That 63,000 !sx SUNDERLAND'S record Cup-tie crowd of 63,000 on Saturday was the second biggest concourse in the country , the Everton-Grimsby fixture attracting 65,534 .sx Our team to-day remains the sole hope of the North-East in a competition the glamour of which never recedes , and if the Roker team has been fortunate enough to secure another home tie in to-day's draw , then the directors of the Club will have to prepare for something unprecedented in the way of crowds .sx Among the many who failed to secure admission to Roker Park on Saturday was a large party of excursionists from Sheffield .sx They reached the ground as the gates were closing .sx If such a journey is to be made worth while those who travel must be given a reasonable assurance of seeing the game , and it is in the interests of the railway companies to see that the departure of excursions is sufficiently early for this purpose .sx And while on the subject of the Cup-tie none was deserving of greater praise on Saturday than the members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade .sx It was inevitable with such a crowd that there would be many calls upon them , but what can be thought of those who needlessly added to their anxieties by false calls ?sx What a " joke " on men voluntarily giving their services in the cause of suffering humanity !sx Safeguarding .sx A POINTED significance has been given to the articles on Safeguarding , which we have published from the pen of Mr. Luke Thompson during the last twelve weeks , by the fact that Sunderland is on the eve of a Parliamentary election .sx Today the series concludes .sx Both Mr. Thompson and Mr. Samuel Storey , the prospective Conservative candidates , have during recent months shown how the future industrial prosperity of this country is dependent upon a change in our fiscal system .sx Public opinion is demanding a change no less in Sunderland than in the rest of the country , and the electors must remember in the next few weeks what Mr. Luke Thompson so succinctly observes to-day .sx " .sx .. If Free Trade could have improved the position , it would have been done ere this .sx " Safeguarding , it has been emphasized , is the one effective cure for unemployment , and Sunderland has every reason to know what lack of work means .sx Our statesmen must be equipped with weapons in trade warfare .sx To stand to-day as this country does to be shot at without power of reply is fiscal foolishness .sx Housing Problem .sx To receive 400 replies in four days following an advertisement in our columns concerning a vacant flat is sufficient indication that Sunderland's housing problem is far from being settled .sx Apart from selected estates where houses are being built for sale only , the task of solving the housing shortage in the to-rent class is being left to the Corporation .sx There is a ready market for the new type small house or bungalow which builders in the district are doing their best to meet .sx But everyone does not want to buy a house , and our correspondent raises the interesting issue of the erection of modern flats - centrally heated , bathrooms and all conveniences - presumably on the lines of many blocks of the most modern character in London .sx Does Sunderland offer scope for such a project ?sx Would an industrial town be the most suitable for such an experiment ?sx Is the suggestion the best solution of the demand for houses to rent ?sx We fear not .sx There , There !sx Dr MARION PHILLIPS , an experienced politician and a remarkably shrewd woman , is trying to trail an extremely red herring across the bye-election path in Sunderland .sx She is concentrating her main attack on " The Sunderland Echo " in the obvious hope that she will confuse electors into believing that this newspaper is so biased that the Socialist candidate is not getting a fair show .sx Mr Brownlie ( doubtless primed from the same source ) made a similar attack .sx We answered his allegations by stating that the facts - that the Socialists had received 17 columns of space against the 25 given to Conservative meetings .sx Since then Mr Brownlie has deemed discretion the better part of valour .sx He has said nothing .sx Not so Dr. Phillips .sx Burning with zeal she declared last night that we expressed " the dirtiest politics in a newspaper that in my 20 years' experience I have ever known .sx " DR PHILLIPS is a professional politician .sx She is the first Australian to sit in the House of Commons , certainly the first to represent Sunderland .sx We give her the benefit of believing that in her twenty years' experience she knows something about the " dirtiest politics .sx " But Dr Phillips has , during the past months , received a publicity in these columns that she has been given nowhere else .sx We have published many excellent articles from her pen , articles expressing the Socialist outlook .sx We have many times referred to her activities in the House and in Sunderland .sx She will bear us out that almost invariably she has been interviewed during her visits by a member of our staff , and her words recorded .sx What is there dirty about that ?sx We shall publish to-morrow , on our own initiative , special messages from all three candidates .sx If our policies are so " dirty " surely we should have confined ourselves only to giving Mr Luke Thompson's message ?sx Dr Phillips , not unnaturally , must have found this by-election a strain .sx When it is all over we have no doubt that she will regret as much as we do ourselves her petulant outbursts that we strongly suspect , cover a not unnatural and womanly desire to burst into tears .sx A Good Boy .sx DOUGLAS PARKER , of Sunderland , gave an amazing display of tenacity in his fight with Al Brown at Newcastle , last night .sx He was beaten , but certainly not disgraced .sx Here was a youngster matched with a world's champion - and a worthy one .sx The coloured man boxed with machine-like precision , and was obviously trained to a hair .sx Many youngsters would have been overawed by the