Evening star., 1914-11-27
LONDON NIGHT LIFE
BURIED IN GLOOM
Theaters Have Hard Time
Owing to Dark Streets
and Closed Cafes.
BIG STORES SHOWING
EFFECT OF THE WAR
Passing Of Troops to Camp or to War
Seldom Noticed by the
People. =,
Correspondence of the Associated Pr~s.


LONDON. November ia ter three
months OF war London. as . neutral sees
it. seems a conflict between the two com
monest sentiments OF the perod-"Bns-
ness as Usual and "Your King and
Country Need You" These signs oon-
front you everywhere. In August they
were on the houses and motor cars: now
on the billboards. empty wallis. hotels,
theatsrs. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS thAt
paste will hold them.
Contrary to the expectations OF earlier
weeks. none Of the big hotels 10 closed
but even at the height OF the evening
crowd there Is slim attendance. nearly
half the men being officers IN unifsFyr.
Americans are very scarce, none being
en- route to the Riviera or other European
resorts.
There has been a revolutionary change
in staff at all these hostelries, manager.
clerks. do, rmen, walters of German or
Austrian blood hav ng been sent to the
detention camps. No restaurant or hotel
can remain open with any chance OF
making money unless II can announce
that mo alien enemies are hired here"
One the largest hotels on the Strand
was recently the target for much news
paper criticism because its orchestra
never played God Save the King" That
orchestra now plays the national air
every evening" with frequent repettions
of "Tipperary." "MarseilIaise" and
other favorite songs of the allies.
The theaters are having q hard time
Of It, War was blow enough. but the
darkened streets, with their accompany
ing gloom and the ci, s'ng of the
restaurants at 10 O'Clock, whether they
be Piccadi.ly grade or mere pub WIS
harder blow. Rates have been reduced,
soldiers and nurses in uniform are ad-
mitted at half price. patriotic me .odtes
| are the chic repertoire of the orchestrRs
but it is all uphill work
Theatrical Folk in Despair.
The theatrical profess on is in despair.
Since Drake was put on by Beerbohm
Tree nothing new has been attempted.
Old plays are the order of the day. But
for one or two American importations
Londoners would have nothing new to
see Even The Country Girl" The Earl
and the Girl and THE Belle OF New
York; have been revived. George Ed
ward. who recently returned from de.
| tention camp in Geremany, has no heart
fer new musical shows"
Most of the galleries are open-ehs
fear of the suffragette having de-
parted-but many of the best known
masterpieces have been taken from the
walls to places of safety.
In the streets recruits in companies.
daily. many of them without unifoEms.
These are the men the country calls
for, but Englishmen rarely stop even
to look at them. Even the women who
knit socks or mufflers they ride
| to their work in buses do not ltft
| their eyes to watch passing troops.
Some of the papers complain that there
should be bands and that people should
stop to look at the volunteers, but
people do not. 1t is evidently not the
| British way.
| Leicester Square at night is not what
tourists are wont to consider IL, q
center Of gayety and amusement. The
Belgian influx has added somewhat to
its population. but the cafes and thea
ters simply cannot overcome the i'm
preston of gloom. Two-thirds of the
street lights are out and the other
third have the upper part of the globe
painted black, while no electrical signs
are allowed. 1t is as if Broadway were
set back to 1860.
Shopping Falls Off.
Regent and oxford and the adjoining
shopping thoroughfares lack their Gus
tomary number of buses. some lines
having been taken off altogether as
the army Communicated them. All the
shops have reduced the number OF
their employees. but make brave show
of Business as USUAL" their window
placards showing how many Of the
staff have enlisted or that a certain
proportion of the receipts will be de-
voted to the Prince of Wales fund or
that gifts for soldiers or sailors can
be obtained with a discount from regu-
lar rates.
In the city itself, the stock exchange
men stand in Throgmorton street at
| MONDAY from force of habit. and talk
| of business that may come sooner
| later. Figures show that unemploy-
ment is below the average, the rush of
| hundreds of thousands to the colors
accounting for that. At an auction sale
| at the wool exchange this week the
seats were crowded, but the bidding
was brisk only for grades Of wool that
could be used for khaki.