HOW PEACE GAME.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1919, Page 7

HOW PEACE GAME.

L ■ , -■ r* I''■ ■■ * •■ " '^l | LONDON -LETS' H J I • ■ ■ . . ( a . j I ' r ~~* ' C 1 | Months-of Bfent t'p i. ■ i They €i»ep? ."■■! . j | Loadon, Uav. i2. Up to the very .moment -when peace J , "was declared nobody coald possibly h:tve I guessed that tie British people were j about to emerge triumphant from th&.l j greatest ordeaJ in their history. N-abody ! ; could haw divined that six: months ago tseso stolid crowds had been, lace to'tface j with disaster, and that to-day they ! knew perfectlywell they. were>sarve«iand •! victorious. | Yet we afi knew, Whenthe Gasman* Government failed to crush the Kiel-and .' | Hamburg revolts in a day, that the-end | had coma. After tiiai-no armistice mast- I Ih& German army could no, longCT hold the tranches of Handera ■ "whtsa revolt waa &broad in Jajsd, 1 . All through the wedi-end w» Aad ta>| wait for definite tows. But there -was-! i not an atom -of impatience. There was, j instead, a feeling' of great contentment: 1 and, quiet. People flocked churches ij on Sunday, although no special service® I were announced. l&ero was abundant! 1 patience, but there-was ailso expectancy.' J All the common little affairs of life seemed t<> talce on new -voices audi' new aspects. Things we sawUnmdreds of-' tones every day for four years suddenly became vocaliaiid pregnant witli import-,; anee, A PAGEANT OF PEACE. The Tjord Maycffte Show on Saturday was really a pageant of peace—one of those triumphs which the old victors used to have to show their sj>oils and their captures in the streets. It was a great cavalcade on a great day. Every aspect of the war was there—tie captures, the economic factors, the pigeons, the aeroplanes, the land girls—everything but the captives and the victorious generals themselves. Airships hovered overhead. Aeroplanes in squadrons ranged the sties all over old and greater London.

The (banquet in the evening was one of the most memorable even for these great times. Mr Lloyd George was able toieappear in public after a long retirement owing to indisposition; and he had a tremendous reception. It was a few hours too early for him to make a definite announcement about the armistice, but what he did say was almost an announcement of the end of the wax and of complete victory for the Allies. England went to bed and rose again still full of expectation, hut still patient, according to the teaching of four years of disappointment. We have seen victory so often on the horizon, so often disappear like a mirage, tba.t there vias not much fear of a prematura outburst. But Sunday was full of strange voices. Every aeroplane that -crossed overhead far up in the blue sky seemed to be carrying news of signing of the armistice. Every motor cycle and motor car that throbbed past—these things are not very numerous nowadays—seemed to have some special message for those who could read omens. Yet there was no impatience. The steady reports of disorder in Germany were a good sedative —something to go on with. Just a few suburban dwellers anticipated the lighting relaxations which we were promised when peace was signed, and had their suppers with Minds raised. The signing of the armistice was expected on Sunday, according to the statement of the Prime. Minister, but it is astonishing how little notice was taken of this. People have long since got over the habit of expecting the walls of Jericho to fall down, and Sunday evening papers were not a great deal rushed. It was known that the German courier had had some trouble getting through, and in any case the idea that the Hun was sparring for time was not dead. On Sunday, for the first time for how long, an occasional flag was hung out hers and there, because the owners believed it was all up with Fritz. They wore not nearly so numerous, though, as for the abortive victory of Oaicbrai in 1913. PEACE DAY. Whatever the purists may say of the use of the words,' the general public thinks the signing of the armistice was the signing of peace. And, in face of the terms, they are not far wrong. Monday was another tyjiical early winter day—erisp, and not too cold. When I went into the city the only flag flying was the sempiternal banner of Australia on the fine new buildings in Aldwych; It was just one day out of hundreds, the came—cold, drab, and inhospitable. Some hours earlier the armistice had Been signed, and in a Kindred messes, from end to end of Bis country -the . eagle? -7t Bie Kcya.: Ai? Force, the en';. <rf tlirir Jong ami gallant; campaign, odftoatrd tine f act in the chlliy daw.to But the general public knew notilng. At 1.0.20 the Press Bureau gave owt this;

