All records of the East Midlands region have been smashed by the Rushden, Higham Ferrers, and Raunds War Weapons Week, which finished with a wonderful total of £406,043, representing £16 18s 2d per head of population.

The last fine effort on Saturday added £60,712 to the previous total, and accomplished the great feat of beating Kettering’s aggregate (£401,011) by over £5,000, while Higham Ferrers, with a final and remarkable total of £83,481, won a new shirt for its Mayor from the Council Chairman of Irthlingborough.

The original objective of the campaign was £250,000, but in midweek it was raised to £350,000. When the first aim had been accomplished Lady Nunburnholme, of Arthingworth Manor, who opened the campaign, sent the following telegram to Mr. J. Allen, J.P., Chairman of Rushden Urban Council :

“Many, many congratulations on splendid result of War Weapons Week. Always knew Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Raunds could accomplish any job they set out to do. --- Mary Nunburnholme.”

Enthusiasm grew to a high pitch as the week-end approached. At the old Rushden post office on Friday Councillor T. W. Cox announced that £39,035 had been invested on the previous day, bringing the area total to £289,315, which was within easy striking distance of a desirable feat – to surpass Northampton’s county record of £13 per head. On the Thursday Rushden had contributed £31,183, Higham Ferrers £2,966, Raunds, Hargrave and Stanwick £4,651, Chelveston £25 and Ringstead £210.

Higham heard that day’s news from Miss Walker, the Deputy Mayoress, and was intent on winning the shirt its Mayor had staked against the challenge of Irthlingborough, a matter of £12,000 being required to complete the effort.

Large investments on the Thursday included: £10,000 by Messrs. John White, Ltd. (Rushden only), £10,000 by Messrs. John White, Ltd., in respect of their employees, £1,000 by Messrs. Campbell Praed and Co., Ltd., £1,250 by Rushden Urban Council, £1,500 by Raunds Urban Council, and £500 by Higham Ferrers Corporation.

Announced at Rushden on Saturday by Alderman C. W. Horrell, J.P., Friday’s investment of £56,016 wrested the county per-head record from Northampton and brought the total to £345,331. On Friday evening, however, the objective had been advanced to £400,000 “and a little over,” for the purpose, it appeared, of giving Rushden and district the peculiar satisfaction of beating Kettering’s aggregate of £401,011.

It appeared to be a case of stretching possibilities to the limit, but Mr. Horrell was urging on Saturday : “Even if it breaks us we had better by half be broke than beaten. I am sure we are not going to be beaten – life would not be worth living.”

Mr. Horrell announced that the school population of the town had invested £2,000 and declared this to be a really magnificent sum for the youngsters.

Mrs. Horrell presented the prizes to the young winners of the Rushden poster competition, and Ald. Horrell, who had given the prizes, said that the posters were worthy of inspection by everyone in the town. Mr. and Mrs. Horrell were thanked by Mr. S. A. Lawrence, the organiser of the competition.

Friday’s investments included a further £10,000 by Messrs. John White, Ltd., and this was put in free of interest. The same firm’s employees increased their week’s contribution to £12,500 (£7,134 10s at Rushden, £5,365 10s at Higham Ferrers), and the Rushden Industrial Co-operative Society added £2,500 to their previous investment of £7,500.

Pleasing small gifts included £2 10s from the customers of a Higham Ferrers inn, £3 from a lady resident, 27s from a competition at Messrs John White’s Lime-street shoe room, and £1 1s 6d from a competition organised by the Rushden British Legion women.

After the ceremony at Rushden on Saturday a gift of £1 was handed in by Mr. Wills, of Roberts-street, Rushden.

Mr. John Wills gave the latest figures to a crowd outside the Higham Town Hall.

MONDAY

There was intense enthusiasm outside the Rushden Post Office on Monday when the Council chairman announced the result to the largest crowd of the campaign week, and applause was given for each record broken and each place which had distinguished itself. “This is a very proud moment for me – one of the proudest moments of my life,” said Mr. Allen. “I should like to say now that the grand total is £406,043. That is to say, we have reached our final objective of £400,000 and a little bit more, and the little bit more has enabled us to go beyond Kettering’s total.”

