SUNNY LISBON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 1 September 1942, Page 6

SUNNY LISBON

GAS MASKS AND BLACKOUT

THE PINCH OE WAR COMES AT LAST If it is diflicult for some of u- to , credit reports that Lisbon will coon ; begin air-raid training and that the I Government will issue gas masks to the people, consider the dismay of the Lis- i bonese who never has believed and j still refuses to believe that Portugal is j in the slightest danger, writes Louis Shepard in the “Christian ScienceMonitor." With Lisbon blacked out. few lights-will remain in all of Europe Whether a traveller is flying down from France or sailing in at night from England, the sight of the lights of Lis., bon is a thrill not soon forgotten. Few who have come from the belligerent nations of Europe to Lisbon, during the past two years, have failed to remark that the eggs, the lighted white-tiled streets of Lisbon, and the high, neonlightcd advertisements of such luxuries as silk stockings arc things, they will not soon forget. Portugal produces some coal, but not very much. Since the, outbreak of Die war, and especially since the fall of France, Portugal has been forced to rely on stocks of coal accumulated during the years of peace. By last winter, however, the Government was forced to reduce the number of railroad trains in service. The crack, streamlined trains to the north were scheduled to run only every other day, and the same was generally true regarding all other runs. Most of the locomotives, by that time, were already burning wood, not coal, and the price of wood was steadily rising. The coal tenders, loaded with cords of wood, reminded one of the old locomotives in the Wild West movies. The people of Lisbon, not unlikthe citizens of some Florida and Cal fornia cities, insist that their part of the world is blessed with eternal summer and always enjoys the presence of sunshine and flowers. Therefore, almost every building in the city is built of stone and plaster with large highceilinged rooms, as though there are really no seasons in Lisbon but spring and summer. However, the winters are cold, in a rainy, penetrating sort of way, and the dampness creeps through the stone walls of the buildings and stays there, keeping, apartments at frigid temperatures.

After the protests of foreigners, some new apartment houses were built to be serviced with steam heat. Coal was plentiful for the furnaces for a while, but during last winter the radiators in most of these buildings were cold. There was little coal for this purpose and the price of wood was too high. Sc .most of the foreigners in the city crepx back into the he&vy woollen jackets which are an institution in Lisbon. During all of 1941, there was at least one oil-tanker—usually a Dutch Shell ship—anchored in the harbeur discharging cargo. The tiny automobiles of the city, therefore, were able to rur. wild about the streets, their drivers raising a racket wherever they might be. When a passenger gets into a Por_ tuguese taxicab, the’driver steps on the gas and puts his hand on the horn simultaneously, and keeps both his hand and his foot in the same respective positions until the car miraculously arrives at its destination. By February tankers ceased to arrive and there were very few cars in the city. A letter received in New York from Lisbon, dated 12th May. advises that there are practically no more automobiles to be seen in Lisbon. However, there is also a lack of oil for heating, and most of the people in Lisbon depend upon small oil stoves for heating their homes. Many of the homes, too, use kerosene for lighting. It is difficult at the present time to obtain either kerosene or fuel oil in Lisbon, and long lines form in front of stores selling these products long before they are open in the morning. The Army has first call on whatever available supplies there might be and there is very, very little left for private consumption. Therefore, due to the lack of coal and oil it has become necessary to economise on the use of electricity, and during the middle of March people were asked to cut home lighting 50 per cent. Most of the street lights have been put out. too. Up until June there was never any fear expressed in Portugal that Lisbon or any of the other cities in the country might be bombed and that, therefore, practice blackouts should be tried. The Portuguese Legion, which is a green-shirt organisation to which every boy and young man must belong in Portugal, will have charge of these drills. It may be very difficult to train the Portuguese people to obey any blackout rules which might be posted. They are a very excitable people and rarely follow instructions. They always want to see what is going on and no doubt they will be under foot during the practice alarms. For a long time, until the novelty has worn off. they will run through the streets shouting and singing in defiance of all air-raid precaution measures. The man on the street in Lisbon does not believe Portugal is in any danger. His attitude can be summed up in the remark of a Portuguese friend who asked why I was returning to America after the entry of the United States into the war. ‘‘But why go to a country that is at war.” he said, “when it is so peaceful in Portugal?”