"The Prime Minister make# tie following announce men fc:— .'-The ci-mist ice was signed at. five .o'cssck.,Uiiß jnorning and hostilities are t<j«ease.oii all fronts at 11 su.ni. to-day." , This got abroad in the streets about ■ten . minuter la.tor, ii?i<i frow ;sfl<t .moneat the wliglo face ot the city "began t<> change. When I went out into the uS&eafa: ejrtra itself,atbera-. were .two ilagd only 'Risible, haflgiijg out, of , wißiJoww hand. Jlgforei I got flaga were being shaken out and shung fflU. ;i alojig;,the street. £hop assist■ants \mxe poking their out of doors wondoringlr as if th? fire brigade had just fgona past. In ten, minutes the ,wi>Ate •. aspect of the .city 'h3.1l changed. afcrwrta .with people rwhlog ta ltt> Md wmubltog for 3rt.)3V. .. w;"4fe BA-yught.

'At ten minutes to eJeiven Mr Lloyd George appeared on tfca balcony at 10, Downing street, where a dense crowd •was clamoring fat him, and said a few words ia his chaiartarietie manner. He said that the war wsuld we over in ten mimrtes. li was a great victory, and they 'had earned a shout, He t'tiea retired witliin the window.

Meamvliila London was seething. Every window was thrown open, and every clerk, ghop-ossistMii, and typist sud warehouseman in t3ie metropolis rushed to the street. The footpaths became m -e. fow moments hopelessly jammed;' TTho news th*t th« fighting would de&® at devca. .col vnto the farWwimy of tJifl great city. uWI , evoryogir «ras ai »tteni>Vw «anu <&>■ w>xxm* «■aw

Escitemenl was-.intense. On. the tick of elewai; bang went <Sio maroons from t'he poliao-iftations throughout ths mut•fojwlte. It is said tha± there vrt,m foofei fiomo .of tV subvert®-who thought-. ;iit twm anoSher sip-mid, aani san whiteSfaesd w thsiu'&wcs to scan £he sty Iter the <testn>yers. Bui in LoncJea ibwjJll wa» ,aotiawK>ttS wh/X"djS < .»e4i'kn(W sitijstt this TOts iife mofflent tor wUi&U j»fcoy had iw Soar loskg ; -j£att3. Wkmi tfee itert. implosions went off ' iaomo stood «t3l in, Cton J ar3<iis,,Ktnd rasuy •ssiseA tin;ir Inita. By Hie iuno thei.KCieorxi and third; -rc-posfe sounded -there iwas aaUnng tat wsja cheering f,r.«ua jßtreefc, to street. A pandemonium of yells and shout?. It was useless' to, jtbinic of Swiuilil wish to? Siena, that 120 m Met belonged to the <pent-up- emo-tions-of a people thatJiad neither toughed nor wept for four long years. At no time had ifcibcen oir the 'Ciestofielation;, oa.t no-time in-sfche depth o£ despair, andii ' ;l it had every right to let itself :and commit such follies-as-it .listed. "You are well entitled to -rejoice," .-said the Prima Minister, as he- emerged again from the window, and, with his . wife onor.e-sideond ittrßonar'Law and Mr Winston Chuxehitl on the other, waited for-silence to address the tumult "below him. It was-a seethingi-mass new, with .a canopy -af 1 -all colors. "The jeople-.of iiheir ,-Allies- haso woo a great virftory. It is "the sons jad daughters of -the' people who have--done ft. Let us thank God." Then, life-retired to the thousand toils ;of the day before him,.and the crowd •poured out of Dawning street into Whitehall, and'from Whitehall to'"Trafalgar Square. It cheered'itself hoarse before the old Admiralty buildings and the War Office. In Trafalgar Square Mr Churchill was mobbed as lie tried to get through, in. his motor,.and had to make-a speeih. But few, if-any, heard him, and ho was-iborne away when the mass -surged,along,.-waving his hat above Jiis head. PROGRESSIVE INTOXICATION, | It is a marvel where the people came from. A few minutes later I walked along the Strand, and had the greatest difficulty getting along. By this time everybody was everybody's friend. Girls had poured out of their offices without I hats, and climbed on to any and every } motor, or taxi, or bus that was going slowly enough.. For awhile the bus [ conductresses did their duty nobly in a j struggling and cheering mass of people. The tops of the 'buses became the best possible point of vantage, a*<l every seat was soon taken by people who remained there all the morning and well on into the afternoon, travelling from end to end of the route, and cheering every vehicle that passed. Half-sv-doicii men stood on the canopy over the driver and generally half-a-dozen on the steps. Army waggons were loaded down with girls from bonnet to tailboard. Even horse vans were stormed by the crowds, and the drivers, without any goods on board at all, merely kept their horses moving along with the traffic and looked fatalists. Coalcarts that had dropped their loads bore solid masses of men, and soldiers, and girls, and children, standing shoulder to shoulder. There was always room for more, and as they moved along, any youngster who caught hold of the tailboard was sure of being pulled up. NO RULES TO-DAY. Private motors were stormed in the same way, generally by bevies of office girls, or canteen assistants, and proceeded on. their way, or on somebody else's with loads four times in excess of their limit. Policemen on point duty smiled, and waved their arms copiously, to show that all regulations were suspended, and all rights of property were null and void. Every vehicle in London belonged to whoever liked to climb into it.

