LONDONERS' ACCOMMODATION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 261, 2 October 1940, Page 7

LONDONERS' ACCOMMODATION

, LONDON, Oct. 1. Plans for changing Londoners’ living conditions to accord with their position in the “front line of the war” are revealed by Mr W. V. Willink. a high A.R.P. official, who advocates the evacuation of every possible citizen who can be removed without loss to the national effort.

“There are considerably fewer houses and most probably there will be progressively fewer," he said. “The confinement of living to the ground floor and the basements has further reduced living space. I am considering the establishment of hostels for men who must stay and work in London. They and their wives and mothers require the best possible housing and protection. Emergency shelters have been improved greatly in the past week. One, despite the absence of cooking facilities, served 500 two-course dinners in a day. Hundreds of officers and volunteers are doing their utmost to alleviate the sufferings of those rendered homeless."

The Daily Express in a leader says: “Autumn is here and winter will come within a month. AVliich will do more damage, Hitler or winter? Medical science lias an answer to pneumonia, typhoid, and influenza epidemics, but the best answer is to check the spread of conditions breeding these scourges. A good job must bo made of fitting up the tubes, because they have sleeping room for many thousands of Londoners. Bunks, canteens, and sanitation must be installed."