BACK FROM ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2594, 16 October 1915, Page 7

BACK FROM ENGLAND

WAR-TIME IMPRESSIONS

CONDffiONS IN LONDON

, Among the New Zealauders who have returned from England this week is Mr. J. A. Heginbotham, of li.illiirnie. Speaking about the conditions of life in London to a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. Heginbotham said that though the London of to-day is not the London that most people aro familiar with, ho found that the people generally were as cheerful as ever, and in connection with the ultimate issue of the war wero almost too optimistic. It was still difficult to convince some peo-' pie that the nation was actually in peril at the present time; In London proper .the character of the people one met in the streets had undergone a change. The city had become quite Continental in its aspect owing to the heavy influx of French and Belgian people. The change was'a national ono as regards faccs, forms and dress —particularly dress among the women—showing the very large number who had. sought sanctuary in the metropolis ' from places within or near the war zone. You could scarcely move a yard now in Oxford Street, Piocadilly, or the Strand, said Mr. Heginbotham, without coming into contact with this all-pervading foreign element that was changing the face of London. Stopped Twibe Whilst Sketohlng, Mr. Heginbotham, who is devoted to art, and who took a course of instruction at the Eegenv Street Polyioclime (art section j tried his hand at sketching in • the vicinity of London, but concluded after being twice stopped that the game was hardly worth the trouble. On the first occasion he was ■ sketching near Hammersmith Bridge. He noticed some boy scouts eyeing him, but thought nothing of it until lie saw them approach a Territorial ou duty. He, in turn, passed the word on to a policeman, and the man in blue approached him, demanded to see his sketches, and took, his name and address, whilst viewing him with grave suspicion. Then he was stopped whilst sketching at l!utncy, again by a constable, and had to go through the same ■ examination. Everyone was fearfully suspicious, and properly so, after some of the experiences which were recorded. Camera work .was quite dead in London. It was formerly a common sight to see tourists and ■ others about with hand cameras, but photography was very dead iu England comgared with what it had been. One of tho reasons was the rise in the price of material, particularly thoso chemicals for the supply of which we used to depend almost ontiroly on Germany. Still ■ that was being overcome. He_ had the pleasure of visiting an exhibition of British-made goods promoted by the British Board of Trade for the edification of buyers. This exhibition included t capital display of photographic goods of all kinds, toys, art reproductions, jewellery (in fact, all those lines which wo formerly imported extensively' from Germany), and all of which wero said to be as good, if not better, than "made in Germany" goods. . Absence cf Young Men. Travelling to and from London on the tubes, Mr. Heginbotham said that he could not help being struck with two things. Prior to and in the. early stages of the war, the cars used to be well filled with, young men dressed in the' height of fashion—"the young bloods of the village,"' as they are flippantly described. Now the ultra-fash-

ionable young man has almost disappoarod. Tlio tasto in dross has sobered down to normal, and young men wero scarcely ever seen, tho preponderance of passengers being women and middle■iged and aged men—tangible ovidcnco of tho drain tho war had made on England's youth.

Binoculars and Armaments. Mr. Heginbotham said that it was now- almost to buy a decent pair of prism binoculars in London. Tliose that wore available, and they were precious few, hadadvanced so much in price as to put tlicm beyond tho reach of tho. ordinary man. He wished to purchaso a pair, and happening to see two pairs of Boss's and one of Zeiss's in a second-hand shop, went in to inquire the price, but tho lowest price was £12 for a pair which ordinarily would cost £5 or £6 in' London. ' Consequent on it being found awkward to uso tlie bayonet at closo quarters in t'lio. trenches, owing to tho length of the combined rifle and bayonet, said Mr: Heginbotham, a new weapon had been adopted, and, he understood, was now being supplied to the forces in Flanders. This was a sort of enlarged metal knuckle-duster, which is adapted to tli© grip of a man's hand, having a vicious-looking blade about eight iiiclies in length protruding from between the 'first and second fingers—so that when-it camo to blows there was plenty of point to every punch. These, together with Browning's automatic pistols, wero being largely used in the close trench warfare on tlie Continent.