On foot crowds, and regiments, and battalions of the unlisted legions tramped along, soldiers arm in arm -with girl clerks, officers arm in arm with privates before the day was much farther advanced. By half-past eleven everyone was intoxicated with excitement. First soldiers and then commissioned officers began to exchange hats with the girls on their arms. What looked, screamingly funny at 11.15, was a single Australian soldier wearing somebody's hard hat instead of his own. By half-past eleven it was almost funny to see soldiers wearing their own hats. Dress regulations went tiy the board. Tommies shook hands with officers, both smiling genuinely. Every 'bus, and taxi, and motor that came along now, had people clinging also to the springs aijd_ the running board, and rows of them 1 sitting on the hoods, the girls wearing the soldiers hats, and officers and men both wearing female head-dress. By this time things bad gone so far that I found the first New Zealander defynt; the dress regulations. He was of the artillery, and had permitted bis girl to take his hat. Australia had £one much farther and faster in the {{cneral demoralisation of discipline. 'CHE SLAVE OE RULES, The greatest anachronism on that great day, was the person who pleaded regulations as an excuse for not doing something. Late in the afternoon I met a tram conductress who insisted that the. surplus of dripping, sweating, but wellcontent passengers should get off the car. For five minutes s"he stormed and pleaded. It waa the ono five minutes in the last fifteen years when regulations had not a hope- Nobody wacJ3 move. At length.she pleadrd. J&>toay would move. But one and aB togim to tagls and to assure her it was fell right to-day. "Tlus is a tab'rn to b<s -'inipy rain," said one. "NsrtMfl' matters io-ds.y. Y'oughter seen at tho 'osise. The plowmen tfcare. Notedy tikes ■ so nohtis."

• And nobody did tako any notice. TJifi car went on and everybody laughed.

