The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-07-13
CONTRAST OF WARTIME
ENGLAND WITH LONDON AS
DICKENS KNEW L

contrast OF wartime London toda,
WIN the London as Dickens knew il
is drawn by the well-known writer
George R. Simms, in one of the dali,
Papers He has been wanderinl
around the old familiar spots immor
'allzed by the great novelist and h,
thought of the happy days and night.
OF long ago when Dickens found the
Joy OF life in every street and bywa,
ol the big city, and the feast and th,
wassail bowl were typical of the Mar.
Tie England in which he lived" TIC
compares them with "the DAYS thai
are when Britain is fighting for he,
very existence as a nation, when the
food of the people is strictly rationed
when the houses of cheer are closed
during many hours of the lay ana
when, long before midnight, curfew
rings out and bushes the great city "a
silence"
Entering the city from London
bridge he steps into High street
There "a bulldog peers out from a
narrow alley leading to an old world
Stun. There is wistful 'What-about
those-biscuits?' look in the animal S
Ieyes and | think of Bill Skies and his
dog, and | wonder if Nancy would
have managed something for the
faithful beast with one of her cou-
pons. But the Nancy who passes me
today wears Bills regimental badge.
He is doing a bit of good work for a
change, and doing it on the western
front"
Near the top of the street he sees
an air raid warning, and: II think
of Fagin on raid night. He would
probably have been down the nearest
tube, and the Artful Dodger and Char
ley Bates, being physically unfit,
would have been with him. And what
an ideal hunting ground the tube on
air raid nights would be for them
As he strolls along the street he no.
Ltices that CONSUMPTION and war condi-
lions have played havoc with the Dick
lens types that until recently we're to
be found three.
"By the entrance to the yard of the
Old George" he continues, where the
picturesque wooden galleries still re-
main to remind us of the old Pick
wicklan days, couple Of Waacs'
(members Of the Women's Auxiliary
Army Corps are chatting with Red
Cross nurse. On the spot where Mr.
Pickwick first met Sam Weller, two
Australian soldiers are making an in
quiry OF pretty postwoman. won
der what Mr.. Pickwlck would have
thought of Australian soldiers at the
door of his inn. And what would Sam
have to say to the pretty postwoman?
81 turn down narrow passage az
the back of the old Marshalsea. Here
are still some portions Of the prison
At the door of one Of the little houses
that are faced by the walls of the olA
house of captivity where Mr.. Dorrit
Icy a prisoner for debt, youth in the
uniform of the Royal Air Force is
talking to a gray-haired old lady,
his grandmother. | wonder
what the old lady thinks of airplanes
and airmen, and as | glance up at the |
little windows let into the high prison |
wall l wonder how the poor debtors |
would have felt on Zeppelin night.
"In Little Dorrit's playground chill
lren are still at play, but one of the
little girls is being called home by her
mother. The mother wears uniform
with trousers to it. How Little Dor
-it would have stared to find mother
n trousers in her playground! And
what would Maggie have said?'
Nearby are two establishments that
we're familiar objects in Dickens day
One is a public-house and the other l.
pawnshop But though it is early |
n the afternoon the pablichouse is
,losed. Before the war, the writer
avs, this establishment was so lib
rally patronized by the ladies of the
that the proprietor
ound it necessary to placard the win
lows with a notice that no drink must
,e taken outside. That typical scene
# Dickens Land in London has passed
Nth the war, probably never 20 re-
urn"
1.-THE London that Dickens knew
hrobs now with the staid and sobe'
ote of good work and good will, good
work. for the war, and good will to
vim IT," II
Spain registers a greater percentage
e eunsbiue every wear than any other