AIR TERROR

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1940, Page 7

AIR TERROR

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.

NIGHT OF DREAD CHILDREN SUFFERING PILGRIMAGE OF MISERY

Rec. 6.30 p.m. London, Sept. 21. "The slogan 'Get the children out' should be pinned up in every Ministry in Whitehall," says the Daily Mail. "Night after night thousands of children in the danger areas are suffering the terrors of constant bombing. Hundreds are being killed -nd some have seen their parents slaughtered and watchcd t1 "r world crumble. "The search for safety is a pilgrimage of misery. Children are condemned to sleep in a humid atmisphere of stations which are unhealthy, and there is no sanitation. These dreadful ordeals must be spared the generation to which we look to build a brave new world after the war. "Evacuation must be speeded up. Something more vigorous is needed than the Government gently urging parents to let children go. A lot of nonsense has been written about the wise-cracking Cockney joking of the horrors around him. These horrors are not jokes. The average Cockney does not think them funny." Underground Converted. As thousands began to stream down to tube railway sta'tions last evening it was announced that the authorities were converting a large section of the Piccadilly line into an air raid shelter. The section is 563 yards long and of varying depth from 95 to 135 feet. Conversion should be simple. The tracks will be boarded over, and the section is already well lit, but improved ventilation will be necessary. Mean while, London's shelter problem is receiving increased prominence. The conditions in many of the poorer districts are pitiable, due to insufficient sanitation and seating. Thousands are fofced to stand for hours. The Government plans to include organised nightly migration from the East End with fleets of buses taking the people to and from their allotted shelters. The Ministry of Home Security intends to speed up the work of shelter improvement throughout London. While the conversion of tubes was under discussion, thousands again took matters into their own hands and settled down on platforms for the night. The overcrowding was acute and the atmosphere most unpleasant. Many resorted to sleeping on the steps of the escalators.