occasion .sx Parker certainly was not .sx He was at a big disadvantage in height , reach , and experience .sx He made up for these deficiencies by a bull-dog fixity of purpose .sx The American himself was the first to volunteer the information that the Sunderland lad should have a real future .sx " A hundred-per-center " was his verdict .sx We suggest to Private Robson that if his protege is in need of a telegraphic address it should be " Plucky , Sunderland .sx " Swee-eep !sx SO you haven't won it !sx Well , never mind .sx Even if you had , you would have found that money in the bulk is a tremendous responsibility .sx We all build dream castles ; plan world tours , buy the most expensive motor-cars , a gorgeous home - when we have won the Sweep !sx How much real happiness do you suppose you can buy ?sx Scarcely a moment in annihilation's waste did you but realize it .sx When you work for a thing there's a real joy in its possession .sx If it does not matter whether you spend fifty pounds or fifty pence , what do you get out of it ?sx And all to often " Easy come " is " easy go " - and by then you have lost the desire for work , and your last stage is many times worse than the first .sx Still , all the same , we rather wish that the first prize had come our way !sx " Independence" !sx ! MR LLOYD GEORGE'S somewhat delayed statement on Liberal policy really takes us nowhere .sx As usual the leader of that Party goes in for word-spinning .sx He declares that the Liberal policy is one of co-operation , not frustration .sx But in the same breath he urges that the defeat of the Socialist Government would mean the return of the Conservatives !sx If Mr. Lloyd George is aware ( as he must be on this confession ) that the country will not return the Liberals to power , obviously because it is sick and tired of " Free " trade , then surely his policy in lending his aid to the Socialists is one of frustrating the wishes of the majority of the electorate ?sx He further seeks to revive the dropping spirit of his dwindling following by saying that the Liberal Party is , and will remain , an independent party .sx NO one but a Lloyd George could make such a statement in face of the facts .sx An " independent party , " forsooth !sx Why , it is clinging to the seats it holds through the good offices of the Socialists !sx Here you have the spectacle of two political enemies joining hands because both know that if they do not adopt this safety-at-any-price policy they will be defeated by the Conservatives !sx Mr. Lloyd George would , in our opinion , have well expressed the Liberal view of independence had he quoted John Whittier's lines :sx - Freedom , hand-in-hand with Labour , .sx Walketh strong and brave .sx But the electors , all in good time , can be relied on to remind the Welsh wizard that you cannot hope to fool the whole of the people the whole of the time !sx A Deserving Cause .sx Few of those who are not handicapped by deafness can fully appreciate just what is lost by those who exist in eternal silence .sx Music's charm , the song of the birds , the prattle of baby tongue , or the patter of childish feet , all these which so many of us take as a matter of course , are denied to them .sx Not for them the joy of a night at a good play or an amusing " talkie .sx " They must live in a world of their own , a world where signs are their only method of communication with their more fortunate fellows .sx And the lot of the dumb is a tragedy too deep to need emphasis .sx ON Saturday the local Mission to the Deaf and Dumb are holding a Flag Day .sx Many of us regard Flag Days as a bore .sx It is not that we actually grudge a coin , but usually we're far too intent on our own affairs to want to be stopped .sx Think for a minute of the blessing of hearing and of speech , then don't wait on Saturday for the collecting-box to come to you .sx Go in search of it - and give all you can .sx 'Ware " Duds" !sx A CORRESPONDENT gives a timely warning to tradesmen and the public at large against the number of spurious florins and half-crowns now in circulation in this area .sx It is very easy , when given a handful of silver , to pass a coin that is false .sx The trader who gives it is probably unaware himself that it is not what it purports to be .sx There is , however , one good test .sx If the milled edge is rubbed against a sharp piece of metal and shows no sign , the coin is a good one .sx The imitation coin will not stand this .sx Spurious money is ( more or less ) always in circulation .sx It is very difficult indeed to check it .sx But as the correspondent very sensibly points out , when a half-crown is tendered for a penny purchase it is a simple precaution to see that it is a good one .sx Think It Over .sx A STRONG note of warning is struck by Sir George Newman , Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health in a special memorandum issued to-day with regard to the perils to children that lurk in infected milk .sx More than 1,000 children under 15 years of age die every year from non-pulminory tuberculosis , directly caused by the bovine type of bacillus .sx In other words , when your child drinks a cup of milk that has not been produced by cows free from tuberculin , that draught is fraught with peril .sx " There is reason to believe , Sir George states , " that not less than 40 per cent of the milch cows in this country are infected with tuberculosis .sx " Milk is admitted to be of inestimable value where young children are concerned .sx Careful tests have proved that its body-building powers are enormous .sx But it must be pure milk .sx Sir George emphasizes that the one way to radicate the danger is to build up herds free from tuberculosis , the principle being to separate infected from healthy stock by the tuberculin test .sx The public have the remedy in their own hands .sx If they insist - and will buy milk that is guaranteed " T.T. , " they can protect their children from this dread disease .sx It is surely a simple precaution - yet a much neglected one .sx