New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-03-04

rpon the Englishman. lie Is a sent'-
mentalist at bottom, | think; put ne
wells that sentiment under the justly
celebrated British reserve. i9ur
Briton customarily regards al as
play of emotion as indecent. 10 near
Americans "gush" gives him an un-
easy feeling. But your Englishihhi
lust from the line, be he oincer VI
private, reveals his inner sell ~
manner most shocking to the brI'iSn
sense of decorum. .i,r
makes sentimentalists OF w an,
said returned chaplain YESTERDAY
81 keep "A phonOgraph at my qualtela'
| took over lot of concert nan SONY =
thinking 10 cheer them up a bit an
Annie Laurie They don't want the
rest but they have kept me playing
Annie Laurie until the record -
cracked. They sit and listen 20 ~
with their heads on one side and their
ewes looking far away. In taxing
back A set Of the mushiest RECORDS
can find in all London" .
This same chaplain confessed 70 Il
freak of war psychology to %hlch ! near
testimony on all hands. lie had Deeh
ali his life "A diarist and he thought
when he went TO the line that ne might
ko.p an invaluable record OF al ne saw
n had to give it up. Somehow, alVet
The first week. he couldn't bear TO puI
II OH paper-he didn't know why Al.
tho writer's who have seen an. Tn g OIL
iris war know the sam. phenomenon
We have to lash ourselves TO the TASK
or writing. The thin, is so tremeh-
Il Is. even VIII ., realized at second
bsnd: the thoughts and emotions sue
coed each other so rapidly, that mere
language seems pifTling just piihing.
The economic state Of England, as
ora gets manifestations of it here and
tbere. appears u.ious. One gets 1t
only b. little signs. Over that, as over
everything else, hangs the fog OF war
America must know already that the
rise in the price Of sta. lie foods mas
become a subject of Parliamentary IN
quiry. On the other hand, food luxu-
ries. as ever since the beginning OF the
war, have been very low in price. ! nat
il because the great number or middle
class people who depend upon interest,"
from stocks, bonds and shares Tot theF
income have been hardest hit, proper
tionately. Of all classes, and they are
retrenching. The enlistment OF %orh,
ingmen has taken care, ! am told' OF
unemployment; the general average OF
unemployed is lower, they say, IMAM lor
several years. There is one cohsplCc,u-
ous execution domestic service. he
middle-class families have been dis
charging servants fast. Further' me
BELGIAN refugees are in competition
with English maids. You can get a
Belpian woman servant now for little
more than her bird.
All on Sitting Tight
The English tradesman, however, Is
sitting tight. secure IN the faltn that
the war viii soon be over ard that
prices will return TO their old levei
with the coming of better times. 30 lar
as my superficial observation goes, the
retrenchment among all classes, the
tendency 20 spend only on necesSitIeS'
has no. brought down the price OF I'M
pcrishable luxuries. ! had heard that
antiques were going at iidlcuIouS
prices. That being my own form o; m
sanity. 7 tried the antique shops. There
we're the same old pieces OF genuine
Fmnire. doubtfully genuine Sheraton
and undoubtedly ungcnulne ChlPPeh,
dale-at the same old prices. / seemed
10 be the only possible buyer IN sight;
then. too. my American accent probably
suggested Eitd~ "t"AbA W 80
A. any rate, gave up my price hunt
inn, after two or three stores through
fatigue: the clerks we're so eager for
my money that they almost BLOCKED the
exits. But none Of them suggested any
reduction in prices.
London seems now 10 he taking the
zeppelin peril calmly; after all, you
cannot spend your days and nights
Worrying about a danger which does
not arrive. Then. too, late events nave
tended to reassUre the public mind.
When the bombs were dropped on
Saudringnam and vicinity there was
much deLat. as 10 whether the attack
ers were Zeppeins old-fashioned
dirigibles or aeroplanes. The War
Office. in answer 10 a Parliamentary m
oulrv. has registered the opinion that
thew were Zeppelins. 4 late interview
by Count Zeppelin, caught here on me
nv. has confirmed that opinion, Now
the bomb-dropping in this raid was so
inaccurate. the loss OF life in proper
ton 70 the noise and effort so small.
that London begins 70 think scornfuI
Of Zeppelins. The announcement or the
German submarine blockade, set for
February Is, causes little more appre-
hension. I think. But even on that point
public opinion takes cheerful tone.
~ ev vii! sink few ships, yes say
the ENGLISH. "but not enough 20 affect
the war" Events may have proved this
oninion folly by the time this letter
reaches New York; but | here record
that my own small opinion agrees with
that of the British.