Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-07-12
WHERE THE WAR WEIGHS HEAVIEST
CORRESPONDENT Writes Informngly of Grim Conditions
in London.
PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING MANY PRIVATIONS.
Recent Visitor Was Impressed by Absence of Mourning
in Woman's Attire-Matches Have Disappeared
No Meat to Be Had Without Card-lncreased
Fare For Poor Railroad Service

most people | met, who liked 1t wei
enough.
Butter Is unprocurable in most club:
and hotels, as Is also cheese. At my
club the steward got cheese one day
while was there, fact which super
seeded all others as theme OF CONVEX
sation with the members. Sugar
only saw once in England, but at the
clubs they gave with ones coffee
little envelope containing a saccharint
pillule. so don't suppose there is
much to grumble over. One misses
pounded sugar. however, with ones
tarts and other dessert dishes.
After dinner in all clubs which
visited there was no difficulty in get
ting a good cigar at a reasonable
price, but I was informed that this
was partly due to large stocks laid In
before the war. | am bound TO say
however, that / never had difficulty
in procuring "smokables." though
admit the prices had considerably
risen. Oddly enough, in France
where they are more fortunate than
the British in many ways. milk and
cigars seemed unprocurablc. ] never
found a reason for this.
The newspaper which our member
will take up will be small in size and
of four sheets only. News. accord
ingly. is strictly rationcd. but tn"
American will he glad to find Is per
cent more news from the United
States than he was accustomed to in
prc-war days. The evening papers
largely print the latest ball game
scores. which are cablcd over rcgu-
larly.
The old London habit of the news
paper poster in the streets has been
abolished, owing to paper shortage.
Accordingly the papers more continu-
ally go in for bigger headlines and
approximate the appearance OF an
American newspaper. The newspaper
vender keeps his post beneath the
darkened street lamp. He no longer
forms a volatile addition to street
traffic. darting in and out among the
vehicles in the street or the passers
on the sidewalk, shouting the latest
news with raucous voice.
The streets are dark, but nothing
like so dark as Paris. There Is alb
solutcly no sort Of light at all. On n
moonless night, when the theatres
discharge their crowds. 1t is an ex-
perience for the pedestrian full Of
Iertor. s1.s-..
Few Young Faces; No Mourning.
Perhaps the most impressive short
age of all is the shortage Of young
faces in the street. There are officers
of the London garrison. Of course. and
there are somctimcs-not just now
those back in England on temporary
leave. Otherwise 1t is city after city
of women and elderly men. In thu
banks you present your check to n
woman cashier. in the store You deHI
entirely with women, the bus con
ductors are all girls, the BARRIERS
many of the workers on the land. in
the stables. on the stock farm.
And there is another shortage
shortage Of any sign of mourning. sc
that widows dress might cause men
to glance around in the street. Hard
III q woman's heart in England Is I'M
bruised by the knowledge Of loss
or not sickencd by the hanging
weight of a great anxiety. but the!
bear themselves proudly. singing a,
their work-a song of those who have
talked out every possibility with thcil
own fears and with those they love
and thus wisely know and greatly
dare.
That is the picture that has beer
presented here in the literal dcscrip-
tion Of the experience Of one man
who went to England fed only with
the talk of travellers and uncertain
what ne would or would not find. FIN
phatically II is not gloomy picture
Living with what | have described.
never felt for one minute In an at
mosphcre Of gloom. even thought al
times that men I had known rs pessi'
mists in days of old had been caught
up by the rhythm OF n whole nation
bent to the performance of on" ,'sR
and had become optimists from Indus
try and the excitement of po.m"aSinS
q new purpose.
make no bones in saying | bcliev,
English men and women just now ar,
underfed. Life. which is altered In
the hotel or club. presents doZer
new difficulties in the apartment oi
the boarding house. Some months
ago there was an ugly feeling that tn,
shortage of meat and bread was hitt-
ing the poorer classes ont of all pro-
portion.
The food control system. admirabl,
In its efficiency, changed the face oI
the country in half n dozen weeks
Everyone Is rationed, and rationet
equally. save for additional meat al
lowanccs granted to those engaged
in heavy, manual work. Food queues
have vanished. and 1t was fooC
queues that made the Russian revo-
luton. England (and I have tested
factory hands and laborers with
muscle and with brain) has accepted
the general shortage in the way thai
the United States accepted the mill
tary draft-because II believes 1t 6
necessary step toward victory ant
because II believes that 1t presse:
equally upon all classes.
II sees the government cut dowr
the country's imports to make room
for articles even more important fol
the conduct of the war than food
At the same time 1t sees the gov
ernment check the excessive Twins
Of the gourment In the clubs, tell TIT
farmer when to kill his pigs ant
how to sell them. water the worker''
beer and stop his spirit drinking
Democracies need only to be toll
what to do In time Of peril. Yo'
know this in America: it Is not 9th