The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-10-06
THE aSPECIALS'' AND THE RAID
How London Was Bombed From the Air, and What
the Unpaid Policemen Did.
(By London Police SUPPLEMENTARY
II. N. B.

An course SofA tfrnef you $pecome ac-
customed-te air raids. to the whistlingv
and crashing noise of bombs, to the
dull boom of Anfi-craft guns, even to
the thought. that sometimes chases
through your mind that the 100, 600 to
Il chance of your being killed may
com But what you never be-
COZ hustomed to-, unless you are
insomnia, is theN loss of
If am called up at mid
eel Sthe effects of the break
~ rest for days after.
Not unnaturally. then, when the
tclephone bell at my bedside some
u time after IL p. m. on Tuesday be-
gan tinkling In my ear--the familiar
and Enthusiastically ll-up notice. for
none of my o. - the vicious ha-
hit OF ringing, this hour-my
first obsarva0 tDrat the Ger
mans; another n deep gone" r
had had q big da. was dog-tired.
X 4 was soon dresa ad out. Our
( Eslns were going wiz ether mono
Honous regularity. The pom in the
Btil1y moonlight night seemed quite
near. As made my way to the Tube
\ found part Of a procession of wom-
en- and children in every indescribable
form Of undress making their way to
the nearest underground shelter. I
xelt sorry for the women-folk. What
had they to do with rude WARP How
4 admirable.. too. the mother-love ex-
/! pressing itself in this rush from home
4hAt had concern only for the safety
az the children.
The mothers who were carrying
tb6bes In arms had wrapped warm
bbod-c1othes round the little bodies of
the tiny tots and were tightly clutch
Ia ~. 49, tue
z1n<. at hastily donned skirts. In the
{moonlikht the faces of the women
ana children were dimly discernible.
/. me dominant expression was not one
y of fright or even of anxiety; 1T was
f; detsrminstion-the Will to get to SAT-
sty This same intentness on an OBJ
i1eo<1ve have seen in the faces of
women workers who. though greatly
7 fat1xuod. continue at their task the
4 stress Of VIII power.
4 AZ the Tube station where I took
my ticket the girl booking clerk inn
pressed me with a sense of undemon-
strattve corage- She remained at her
po6t, nofr4a whit put out by the bomb
crashes and the boom of the guns. On
the plaxf0rm itself I found swarms of
snbIe-b bodied men of military age,
many OF them obviously aliens. and
this made me feel Indignant. What
were these men DOING" asked my
aeIf mot to be in the Army ?'s And
forthwith i made q mental note to
suzxest to the authorities that the
lmext time there is an air raid they
should demand the papers of all the
eligible looking men crowded in the
iundorgrodnarsvfs sosSuxsssH 5sG
TIM r<1srE- s1HB9aBtragshng with
rnaasse OF people going down took
|L1- ~
ana their conduct, is beyond praise.
there were few passengers. Most of
the people had got out at the different
stations and remained on the plat
form. land wondered whether there
twas any discerning instinct in the
choice nfakBtatinn-sijssl 9<<fAz az
On emerging Into the street I was
4 struck by the few people there were
about. London, or rather the ele-
Anent that had been dining out or
4&hnAtre-going, had either gone home
or disappeared under cover. There
M~4 an air of desolation about the
west End which I do not remember
ia. h4ve noticed before The street
lighting was subdued and faint. and
che 1pnninance~ of the moon was modi-
fled By drifting clouds
! Strange noises met the ear. The
gums doomed at fitfu1 intervals and
in side street dogs were shri1ly bark
ing, apprehensive Of a danger that
though hidden from view, could be
felt Dogs are always like this in ar
nir raid Cats somehow are different
They vanish as IL by magic, and new
er once ON duty in an air raid have
r heard cat meowing or seen a ca
ietray1ng in the streets. Whoever the
,Chief Commissioner of Felines is. his
orders to take cover when the warn
timm gums are heard are faithfully
obeyed by the cat community.
Az the station, having reported,
was ordered TO go to certain police
IntRtlen and carry out any instruction:
that might be given me. Specials
IN an air raid are expected to proven
panic and iooting, to persuade PEG
PIE to take shelter, and generally tt
reaasure the population. And it is
curious thing that when people OF
such occasions see us on dty the.
really are = y ssured.
It would not be thought that any
one would be so callouss as to loo
! bombed property, but there are thes
shameful fellows, and we have to keel
a. good aye open for them
The bombs had been dropping be
A0<A~-AAEtA 1AAy PO4lly c1iA0 tuCy COl1
! tinued dropping. The explosions wer
almost alarmingly distinct. Flashes il
the sly denoted the direction of tn
sun-fire. The attacking aeroplane
were flying at too great an altitude t
be seen I have good eyesight an
very powerful glasses. but I coul
NOT spot them. The searchight
swept the sky, but against the moon
light background they did not stan
out very strongly.
From the cellar window OF
house about hundred yards ava
came the strident tones of a talkin
machine playing some kind OF
hyxm- Imagined that an imprompt
religious festival was being held, an
fho<eht of the early Christians whs
\ in the days OF the Roman Empir.
prRotfced their religion in under
ground meeting places.
The porter OF an hotel shouted
me that he had got all the guest
down On the ground floor and in tn
Srsssins s54Es Ps12 1T e t aa
had been to fancy-dress kickup.
In the basement of our particu1s
station we had a crowd Of women an
children who had focked in uneme
tiona11y but somewhat sleepy eye,
The babes were fast asleep in the
4..M.. = - 49,