The Washington herald., 1916-01-17
Mrs. T. P. O'Connor's Weekly Letter
From London
by MRS. t. p. o'coNNoR,

mber of the British House Of commons). !.
i Myself" Dog Stars" Etc.
more. and he Just up and Joined without
word to no one. When his mother
heard II she said, Tn goin' to tell your
age. An. he just stood up. proud In his
soldier clothes and said: Mother. If you do
III meyer sleep under your roof as long
as live. She seen he meant It. so she
Just give up, threw her apron over her
head and cried. Then she kissed him.
and he went away TO the war. That's
enough of the family, ma'am. don't
myself believe in no wars, and I don't
believe In no newspapers that make wars
and no governments that make wars"
Amen" added. William is a weak
gentle soul with domestic tastes and is
engaged to be married. Besides, he is
necessary to the hotel.
On my FIRST walk toward Carbie Bay,
noticed John Oisen's old house-he lives
In London now and is an A. r. A., but
returns each summer to paint the sea-
an oblong red placard pasted on the win
dow pane with Not at Home" printed
In black letters In the center. ~How con-
siderate" ] thought. People need not
uselessiy ring the bell" But 1 passed
another house freshly curtained and still
another bearing the same announcement
Then stopped and saw printed around
the edge Of the Not at Home" card the
honorable words, "a man from this
house Is now serving with his majestys
forces"
Annie-sybIe's gentle sister and cana.
bic partner-came in my room this morn,
ing to bring me bunch Of early violets.
There Is bad news" she said. Neil
Cameron has been killed" NO" said
syble. mot young Neil Cameron; 1t
seems only yesterday that he was such
merry little blue-eyed lad running
around st. Ives. Oh, his poor mother
She adored him-she lived for him-what
will she do?''
And late this afternoon came the news
OF the death of a next-door neighbor-
young engineer-put recently returned
from South Africa to do his bit," and
not three weeks in the service. His only
sister had said when he went away,
II can't bear the idea Of Ned's going
and yeti could not have him stay"
Three days a week the ladies of the
town give their services for making
necessary antiseptic articles for tho
wounded. I went to see them work. 1t
was a very pretty sight, as they wear
white colts folded closely over their hair.
high-necked and long-sleeved white
aprons and in the white room they look
ed not unlike Sisters OF Charity. They
task. Perhaps they add a prayer to the
rolls of gauze and bandases which lie in
heaps before them.
Sectarian prejudices are for the mo-
ment buried. Presbyterians, Episcopal
ians, Roman Catholics and Methodists
vie with each other in producing the
greatest number OF bandages. When the
enormous crate is filled II will be for.
warded to Father scully, a valorous
10
who has asked for practical help to aid
the wounded.
When the birds sing-and a cheeky
robin cooked his eye at me and stood in
my path today-and the sea is as blue
as Capri and ION every hill there lies
and see the peaceful, colorful
old town glittering In the sunshine try
and forget the war, but on my descent
a dozen Tommies recovering from
wounds advance toward me, their heavy
steps and twisted feet making terrible
holes in the sand. Some OF them have
but one arm. others have bandaged
heads. wanted to salute them, but
held me back. / could
only look what felt-God bless you all
Then went shopping. I have found
few places In my travels where I cannot
shop after America-why must every
thing be prohibitively dear in that dear
land? War prices seemed to me exceed
ingly reasonable My blue serge Jacket
needed refining. A little tailor made 1t
whole, with a silk-faced cotton mate
rial for seven and sixpence, in American
money about one dollar and eighty cents.
And my tweed coat, a serviceable friend
of some years standing. was refined with
the same material for six shillings. which
would be one dollar and fifty cents. The
same work done in America would GER
tainly have not been less than seven
dollars. A pair of black satin quilted bed
room slippers-my pretty tan ones had
been forgotten on the boat-were seven
ty-five cents, and a pair Of black, velvet
cen, high-heeled slippers OF excellent
shape, ornamented with g small steel
star, were a dollar and half. On the
soles was printed. Made In Switzer-
land" I wonder? The same shoes In
New York would have cost at least three
dollars. Food, although at war prices. is
cheaper than in America Spanish white
grapes in New York are sold at forty
and forty-hve cents a pound, here they
are twelve and sixteen cents a pound.
Fresh eggs-really fresh-are fifty cents
a dozen. Chickens sell from sixty-two to