape exposes'the largest possible surface of raw beet to the hot water in the diffusers where they go next.

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