The Washington times., 1917-03-16

the normal and sane. But in actuaI
practice they are a negligible inter
ruption in ones daily life. Costly
food is plentiful. and no apparent
diminution of the supply of white
bread is visible. STANDARD" bread
which was shouted for by the Daily
Nail a few years ago, Is said to De
imminent, but has not yet mace lls
appearance. There is said to De q
slight shortage or sugar, but IL
counts for very little in the scheme
of things, and nobody bothers to talk
about II.
The London hotels, save at Corona
ton times, have never been so full as
now. The servant problem has SUD
denly become acute. Women who USED
to be housemaids, at salaries from
an American point of. view so small
as to be hardly worth counting, nave
gone into the munitions factories ana
now earn in a month almost as much
as before the war they earned In
twelve. House after house has been
closed and the families have gone TO
the hotels which remain open. Some
of the larger hotels have become gov
eminent offices and are not available
for guests.
Few signs of War Observable.
OF actual signs of war there are
none to be seen in a days walk about
London streets, save, as 1 have said,
that every one is in khaki. In Ameri-
ca one heard of anti-aircraft guns
bristling in every direction. There
are sandbags on the roof Of the Ma
al nd ha Eng
land and a few other public buildings,
but their presence has to be pointed
out to be noticed. An old four-story
house within a hundred yards of st.
Georges, Hanover Square, is in ruins,
however, from a Zeppelin bomb.
In travelling on the railways also
one is reminded that war is very near
by a regulation pasted below the lug
gage rack of the compartment warn
ing one that discussion of military
and naval matters in public places
may give information to the enemy,
an English translation of the dra-
matte French Injunction, "Taisez vous.
Mefien vous! Les GRIZZLIES ennemis
vous ecoutentw
All window blinds on trains have to
be pulled down at sunset by the light
ing regulations, made necessary, the
notice reads, because of enemy air
craft" Soldiers fill every station
platform, but no wounded are to be
seen.
Can Feel at Home.
No American, after the trying days
at home, can fail to feel a sense OF re-
lief that he is in a community where
everybody is agreed in opinion and
where the conversational pitfalls into
which one continually fell at home
are removed. Where discussion of the
war is not a gratuitous battle of wits
among competitions certain elemental
facts about the issue take on a new
and a clearer light. Distance, in spite
of cables and other news purveyors,
oftentimes obscures even the high
lights.
That the English are not suffering
from nerves was admirably demon
strated to the writer on a certain
night in a certain city. While he was
walking along a station platform
through a crowd OF soldiers and wom-
en-, there came suddenly a sharp flash
and a heavy explosion, very near at
hand. Although everybody said. the
Zeps." no one, save a mere handful
near the entrance to the platform, was
even interested in the possible origin
of the noise. Preceded by a bobby"
who appreciated that something was
expected Of him. three or four people
walked out to the street, stopped at
the doorway, and stared at the sky
for a few moments. then vanished in
the darkness outside. When the last
Zeppelin which visited the metropolis
fell in flames across the sky, we
were told that all London cheered
from the housetops.