Giving the separate figures, Mr. Allen pointed out that Rushden alone had passed the original area objective of a quarter of a million – a magnificent achievement.

How Rushden area’s great total grew will be seen from the following summary of daily investments:-

Higham Ferrers, he said, had a very proud record indeed with £26 15s. 2d. per head of the population.

“I am sure the Mayor is quite satisfied,” he continued, “and I am certain his shirt is perfectly safe.”

Mr. Allen said that the magnificent result of £16 18s. 2d. per head for the area had easily beaten the existing record for the East Midland Region, comprising Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, and Northamptonshire. The previous holders of the record were Chesterfield, with £13 1s. per head.

At this stage Mr. Allen read the following telegram from the Wellingborough Council chairman: “Congratulations on magnificent result. – Johnson.”

“You know,” he said, “that such a record and such an achievement as this have not been done without a great deal of hard work, and I should like to pay a tribute to our organising secretary (Mr. A. Maclean) for his wonderful organising ability and his efficiency in this work. It must be very gratifying to him, as it is to all of us, to know that our efforts have been crowned with such great success.”

Mr. Allen also thanked the chairmen of the committees, the bank managers, the postmaster and his staff, the staff of the selling centres, and the general public.

Among those attending the ceremony were Councillor A. C. A. Colton, J.P. (Mayor of Higham Ferrers), Ald. C. W. Horrell, J.P., Mr. John White, Mr. F. J. Sharwood, C.C., Ald. A. C. Allen, Mr. Walter C. Tarry, Ald. F. Walker, J.P. (Higham Ferrers), Councillor R. W. Janes (Higham Ferrers), Mr. a. H. Whitton, Mr. S. C. Brightwell, Councillor T. W. Cox, Councillor F. Green, Mr. A. Maclean and Mr. A. Doran, of the National Savings Committee.

There was a further ceremony at Higham Ferrers, where the Mayor spoke of the wonderful organisation and paid tribute to the local secretary (Councillor Janes) and Mr. Maclean.

He said that in the last war Higham raised £10 per head during the Tank Week. They had now more than doubled that figure by investing at the astounding rate of £26 15s 2d per head.

Councillor Colton thanked the investing public and the large body of helpers, giving a special word f thanks to Mr. John White and Mr. A. Sudborough for their considerable help.

Councillor Allen, of Rushden, paid his own tribute to the splendid effort of the borough, which he said had created a record which would be for ever emblazoned on the historic annals of Higham Ferrers.

Final town and village figures were as follows :-

Large investments on Saturday included a further £3,500 by Messrs. John White, Ltd.

The employees of Messrs. B. Denton and Son, Ltd., boot manufacturers, Rushden, invested £2,232 15s. through their savings group and members of the W.V.S. purchased 200 certificates £150). Rushden Prospect-avenue savings group invested £315.

An easy winner of the wager he had made with Mr. F. H. Johnson, J.P., the civic head of Wellingborough, that Rushden would beat its neighbour on a per-head basis, the Rushden chairman received his new hat at the Ritz Cinema last Friday evening.

There were three expansive smiles on the stage, and many more in the house, when Mr. Johnson was introduced by Councillor W. E. Capon (chairman of the Publicity Committee), who gaily claimed that recent wagers had made Wellingborough’s leader famous. Next presenting Mr. Allen, Mr. Capon added: “They have some good business to do, and they want to do it in public.”

“I am very pleased to be able to come,” said Mr. Johnson, “but as you know, I come like a lamb to the slaughter.” All famous men, he pointed out, were interested in hats; that was the weakness of Mr. Winston Churchill, the greatest living statesman and the greatest expert in world history on hats.

Mr. Churchill had quoted in his recent broadcast a passage from Matthew, and those who took the trouble to look it up would find that the chapter also said; “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.”

“We, as Englishmen,” continued Mr. Johnson, “value our freedom, our homes, the right to live and think as we please. You in Rushden have shown that you believe in these things. This magnificent result shows the solidarity of the British people in the cause we are fighting for, and that we are determined that things we regard as holy shall not go to the mad dogs of Europe.”

Mr. Johnson presented the hat; there were handshakes, and the house registered approval.