Perhaps tliey will never announce the j toll of accidents oa "Peace" Day. The sceptical say they never announced tlie full toll of air raids. Personally, I don't thiak tlicro wera many accidents. Though, buses were clustered and canopied from the, skyline to the street level, and Army wagons and steam wagons wc-rs completely hidden by the limbs and todies and "flaga of their yelliag ciptors, and were always willing to take more, there eeem to 'been very fev? ffxwidenta. fivsrybodv waa so wall intuutionca, and eo thoroughly jiieasetl with itie world, ths.t nobody allowed to iu.il oS. Jfflß MUSIO OF VICTORY. Do season in lOT'ior. ci 7-" - experienced fiurfj o jam .»f tiaffic. Through the whole triumphal way Ixy Oxford street, Kagoni etrc«t, i'locaxliUy, Stand, Fl«t street, HoEboro, and ttiun again in too iiio «.Teot» tind fcfcfi shop fronts xivrtv aj ivn whh people. To to the paiety, ffjirunj? out ci the earth ~nil di-HviTed kc.li, w'. ovwVa.'i J i vnt rn kiCittcstA, sutJV* Viiilivts ai;d ■tarn up imge* iiLe 4»». Mu4»*i.

Motor horns hooted and wMstles sltrieked, ami the crowd Peered and cheered again whenever tle;p.p»#>Bjli an-, o®er vehicle.. At the Mansion House the Lord' Sfuyor was about 11 tafc& iiis seat for' fl>e first time 'when the newstof -fro arimwtiea came. Sir Horace Marshall,. \trj-iSv wife, stepped out to- the J>atcony, juid in a few words called for .chomn for th« victory and. foi' a new rosolvo /on- the reformation of the country after peace. Hero the Nationsel Anthem wa« sung and elsowhero now.! iind again one hears its strains. But, on -the whole, the -people in their excitement did not turn to such, hymns at all. They gave us plenty of "Tipperary" and a great deal of "Good-byce." Crowds in corners and places where th'i>y could get elbow room practised / the American war-cries and "Kah! Rah! Eah's! "Are we happy!" one old wag would ■shout. "Yes," came jtho reply "from anyone,- any old where. "Have we won the -war?" "Yes."

THE KING LEADS THE'SINGING. M Buckingham Palace, when the Guard was being changed at 11, the King came out on the balcony in Admiral's uniform, accompanied by the Queen, carrying a small Union Jack. And both waved and bowed their acknowledgment, and came out again and again as the crowds grew and insisted on seeing them. All day long this continued. The King and Queen, With the Duke of Con naught, the Duchess of Argyll, and others of the Royal Family, came out on {he .balcony again, and when the noise had died down the King said a few words:

"With you, I rejoice and thank God for the victory which the Allied armies have won, and brought hostilities to an end, and peace within sight." Just after noon the crowd at the Palace was greater than ever. In the forecourt were columns and ranks of nurses, V.A.D.'s, and female war workers of all classes, and at one end a group of American soldiers with their flag. Many bands were also there. Outside the railings the crowd stretched' all across the memorial garden and round the statue of the Queen which the Kaiser, with his royal officiousnesfl, assisted King George to unveil some years ago.

This episode ended with "Auld Lang Syne." When the Royal party joined hands in the time-honored fashion, the crowd went almost mad. Everybody took the hand of his or her nearest, and it was a strange medley. Well-dressed ladies found themselves hand in hand with munitioners and carters. Once more the National Anthem was sung, His Majesty Btanding at tbo salute. It was a most touching episode of the day, KING AND QUEEN UNGUARDED, An hour or two later a wretched drizzle came on, thoroughly wetting any who were not prepared against rain. But it made no difference to the enthusiasm of the 'throng throughout the streets. They still shouted and hugged and cheered and exchanged, clothing and stormed tho lorries and motors of others.

About 4 o'clock, when the rain was at its worst, the King and Queen, with Princess Mary and a naval aide-de-camp, left the Palace in an open carriage without an escort, and drove through l'jondoii, With only two mounted policomen ahead to make vay for them they drove through the streets at little more than a walking pace. The crowds soon dropped to it, and tlicy had a tremendous ovation. Men, women, and children hung to thi carriage and as it passed »cy office s French poilu was one of those trotting aloDg holding to the door handle. Nobody attempted to interfere with the public, and ths in formal nature of the drive was almost an inspiration, It made one Ihiiiii mreuistlbly of' what was the plight, at the moment, of the_ royal cousin and aTch-criminal, a fugitive in Holland.

, THE RACKET OP JOY-RIDING.

