LONDON IN WAR TIME.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 169, 28 April 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

LONDON IN WAR TIME.

By MRS. MALCOLM ROSS. At present London is living in daily expectation of Zeppelins. 1 was going to write "dread", but there is, ns I said before, no terror at all —only a quiet, dogged determination to make the best of tilings, and if the raid comes, to obey instructions. There is no lack of scaremongers —idiots who telephone a family to say twenty Zepps. have been sighted, and are heading for London. Naturally, the Capital is not considered just now the safest place !■> live in, but it is a question where to find shelter from a Zeppelin that loses its way, and casts bombs indiscriminately. A friend fled from London to Leicester for safety, and two nights ago Leicester was the scene of an air-raid. At present the nights are peculiarly suited for the attack, moonless, calm, very dark, and with a slight mist overhanging the towns. Word was received about seven of the approach of the raiders in their latest venture, and all the official precautions were at once observed. Trains and tube trains were stopped, and some folk, out on pleasure or business, never got homo •*">M break-fast-time. The police and firemen turned out in force, and stationed about every fire alarm, so as_to be ready. The foremen are provided' now with gasmasks, in case of poisonous combs being thrown, and look m.ist weird in them. People are ordered to stay indoors to avoid-not necessarily the bombs—but the falling shrapnel from the anti-aircraft guns which, r. is ■ have caused a large proporti.n of !'•' casualties. There are thoughtless folk who seem to imagine that the shrapnel dissipates into the air when ,t is sent aloft! Even now the lighting restrictions are not being rigidly obeyed, and I came to London in a train which had several windows uncurtained, r.quares' of_ orange light that won'd make admirable guides for a Zeppelin. Ru-* mours are abroad of some marvellous invention that the War Office has got that will be an effective protection against these attacks, but in +L« i eantime the Londoner goes about his busi-ness-aye, n,id Irs pleasure to,, for the theatres and cinemas are fairlv well attended- nilh calmness tempered with indignation at the imnertinenee or the wpV !,,K, ~Mt ,,° '"W's-n™ of the vtar t.iliee. J|„, r ,, ;m , ] lorp ~p j t]|o| . o persons wnom the war has sorely depressed, often, too. those who have lost no (bar ones in the struggle, and who have , 10 personal anxieties when read- >• g ti* casualty l, s t«. But health has nine to do with this depression, am, to time of spare livjng, non-drink-'ng and hard-working, people are as •, rue, Idling physically better than he' have done for years Jar and all its horrors seems impossible in the calm peace of an English "'"ter day-a bright clear day when one finds the first snow-drop and the llac trees a-budding. From mv window I look across the lovely stretch of Primrose Hill, where the blue mist is tei ing the vivid emerald of the crass nnd the graceful leafless trees Throw their delicate tracery against the sky the grass and trees and winding paths might stretch for miles, but one knows that over the hill lies London. So rural is it here that the squirrels burv their nuts, with a trustfulness that i's not betrayed, in our garden, and the birds sit on our window-sills. But sometimes the measured tramp of soldiers breaks the quiet ; and every fine afternoon a cripple in khaki one of the many heartbreaking sights we idiall soon get sadly used to—is helped out of a big house opposite and into a car for his drive. In Brighton the many" invalids were a very sad feature—men who. in those lovely and bright surroundings, were trying to regain health or seeking consolation from permanent injuries. Quite an array of crutches used to decorate the Metropole lounge, and two splendid young soldiers, each of whom had lost a 'eg, were always centres of little groups. A blinded boy was led about by his father, and was pathetically proud of his newlyacquired talents in managing without Irs eyes. A military band pbivs in the morning on the pier, and a young soldier—blinded—was led in by his little sister. The gay music of "Nights of Gladness" crashed out, and scmehow the waltz seemed a cruel mockery to the lad But very likely he is taking his affliction with such courage that * sympathy might be out of place. 'J he brightest smiles in London are soon often or our wounded soldiers. Indeed a glad heart seems generally the equipment o f the fighting man. A gay band of gunners—going back to camp from gun practice, took possession of a large carriag? in the Underground yesterday, and sang all the way. A Scotch laddie, with the voice of a robust angel, warbled " Bonnie Banks of Loch T/O----moinj,'' and A Wee Deoch and Dhoris" delightf illy, the rest joining in with the chorus. At every station people peeped in and listened, Ijngeiing till the singing vanished into the tunnel. They wound up their concert with an anthem, the parts taken most harmonious]',. Its unromantic words were

"We've got no Beer—hut it won't be long before we get some, for its. nearly one o'clock.'' "If one had no: caught the words, it might have nee 1 something from an oratorio. Even the faces wore solemn, and the aud.'en-e of two, of which T «:!■■ thankful to be one, was much diverted and interested.. There need be no woman to-day in England who wants employment. So many new avenues of work have been opened up, and on the whole, the places of the absent lien are being adequately filled. Even the Clubs, most- conservative of institutions, have substituted neats handed Phillises for their waiters, and like the novelty; and on a morning's walk, one may see milkwomen, girl messengers, dray women and female chauffeurs, ticket-women, guards, nnd po.st-girls- to say nothing of the hord* that is to bp seen in ships, r'e >s,

factories. For certain positions, considerable courage as well as endurance is reuuircd. The Post girl for instance, h:r- to deliver letters after nine at night in lonely districts douh'y dark now because of the lighting restrictions. There is at present a poor gnl seriously ill from lieing attacked l\v i r:og while she was delivering the letter-'. Women arc uow filling so many new hil'els that a fre.-.h vocabulary will be required. The war is responsible for many strange things and among them the great increase in uncontrollable child-* ren. Xo fewer than ;V) were hrongnt up in i no morning before the Magistrate ,'i Tower Bridge Court, absence of the;r fathers and the dark street.* that make stealing easy, being the reasons given for the offences. It must have been an cxtraordinaiv s cen.e, for many of the mothers and children were crying, while one mother was in violent hysterics, and a number were noisily angry and most unrestrained in their language. Xot onlv shop-lifting hut snatching purses and picking pockets are made oasv by the darkened It is comforting to remember that the days are lengthening, and that with the increasing light, the danger and evil that lurk in the darkness will 1>« lessened.