“I am very proud to receive this hat,” said Mr. Allen. “I can assure you that it fits me all right – that I haven’t developed a swollen head; and I only hope you won’t ask me to put the hat on.

Mr. Johnson won his hat from Kettering, and the people of Rushden and district have done so magnificently that there was never any doubt that I should win my bet.

“I have to thank all the people of the town and district for the wonderful enthusiasm they have shown in coming up to the scratch and giving us such magnificent support for the War Weapons Week. If there is any credit due, it is due to the organisers and the general body of the public. There is very little credit due to me except as figurehead as chairman.”

Displaying the hat, Mr. Allen read from last Friday’s “Rushden Echo & Argus” a verse written by a friend and old scholar of his (R. W. N.):

This greatly amused the house, and the laughter changed to enthusiasm when Mr. Allen read Lady Nunburnholme’s telegram of congratulation, adding that the L. C. C. and Walthamstow evacuee scholars at one of the local schools had raised £57 12s during the week.

Mr. Allen then produced a pipe (it was a pipe that Mr. Johnson had hoped to win), and presented it “as a token of the sportsmanship shown by Wellingborough to us in Rushden, and of the comradeship that exists between us, and to let Mr. Johnson remember War Weapons Week and the very happy way in which we have co-operated in good rivalry.”

Mr. Johnson tried the pipe, and evidently liked it. “I think this tops it up,” he said. “It just shows you what a jolly fine sport Mr. Allen is. I shall appreciate this, and when I have finished my year in office and get a few minutes to sit down, I shall smoke it and think of the good feeling that exists between Wellingborough and Rushden.”

Higham Ferrers and Irthlingborough, introduced by Rushden, performed a shirt-presentation at the Rushden Royal Theatre on Monday evening.

“We shall now present the shirt,” Mr. C. Sell (manager) informed the large and amused audience. On to the stage walked the civic heads of the three towns, Mr. C. F. Featherstonhaugh, J.P. (Irthlingborough) carrying the shirt he had lost by wagering that Higham would not beat Irthlingborough in War Weapons Week investments.

Mr. J. Allen, J.P. (Rushden) promised a “by no means uninteresting” ceremony. “They asked me the other night,” he said, “whether I was not going to put my hat on. I didn’t put it on, and neither will Mr. Colton put his shirt on.” (Laughter.)

Mr. Featherstonhaugh was a cheerful loser. “Before I have the pleasure of handing the now proverbial shirt to the Mayor of Higham,” he said, “I would like to congratulate the people of the Ancient Borough upon their magnificent achievement.

“When I first made this wager I thought the sum raised at Irthlingborough was formidable, and that we should continue to hold the record for the amount raised per head of the population, which was £17.

“But on Thursday night I saw in the paper that the Chichele horse was running a good race, and so I made it my business to look into the pedigree of this horse, and found it had some good blood from the stable of John Pyle in its strain.”

Mr. Featherstonhaugh explained that Mr. John White and Alderman Arthur Allen came from Irthlingborough. “It is my hope,” he added, “that the result of this splendid effort will be to bring a victorious end nearer, and once and for all banish the tyranny of the aggressor….. Mr. Colton – with my compliments.”

“Excellent! It looks quite good,” said Mr. A. C. A. Colton. “I’m not going to put it on, so don’t get excited.”

Thanking Mr. Featherstonhaugh for the sporting manner in which he made the challenge, Mr. Colton observed: “Perhaps at the beginning I seemed over-optimistic. I said I was confident that Rushden, Raunds and Higham were going to bust everything – and we have done!

“I think Mr. Featherstonhaugh will say that we gave him a good run for our money and are worthy winners. It is not often that we can beat Irthlingborough, but there is one thing we can do: when we set our stall out for money, whether for charity or for war, we can make a good job of it.

“The week has been memorable in this way – we have had a magnificent result, but the harmony has been amazing. We have all been in the band and playing first cornet, and we have all finished absolutely top.”

There was a happy finale when the Mayor handed Mr. Featherstonhaugh a box of cigars, inviting him “to smoke a cigar with me and ruminate what a good little place Higham is.”