South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-05-20
HI SHELLEY WRITES
IN NEW VEIN Of
STRICKEN LONDON
Calls British Capital City of
Aged, CrippIeS, and Mourn
ing Women-IS Impressed
by English Determination.

fHere Is story written in n new vein
Tor I'll Stblcy. tncOnsciOusly perhaps.
the south Bend man has furnished a sfrik-
ing example Of what effect close contact
With the European war exerts repa rtlIess
huenccd.
There arc bur n very few instances az
uhat facefiOus humOr which Heretofore has
characterized most II Mr. SfhIev's vyritfr,,,
Ia the following article. Although fn places
theTe are flashes of the inevitable wit uu-
49, ins the whole article is vein 81
SCI ousuess which nothing short q the
l"Iti conflict perhaps. would have educpd
if9m the typewriter Of Mr. SbIev.
-. nat Is not to say that the article is
not 50 interesting because it's different rs
q l,l,i!y interesting Read il and see
Editors NOtej
BY Hi SibIey.
LONDON, May 5, 1915.-London is
this -05.- train from Iiverpool ar
flfes at EuStOn Station at O'Clock al
night, ! emerge from my compart-
ment upon platform so shrouded in
gloom that i can scarcely discern any
OF the few pOrters about. Presently
one Of theri goes to find me = rs5
After a tedious wait he returns with
q tour-wheeler. which comes cIatter-
ing from Il e inky blackness of a side
sIeeC. Iaxic are scarce and not suf-
Hclent - t2He care of even a small
portion Of the passengers.
My Jehu is a bearded patriarch
can see by the half light, and il is all
ne and the porter can do TO put INV
steamer trunk aboard We rumble
through street after street enveIoped
In almost total darkness, for the few
street lamps burning are dimmed with
special shades. At the Hotel Thack-
cray tall but pallid porter assists i'm
getting the baggage of; it is obvious
mat he IS an invalid. Inside at the
desk, all the clerks are women. My
elevator, or Tiff boy is cripple
That IS London today Positions
once held by able bodied and capable
men are now flied by women. or bv
men physically unfit for service in the
army They tell me il is so all over
Britain. she has sent her best men
10 the front. At a Cinema exhibition
last night pictures were shown of
women operating tram-cars in Edin-
borough. ON a stroll through the
Strand L am impressed by the number
Of men in all sorts of occupations.
who were decidedly below the normal
Even truck horses seem TO be left
overs Much of the hauling is done
by diminutive burrOs and ponies, and
boys pushing carts.
Many Mourning Women.
But what strikes me most forcibly
and is by far the most tragic evidence
of the great struggle over there across
AAAN NAAe%AAlA1Ar ~ TIC 81 CttL number OF
women in mourning. Yesterday as I
passed the savoy a smart limousine
rolled from the court: in it were two
women, one OF them White-haired
patrician. the other a handsome young
girl. Both were in the deep mourn
ing of recent bereavement AS the
car turned into the Strand an old
coster woman pushing q cart piled
high with garden truck turned aside
To let them pass: she too. was in
mourning, but only a simple, shabby
band of black upon her arm indi-
Gated the fact. Everywhere are these
poor women, in the hotels. restaurants,
on the streets, on the buses. And the
other women and girls, who are not
yet in mourning. never know how
soon they VIII be obliged to don the
significant black Virtually every man
and woman talked 10 has brother,
or husband. and occasionally a father,
at the front.
Coming over on the ship / took
quite a fancy To q young Englishman
by the name of Vaughn. He had been
IN the states for some time. and liked
II SO we'll that ne had decided TO To-
cate in California In fact he had
already started work on a bungalow
near san Jose and he was 70 be mar
ried on Sept. 10. The Girl was Eng
lish. and from her pictures remark
ably pretty.
4 Romance Interrupted.
Tt was a delightful romance.