Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-09
LONDON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Dozens of the members of the Amer
lean contingent at the London Naval
Conference are making their first visit
abroad. They find London and the
British passing strange. Being motor
minded Yankees, one of their very first
impressions revolves around the dis
covery that vehicles in London drive
to the left and that British automobiles
are almost exclusively right-hand-drive
cars. Also, our car-consciouS fellow
country men and women marvel at the
absence Of traffic lights in London's
streets. The omnipotent and magnifl-
cent "bobbie" still rules supreme. To
his credit, be it said, he keeps things
moving with miraculous regularity and
with an absence of racket which
Americans find inexplicable. The met
ropolitan police are armed with whis-
tie, but it is practically never blown for
characterization purposes. Their ma
jestic outstretched arms are all that's
necessary to do the trick. Since this
observer was last on British soil, five
years ago, the hobbies" have been
fitted with half sleeves of duck or twill,
which causes their forearms to stick
out like good deeds in q naughty world
when traff1c is held up at street inter-
sections. The white color is visible from
afar and seems to serve its purpose very
effectively.
This Is the season Of the year in Lon
don when the sun is conspicuous by its
absence. If Old Sol does a turn once
a week, 1t is considered high average.
A member Of the American naval dele
CATION asked Ambassador Dawes how he
likes the English climate. Well" the
general replied, you're not in much
danger Of being sunstruck, anyhow"
~ *&
Our spick-and-span Marines attract
unceasing attention whenever they are
seen in public on confidential messen-
ger duty, which Is the main purpose of
having them at the conference. Capt.
John Halla, who Is in charge of the
squard of 10 leathernecks, Is aide-de-
camp to Maj Gen. Neville, commandant
| of the Marine Corps, and is also a
White House aide. The Marines are all
sergeants with first-class service rec
| ords. They were picked for the Lon
don job because Of their fine appearance
and demonstrated reliability in major
emergencies. The top-Sergeant is First
Sergt. Charles w. Hartmann and the
| nine gunnery sergeants on duty with
| him are Thomas G. Baisden, Franklin
e. Freeman, Henderson P. Clary, Fran
| els L. Brauer, Jesse l.. Reynolds, John
G. Mason, Ernest v. Maddox, John H.
Rice and John. s. Domzalski. The Ma
rines are nearly all 6-footers. When
| not on messenger service between the
| Ritz Hotel american headquarters)
st. Jamess Palace and the foreign Of
fce, the Quantico men are guarding
delegation offlces at the Ritz. It's as
hard to pass their barriers as II Lon
don were In Nicaragua.
| " X n y
Apart from his intrinsic merits as a
negotiator and conciliator, Dwight w.
Morrow is a potent American confer
ence delegate, because he happens to be
Col. Lindberghs father-in-law. That
circumstance clothes the lawyer-diplo-
mat-Senator with a certain prestige
which is unique. Another factor which
does not make Mr.. Morrow any less eff
fective at London is his former asso-
citation with the Morgan banking house.
Both the British and French govern
ments are In more or less close finan-
cial afdliation with the Morgans. Prime
Ministers Macdonald and Tardieu are
fully aware OF Morrow's background"