Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-19
SPY-HUNTING NOW
A FAYORITE SPORT
IN ''CALM" ENGLAND
Absurd Stories of Mania
S h ow Nervousness of
Country Usually Placid
and Sober.

been no scenes resembling the hysterical
outbursts that accompanied the beginning
ut the Boer war. One exceptional feature
OF this campaign has contributed largely
/ to the absence OF popular excitement-the
| secrecy that was preserved respecting the
! arrangements for the departure of the ex-
pedltonary force. There were no public
farewcls, as on the embarkation of the
troops for the 1ransvaal Is years ago.
| The machinery worked. 80 to speak, with
| out sound.
The motto business as usual" has, in
the main, been Loyalty carried out with
| little disturbance save from inevitable
causes. Even where workers have been
drawn off to the colors, and horses and
vans have been Communicated for mill
tary purposes, the gaps have generally
been quietly filed as far as circum-
stances would allow.
At the same time, so epoch making an
event as the present war could not occur
without providing a good deal of fresh
material for theses on the psychology of
the crowd. 1t would have been nothing
short of n miracle If the whole popula-
tion had been as indifferent to what was
happening as ArChinedes at the siege of
Syracuse. Tho nearest approach to
panic was the run on the provision stores
when the country was as yet just on the
brink of being drawn into the conflict.
The evidence Is overwhelming that the
demand for food was beyond all reason
able precaution. Country Life mentions
the case of one lady who purchased no
fewer than twenty sides of bacon, being
tho entire stock of the chief provision
merchant in the little town where she
ho mi knOwa n 1ptir-
ishing suburb where five large provision
shops we're absolutely denuded Of goods,
and had to be closed until they could OBJ
tain further supplies The London Nation
SAYS that one of the West End stores re-
ceived single private order for s25OO
worth of provisions.
PRICES WE'RE FORCED Up.
some of the stores tried to check the
rush by making 1t rule to refuse de-
livery of any goods. but wealthy CUSTOM
ers got over this obstacle by coming in
their automobiles and loading them up
with their purchases. As this demand
forced up prices throughout the country
the hardship was felt especially by the
poor, and social workers in poor neigh
borhoods report that a very bitter FEELING
has been caused by this exhibition of the
selfshness OF the wel-tO-do. AS the hrst
apprehensions have subsded and as peo-
pie have begun TO realize that panic huy-
ing plays into the hands of the countrys
enemies. a more reasonable state of mind
has come about If anything Of the kind
should recur it is believed that the Gov
ernment will take steps to bring the tood
supply under its own control.
August Is normally the great holiday
month of the year, when every seaside
resort has it's accommodation strained to
the uttermost. This year the hotels and
boarding houses are complaining of many
Cancelled engagements. Paterfamilias
thinks that, on the whole, nc and his
family will be better off at home. On the
east coast the fear of a German descent
has worked upon the minds of the more
nervous whose apprehensions have been
stimulated by the sight of the necessary
military precautions. AT Felixtowe, in
Suffolk, for instance. the holiday crowd
suddenly found a detachment of soldiers
taking possession of the pier, converting
a large lodging house into military head
quarters, closing many of the approaches
to the shore, and issuing a proclamation
that any person found on the promenade
after dark would he liable to be shot. 1t
it little wonder that tmid visitors took
the first train for home. 4 seaside resort
whose geographical position makes II
military outpost In war time cannot rea-
sonably complain If its attractiveness as
a place of recreation temporarily suters.
But one has a great deal of sympathy
with some other towns along the coast
which are losing heavily through the cir
culation Of quite baseless rumors. Many
possible visitors to Margate have been
kept away by stories that the sands were
being cleared of children and guarded by
territoriaIs. that half the houses and
hotels along the front had been closed by
the military authorities, and that guns
had been heard which showed that
great naval action was being fought in
the vicinity. These were all either gross
exaggerations or inventions The sound
of firing was simply that of the gun-test-
ing and artillery training at ShOebury-
ness. and is almost an everyday event in
time of peace. Another mischievous
rumor alleged that the pier at Walton-on-
the Maze had been blown up by Germans.
Although absolutely untrue. this state
ment is known TO have deferred a large
number of prospective visitors In sew
eraI instances the Town Councils OF sea-
side resorts have thought 1t necessary to
insert In the London press advertise
ments which deny such injurious tales
and reassure intending holday-makers as
10 their freedom from any risk of moles-
tation.
HUNTING OUT THE SPIES
One hears some really absurd stories Of
the spy mania that has disturbed the
poise of many people especially among
the uneducated. The most harmless use
of pencil and paper brings a man under
suspicion The other day topical artist
was drawing a sketch of the Greenwich
gasometer for some quite innocent pur-
pose. woman, who passed. caught
sight of him and exposed his deep-aid
scheme 10 the passers-by. He ought 10
pe ashamed of himself he ought; but can
see through him. He's got II all down,
and one of them airships will come along
and know where to drop its bomb" The
argument was so convincing that the poor
artist had 10 be escorted to his home By
a policeman. The next day he went out
to Remington. and drew dismal house
with a tree in front Of II supposing that
no possible objection could be raised to
that But very much the same thing hap
pened as at Greenwich, and, when the
baffled artist appealed to a policeman TO
say what good the drawing Of the house
and tree could do to the Germans, the
reprerentative of the law went so far as
10 admit that he could not see what good
that drawing could do 10 any one
The editor OF the Photographic column
In a leading weekly advises his readers
10 restrict the use OF their cameras 10
scenes that can be taken from their
own back gardens. The man who at
tempts 10 snapshot anything that can
be remotely connected with the move
ment of troops runs a serious risk OF