LOST IN LONDON.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 278, 25 May 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

LOST IN LONDON.

IHE SPLENDID WORK OF THE V.3J.C.A. NIGHT PATitOL. Described l.j- JIAH CARET CHUTIs. Ono o'clock in the morning! Pitchdark. with a few \eiled lights doing 1 it—tlo to guide tho travellers on heir waj. At. one corner. liy two crossing road*, .1 giunp of Hi en in khaki, with slouch hats tiuit mean Australia. By tho kerb .1 i.M.C.A. car draws up with a jerk. Tho « river ~s t,k k s . '" s wheel while the scout at- his side climbs out to speak to t.'io men hesitating 011 the pavement. Is this tho Strand mister?'' they ask him.

jhero is one sticot known to all Colonials—the .Strand. Put them in the Strand and they are happy. "'No; you're some way off the Strand," the Y.M.C.A. man answers. "\\ hero do you want to go? Can we help you?*'

"As a matter o! fact, we're lost!' ono of the slouch hats admits. "Didn't striko town till ■« was dark; never been here l>ofor.\ But wc thought that if wo could go to tho Strand we might find ono of the hut-placosj only it** getting a b't late. Perliaps they're all shut." SEES THEM SATO. "They are never »hut," the S:out tells tho lost'strangcrs. " You can go into a Y.M.C.A. hut any hour of the day or night. Wo come from there, and its our business i-y find men like you who have lost their way, and take you wherever you want to go . . Aldwyoh Hut i- tho nearest. Will that do?" - ' You liot it will. Climb in, boys! Mind my feet, you clumsy plunder, you —th:s is something like a ear—^eh, bcVS?"

The big < a r glides awr.y into the darkness with its passengers, through the empty, silent streets, till it pulls up by the Aldwych Hut. The Scout leads the strangers to the door, sees thim. safely inside, and finds out that the hut is not too full to take them in. (If this proved the ease, they would be dri en from hut to hut uiit'l" room was found.) Tlh>n the Scout takes his place .''ga'ii. and off goi* the ear on its prescribed round, to hunt for more of tne Lost Leg'ou.

Every night. soon after ten o'clock, a long string of ears belonging to the night transport column leaves the Y.M.C.A. headquarters in Tottenham Court Road and start' out on its work. Some of the cats go from station to station, carrying tired men across London when aJI other transport has teased. Other ears—the patrol sec-lion —each carrying p driver and a scout, round cert iin area-, and all tho way ti'e sc-o.it is watching for men who are lest or ill. or in trouble. If a group of figures is sighted, or a solitary man, tho ear stups. the Scout gets down, and very diploma t'cjlly begins talking to the wanderers to iind out if they nood help. ROBBED AND INJURED.

The part- of the nijjlit, patrol work requires infinite urct. Many of the men are inclined to lie if approached in the wrong way. Sometimes they strongly resent what they cons'der charity or " blooming interference"; and. aga'n, many of them cannot readilv believe thai tins work ; s really genuine! .it'll, on the whole, the patrol workers deal so skillfully with the men that tlioir help in very seldom rejected. Adventures often come tlio way of the night patrol rolnmn. One dark n;ght. a \ir travelling sirwly down tlie Strand (.line upon a huddled figure lying in tho road. It proved to lie an Australian soldier, unconscious, and suffering from a badly-cut head and general damage. Ho was driven to a hospital, and the next dav told h»s story to the men who ns tied him. He lad arrived in London tho previous evening, never having l>een there in his life. At the station a "nan m kliaki s|>oke to ium, asking if he was a stranger. Tho end of u was they dined_ together. Tho Australian jwid and his khaki friend found out lust how much money he possessed. They walked into the dirk streets; tiie Australian remembered tuni'iig down .-• narrow passage, and saw three or lour nun suddenly rush at him. The nest thing lie knew ho was waking up in hospital, badly injured, and rob'xd of every penny ho had in the world.