As the hours went by one could sec traces of the day of merriment on all hands. Buses and motors, quite unaccustomed. to the loads tho.j had been carrying, were lying up on the roadside, some of them with wheels off. The streets were a litter of confetti and forbidden waste of paper Shutters were up everywhere, not because the tradespeople were afraid of disturbance, but purely because there was nooody to serve in the shops and nothing left of the sort that people wanted to buy. The only thing they did want to buy was flags •of all sorts and sizes. Otherwise they felt they were wasting every minute of glorious time that they were not in the open streets. Offices closed too, and I wonder how many girls left their hats all night in their offices; for' thousands rushed out in the morning hatlesa and did not return. In the afternoon almost every second person in the street had hi 3 head swathed in .flags instead of a hat, and it was quaint to see soldiei'6 strolling home to barracks, perfciUy sober, with some hospitable stranger's felt hat on top of their uniform in place of their own. If any work at all was done in London on Monday afternoon I am sure it was very badly done. The impulse to rush to windows was irresistible, though every time tlis scene was exactly the same one of unbridled joy and goodnatured noise. There waa remarkably little horse-play, and until evening not much drunkenness. The crowds of girls who wore dancing in the sti eets and kissing and hugging all and sundry in the early hours of tlic> day were for the most part merely letting themselves go And nobody will deny that London in all its lower grades has well deserved this <lav of relaxation and revolt against dhuipEne. It was impossible to admire too" much the restraint which the people havn put on thooisalvea for the last year i or two* . , SIGNS OF EVENING.

Towards evening tlio crowds in town were gTeatty reinforced by others coniin« in, from the suburbs,_ and still the din went on, but now in « rc " strictcd swa. Scavenges? unwclied up and down -playing tattoos oil their ecoops with their brushes; waiters escaped from restaurants and eating houses beat their trays into odd shapes with noise; soldiers Ibanged .unceasingly on the tinplate advertisements on the s'.dea of buses; small boys with Imglca pervaded the din, and ever and anon '■blew the inerry two notes of the "All Clear," a fitting suggestion for a time ot merriment. ' t . Taxi-drivers iiad i>y eow lost tne more substantial customers who. had engaged them early in tlie day, fctfid afterwards wilted out of the o*empowering mob which shewed their cars. It was all very well fov *>*> hour or so tft join fc>tne merriiiuir.i. ajid itanlsti aran«ty ft on their' moocv, but tbi? omrifi not go on, for tfcev had to |ai? M "sqirs.tto.ra," though. wto-A U . to rioaon on this and It, <!«m«*tlnn tlie drmn*. h:ul t/i 6 ecl. dii.l murwn tU-vr txTIS ' &u> If® iv«i» » '&» "*

fchuniasm ofHhe invaders ■wouldMid they viatL'd dwindto away. j (towards* djrfc, too, a. np.w interest: 1 ,'eaino into, men's lives. It- r«a» under--; i'tocd that light would be ilp '■bad mli day Muatrioas gariga cf men? ■were sc<ai bringing forward great seres anil fixing ih/aft to standards, which forfcknse many months liave-lmere -daxk aod ,J cheerless. Tticj» was no restriction on tiglitingj and it was quite an experience ; to drive though .streets once molesmiling. It served more tAan .anything,, .-else -to lift a load from one'a cheat,' '.Of course, the limiting was far from normal, but it was brilliance itself, com- • , pared with what we have lived under : £oe so long. THE SECOND-DAY. *VStfii' To-day began soberly, brat already l ' there are signs of a return of the fervour of yesterday., The streets have never been so full of people. They are pouring in from all the suburbs with a •light in their eye, and it will be wonderful if to-night is any more peaceful than last night. Every few minutes a burst of laughter or cheering shows the informal mood which is prevalent. A couple of Jocks passing feel priyileged to be free; an appreciative following cheers loudly whenever one of them cracks a civilian on the head with, his ■' stick. So frolicsome are we!

