Evening star., 1939-09-27
By SIR PHILIP GIBBS.

LONDON, Sept. 26.-Although this
war has not yet reached England
from the air, every aspect Of our
life and daily habits has been
changed by its evil SPELL At the
moment the darkness of night and
difficulty of transport are the two
most radical causes of trouble.
The nightly blackout has almost
closed down all social life after
dark. The other night I went to
dine in a restaurant in Soho. 1t
was a perilous adventure to walk
from Piccadilly. Few people were
about and they were cropping their
way like blind men in an unknown
world, Now and then there was
a CLINT of an electric torch. The
tiny lights of cigarettes we're well
come signs of human approach.
Not gleam of light came from
any window. This darkness was
complete and impenetrable until the
moon came up. In the restaurant
were only few diners out, and
they were like adventurers who had
reached this haven after perilous
exploits. The old roar of London S
traffic has gone. There is strange
silence in the great city after dark.
The buses creep along slowly. The
cabs have gone off the streets
Traffic Light in Daytime.
There is something very sinister
and ominous in this great hush.
Even in daylight now the usual
traffic of English life is disappear
ing. Since yesterday taXicab drivers
are allowed only two gallons day
of petrol, and they can't make a
living on it or keep their cabs on
the streets. Only a few minutes
ago before writing this article one
of them told me was his last fare
We may be winning the war, he
said, but have lost.it. How am !
going to keep my wife and kids on
shillings day?
There is rush for bicycles, new
and old, by hundreds of thousands OF
shop assistants and clerks who live
outside London and find this the
best means of travel now that many
trains have been cut off and bus
services suspended. In the country
every cycle shop has been ransacked
and incredibly ancient bone shakers
are being bought by people who for
years have driven their own cars
big or small. But the weekly ration
of Juice" is so small that it is USE
less for people who live 10 miles from
a railway station or have to drive
80 miles to town. Men and women
are learning to walk again after
having lost the pedestrian habit.
Pub Is Village Club.
Life is becoming medieval again
in England, especially in the country
side, because of this difficulty of get
ting about. The village store is the
only center of shopping. The vii
lage pub is the local club into which
all rumors come and where all
classes meet. There has been a
complete breakdown of caste and
class. The great ladies of the county
are hobnobbing with cottagers and
working women in common service
for evacuated children and first aid
Country squires and retired officers
are now in the police force with
their gardeners and grooms. In my
village the director of an art gallery
Is guarding reservoir every night
with tho VILLAGE y,o1ioor,op o,d 80
old brigadier general. Their grudge
against Hitler is hardly more in
tense than their grievance against
a government which has not yet
supplied them with steel helmets
though the volunteer police in q
neighboring village have received
this headgear.
In the garden of my own countr,
house which I have abandoned Il
a community of refugees there /.
a wooden hut which used to be
my studio and is still hung with
my amateur efforts at oil paintings
1t Is now the local first-a post
Two ladies of the neighborhooc
sleep there every night on camp
beds and do not take off their
uniforms. A morning or two age
I walked around my garden again
where the roses are in full bloom and
the paths unweeded and came upon
a scene which looked as though
the horrors of war had to come
to Shamley Green. A number OF
young women were being heavily
bandaged. Voluntary nurses were
putting splints on their arms and
legs. In my studio there was a
strong smell of disinfectant. For
moment I thought there must
have been an air raid. But all
this is practice for the day that
may come and the ladies were thor
oughly enjoying themselves, though
a little disappointed, I can't help
feeling, that as yet no bombs have
fallen over Englands green and
pleasant land.
Discipline Is Strict.
All over England in country towns
and villages vast volunteer force
stands ready for the war. which,
most surprisingly, does not reach
their shores, and discipline is main
tanned with severity which is mag
nif1cent but unnecessary up to the
present time. Woe betide any house,
cottage or country mansion which
allows gleam of light to get past
a curtain after nightfall A coun-
try nelghbor OF mine with care
less maid servant has been visited