WHEN THE STORM BURST IN LONDON

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 5

WHEN THE STORM BURST IN LONDON

MAGNIFICENT CALM

SIGNS AND SOUNDS IN THE CITY

Among the passengers to anive direct from London by the Tainui yesterday were-Mr. and Mis. Joseph Tripe, oftiiis city, whose stay in the Old Country was brought to a close amidst scenes which have probably had. no parallel since the days of the Nape .* : ; leonio wars. They were at Paris a week., before war was declared by Germany ■ on that country, and were able to eri- . joy to the full the beauties of that cjty. . ... and its charming surroundings' unais- •■'■,■ turbed by the war-cloud 'that' was '50"..•- . Boon to burst in all its fatelfury; oh. , . la belle France. When they reached England a day or two later the outlook - was serious, but few credited "the im?-, tninonce of war, and Mr. Tripe, Vho ventured to express the opinion ;that England would be dragged into the vortex of war, was heartily laughed at'for his gloomy outlook. So sure, was, .he that war was about to be declared that; ho tried to get some money, but all he was permitted to draw was £5 in gold, and three £5 notes. Then came the- • crash. England had thrown down thegauntlet for better or for worse,;.and, , the whole aspect of life in London, \>& came changed. ;•■■■ Banks Close Down. ■-..■ ';/.. (■• "The first way it was" brought hoinl to us," said Mr. Tripe, "was the actionlof the banks, which closed down from: August 8. I did my best to change-my \ five-pound notes, but found it extreme-.. , ly difficult. I tried one of them on a.'•' West End theatre, but the. : cashier "■ would not cash it. He said he had been ■ instructed not to, and doubted- very much if I would get it cashed anyr ■where. By buying 10s. worth of goods I didn't particularly want, I cashed one fiver, the Shaw-Savill Co. cashed another, but the third I could not get rid -■■ of.' That is just to show you how.suddenly the banks closed down upon the gold. Why, . there were enormously ■ wealthy Americans with letters of credit ' for practically limitless amounts, in a parlous condition. Some of them ar. ~. rived from Paris with only a few shillings. One of them came to where wo . were staying at Lancaster Gate with; . only 2s. 3d.- in cash, and c letter of \ credit for thousands. The despair of these people would have been comical it if it had not been so very serious. Then the Government came to the rescue,-and ;'-; declared a paper currenoy legal tenderj.;..';;. the banks reopened, and everyone sigh- \ ed with relief as finance became normal, acain. I-presented a cheque, and the / clerk said: 'How will you have it?' I said: 'Anyhow you like. , 'Thank God, :;.* I can give it to you anyhow you like.' This was said quite sincerely, for the strain on the bank staffs, during those five devs nvuet have been terrific'. I know that they were working nipht and day dnrinpc tho whole time behind clos- x ed doors.'* '

The King and his People. "I cannot say too much in praise of the manner in which the London pub-> lie accepted the great news.. There was a day or two of excitement, and then the city settled down, tense and subdued, their demeanour and attitude generally being that now they were in the war they must see it through to the bitter end. We made a point of doing the city" pretty thoroughly "to watch the crowds, aud daily made the round of Oxford Circus, Piccadilly, Buckingham Palace, and Fleet Street, whore crowds assembled day and nieht to see the news reeled off the tape. The scene before Buckingham Palace between 10 and 11 o'clock at night was unforgettable. There the crowd waited—all ' sorts—men in evening dress and beautiful women in evening clothes rubbed shoulders with the people from the east side, cheering, shouting, and singing with fine sincerity. When the King appeared a great shout went up, out of which came the National An-, them, sung solemnly, grandly! It was something that stirred the heart, I can tell- you. Some nights His. Majesty could not appear before his people, owing to the strenuous nature of his duties,, and though the crowds were always informed ,of the fact they stood bare-headed before the Palace and sang 'God Save the King, , with air the heart they possessed. Such an outburst ■of loyalty—there was nothing approachin" jingoism—was fine to witness. -. With -the mobilisation of the troops every park became- a camp—Kensington Park, Regent's Park, : St. James e Park, Hydo Park, were all occupied by troops, and on the Oval, the famous cricket ground, a cavalry regiment was encamped. I was out with ono of my hoys on a lake in Regent's Park when we had the good fortune to see passing within fivp yards of us, a full regiment of infantry,, fully-equipped, and following came a regiment of Highlanders, evidently bound for some concentration point. Wo saw a good deal of the Territorials. They • seemed-, slack and soft at first, but in a fortnights time they were changed men—hard enough for anything.

An impressive Scene.

"On tlie Sunday before we left,ye went to morning service at the Guards Chapel. What a sight! The place was packed with soldiers in khaki, the colonel of the regiment read tne lessons, and the band of the Coldstream Guards accompanied the hymns. It was to me extraordinarily impressive. Ihe work of ombarking tho first army for France was that of a genius. No one knew when they wero going or how they were going. Wo knew that the time was near, be-..-cause we had friends who were going to the front, but other than that no one knew 'anything until tho troops were in France. It was Kitchenor all over! The G.P.O. was guarded night and day with a cordon of soldiers, and every „ window was screened with stout wirenetting. , , "It was-known that the country was riddled with German spies, and notices were posted tip calling on the public to give information as to the whereabouts of any Germans. At Turnham Green a German laundry was found to be nothing more than an arsenal well packed with bombs, ehells, and munitions of war. As soon as war was declared the authorities commenced to round -up the German residents, who had to report themselves at once or take the consequences. I saw between 200 and 300 ' at Bow Street on the first day they had to report, and it is to the credit or tho British public that they were treated with respect, and nothing in the form of a demonstration was made against them. When we embarked nt St. Pancras Station (for Gravesend) none of our friends were allowed to accompany us. "We were carefully scrutinised and questioned by- Alien Officers atxthe docks more than onco before we got on board. As we left the Thames we saw a German prize being taken in, and when at Folkestone a day or two before that wo saw a Gorman fourmasted barque and a 6teamer brought in as prizes. At' Cape Town we found the place seething with troops, and there was a troopship in the bay, not far from an armoured cruiser. Whilst there we had the pleasure of listening to a debate on the war in Parliament, - and also visited the historic residence of Mr. Cecil Rhodes. "Wo were only a hundred miles away from the Kaipara when she was sunk by the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, and I attribute our escape to the caution 3» fiaatajn. Moffat.