All tlia street lights are being cleaned, and until the fuel controller feels he can venture to stem the torrent of joy the lighting will be dazzling. It was the strangest of all feelings last night to be awakened at midnight by a sound of cheering, bell-ringing, and banging. These things belong in most minds to more terrible causes, and it took a moment or two to brush out of the mind the association of bombs and Zeppelins and night raiders, and to thirik of th« new great fact of .peace on earth. NO CASE OF STATISTICS. Some of the public houses in London opened at once on hearing the news, which was $n hour before tho right' time. The breach was discreditable, but it did not matter a great deal, as the severely rationed supply of all bars had run out long before closing time at Wgllt. I am sure it would be quite .useless to apply to either police or provostmarshals for statistics of arrests and disturbances on Monday. The conptable or lI.P. who would arrest a man yesterday for anything whatever is still to be found, although most -soldieis think red hats are fit for anything. What I would like the figures for is to <prove what I am convinced of, namely, that of all the strange races and classes and degrees of people who disported themselves in London on this day of "Peacef* r—you can call it armistice if you like, but the crowd knows bettor —those who were least unruly and lost fewer hats, but enjoyed themselves the best, were the diggers from New Zealand. "No more the Kaiser," Private Piri whispered to mo huskily. "Py korri te Kaiser he y.karu now. We go home now. New Zealand good enough for me

now." Piri ia due back at Etaples to-day. The M.P. told mc.

INCIDENTS IN SNAPSHOTS.

Princess Mary was probably tho first girl in England to hear the news. And she promptly struck work. She was due at Devonshire House at 10 o'clock to do her work as a V.A.D., and she announced that sho "really felt that she* eouldi not go."

At the first sound of the Woolwich hooter, 100,000 men and women "downed tools." "We do not expect them back," said an official. A train for London Bridge left the arsenal station with 30 hilarious people ia evary : carriage.

Kingsway, the street of 10,000 typists, set alight tlio great braziers on the roof of one big building, ami then sent out a general "call" for the brigade. Engines dashed up, followed by escapes. Girls, boys, and soldiers seized them, turned ofl' all but the drivers, and went careering away •

The first unshaded light in London blazed from a, high standard outside the Royal Exchange, at about 4 p.m. Its appearance was wildly cheered and a group of young men and women made merry under the bright glare. An officer who got a taxicab at Tra-falgar-square before noon says in less than a minute, 14 others —soldiers, girl clerks, sailors—had climbed in and over it. They cared not whither tbey went, neither did the driver, and unable to stop him the original "fare" climbed out over the bax:k 'while the taxi-cab went oil. Where it stopped and who paid are mysteries. A huge crowd assembled in front of the Admiralty in the morning. Sir Eric Geddes, mounting an improvised platform, called for throe ehccrs for Sir David Beatty and three for the British, bluejackets. During the day more than 10,000 «01-. diers visited the American Eagle Hut. At night the chairs were cleared away and dances and games went on until early morning. One American left the hut'in the morning to go out and "aee" the noise.

At St. Pandas and King's Cross Stations some of the soldiers were hoisted shoulder high. Two officers arriving, drove away is the top of a taxi waving flags. A dog trotted down Fleet street with a Union Jack tied to his tail, whicb was wagging vigorously. Surrounded by a dozen friends, an elderly American officer sat on top of ft private car and beat a dinner gong. A schoolboy .with a well-known patriotic woman is said to have: waved t> huge Union. Jack, on Lord'. Haldane's steps. "He has no flag out,' and X feel we owe him that," slie said. A donkey cart driven by a woman was seized in Whitehall and the donkey decorated with flags. Soldiers jumped up Ibeaido the driver, \ ylacing 'tbeir arms round her, headed '4. ipriS^essUm. After a silence of'yeiws '®ig Ben"' is again striking tli« ijfinbf of Westminister —one of the greatest,of the moment. ''' , Dignified 'city men marched through the streets .beaded by a baaid of , tin kot.tlns, while Lcadeailiall butchers dressed tholSSoXw® -n top JwAh said smocks.