Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-17
ENGLAND, ONCE MERRIE,
GLUM IN WARTIME


OF gayety, to be sure, but 1t is eithei
strained or unlmaginative.
Mrs. Marconi came to wake me this
morning, and we talked till luncheon
about clothes for Italy and the posi-.
billtiea OF getting to the front, and
1iiah, her sister, and her baby, and
war-always war There is nothing else
10 talk about-it discolors everything
You can't laugh or dance or ponder
without the hdeousness Of broken lies
and hopes settling down on you like
a poison cloud. AS Trevelyan said. Il
had looked forward with eagerness and
expectation to the next 30 years OF life;
now they don't matter, and ! shall be
glad TO step out at any time" And
this heritage OF despair and ever-in-
creaslnR despair as the months go by, we
are to hand on to our children. How
they will hate us! How stupid and un-
reasonable we shall seem to them; as
ludlcrous to them as the ancient method
| OF setting disputes between individuals
by nstlcuffs instead Of trial by jury
seems TO US.
We drove through the Mall on the way
\ down to lunch at the savoy, and saw
| Geoffrey Howard. the peateable all in
! khaki, and Winston Churchill, too. His
face was gray and his hair unkempt, and
| he looked years older The city was
| filled with soldiers, and a curious, strain
| ed stiffness. l felt a pull on my nerves
of the same sort that | feel when go
Ing through prison or asylum. The
Strand seemed more normal than any
other part of London, and Savoy Court
might have been Savoy Court of n year
ago. The restaurant was filled with fash
lonables, notables and demi-mondaines.
The only difference was the soldiers
English and Belgian. II is evidently the
thing for them to see and to be seen
In London. just as II nothing terrible were
happening the other side of the Channel.
whether the sang frod Is assumed or
natural I cannot say. 1 am inclined TO
think that for the English 1t is natural,
since they are not an imaginative people.
For me, know that such sans gene in
the face of possible annlhilaton would
De pose. My muscles would be like |
water, and my nerves i'm revolt and all |
the world might know. The only way
they could get me to go into battle would
De at the point Of n bayonet, and there
must be many like me-poor devils.
NATION COMING TO REALIZATION
We learned more about England and
war at luncheon. England" said one,
has been half asleep-playing at war
with n self-conndence that only in
England could have so few facts to
Justify It," When the Lusltanla was sunk
England began to realize her enemy's
terrible strength, and something like ter
produces the venemous hatred of weak
ness (at least on the part of those who
stay at home) that is unbelievable in the
rommonness of its expression-on a, par ,
With the abuse of the London cabby who
calls names when his argument is ex-
1austed II produces, too, n determina-
ion and tenaclty that are peculiarly
British, and no doubt admirable. But !
among many, especially the officers, there
s very little heart for the fight. AS one
aid: ut is so disgusting. dreary and
Without apparent issue!" They come
back, l am told, wounded or on furlough,
lacking the exhilaraton with
which they set out. After time they
ire ordered again to the front. and they
10 with loathinE in their soul Perhaps
he third or the fourth time lin one case
he ffth tlme) they are killed. There ,
re no officers" l heard over and over ,
gain. 1t is true that their numbers ,
re appalllngly reduced, and that to fill !
heir places is apparently a problem. ,
There seemed to be an enlarging dis I
rust of the authorities in England. Too {
many facts had not been faced; tx. of I
SIS high explosives muddle in France; :
90 many facts concealed; the sinking of .
he Audacious and publishing of bulletins, :
eporting mo casualties" from certain ex- "
'editions. with simultaneous notices to
he families of the expeditionaries report
ng the relatives loss of life This sort
I thing has created n feeling of muddle, a.
iscontent and depression which was ac- n
by the Lusitania disaster. How /,
'ldespread this feeling is l have no s
leans of knowing. v
BIG MEN ARE IDOLIZED. y
But the English love to idolize "blg -
len" like Fisher and TX of X, and Il .
; with the utmost difficulty that they
an De brought to believe that such men a
re fallible This assumed infallibility of II
'aders is hard on everybody concerned
ard OH the leaders, hard on the country, o
ard on the idolators. Moreover the in a
llllhlllty theory applies, with the Eng +
sh, TO institutions as well as men-and d
lere It Is doubly dangerous. II the war d
.Ts England into habit of facing re- S
lities, perhaps it will have been worth 81
lille, after all. 1
That last statement / retract-from no Il
ngle point of view in all the world could u
ich brutality and waste be worth while. a.
After luncheon the young Engllshman y
nd l went in search of passports TO
rance. He is off to Paris to drive y
otor car to the front for the American :,
nbulance In the courtyard we met :,
I'll Irwin. the one man above all others h
London that l wanted to see. He had a
lst come from being passported, and he ii
I'd plenty 10 say that was emphatic a
We went through the routine with the ID
suaI waste OF time, My passports had Z
be vised by the Dutch Consul, so down l
e went through maze of city streets II
the eity's heart. After that the French g
onsul told me I should have to be u
autographed again and come back to- =
orrow, Passporting up to the present q
as cost me 1850
A Khaki suit is necessary, SO I went d
nd bought one at Harrods, and in the 81
rocess OF getting my hair washed af- Il
rward I got more information from the Il
airdresser about England and war He CT
sed up the usual stock of invectives C
5ainst Germany, atrocities, gas, women n
nd children. Lusitania." all of which / q
now by heart by this time, and then l y
Iked him how the people were taking II
le war-were they discouraged? mot Il
L. o. course. 1t wasn't the easy thing .
g thought first, but we're going 10 win :
not a doubt, The very KNOWN wot
ere up against puts cart and go TO n p
to Britisher. And the Germans ave
leh 'orrid methods O. fightin'. Like war7 D
OF much. The only one l know as likes C
is young 'ealthy chap we 'ad ere m "
le department. He got shot three DAYS Il
tier . got there, and was sent 'ome. a
: was sent ome before the excitement 3
ore off-'e'll have 10 go back 10 ind 8
At. But an old eampaigner, IL 1 might o
4 aa aa In, | II