Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-25

and down another. It took the
conversation and the questioning
out Of us. We just walked. Finally
1t came to an end and beyond the
roof raised up, disappeared into the
black. A single lone blue light
hung down. I smelled cigarette
smoke. AL of sudden out of the
noises came music, guitar Then
singing. The warden said, This is
the social end. They can smoke
here for another hour" The light
was DINNER than it had been where
people were sleeping.
I finally recognized a group of 40
or so people pressing in around the
mandolin player. The singers kept
their voices down. They we're sing
ing American jazz songs with cock
ney accents. Beyond them I saw a
kind Of covered wagon in the rear
end Of which several men were busy.
1t was canteen and it was just
closing up. I went over and talked
to one of the boys who was putting
his equipment away. He said he
had been working 16 hours. He was
too tired to be interested in telling
me where.
I walked around the social hall.
There were several hundred more
people there, some Of them talking,
most leaning against the wall,
smoking in silence. Another group
began to sing in competition with the
first, We moved off.
Sanitation Is Major Problem.
TITS not very pretty CONVERSE
tion," said Hide, "but the problem
of all these big shelters is the tot
lets. This place is the worst of all"
How many have you got now?"
she said to the warden. He stopped,
looked at us and frowned.
"See for yourself" he said.
I looked where he pointed. had
not noticed what appeared to be a
curtain of burlap 10 or 20 feet long
in front of the wall just beyond the
sleepers' heads. went over and
looked. The standard toilet unit in
an East End shelter is a 3-foot
square Of floor screened to perhaps
6 feet high by burlap tackled to a
little wooden frame. The front side
is simply curtain, pushed aside to
enter. Inside there Is q garbage
can with chemicals in the bottom.
Signs tackled on the front say Men, /"
Women" They smell. In this
shelter Of 5000 people there were six
of these burlap screened conven-
fences for men, six for women. All
that I saw were on the floor where
the people slept.
We went back through other
rooms as full Of people. The whole
experience shocked so that it
numbed.
Better At the Ritz.
We came at last to the Ritz. The
contrast between the Ritz and the
rest of the shelter was very striking.
In the Ritz were long rows of new
triple tier hunks. The frames were
solidly built and heavy burlap was
nailed to them to sleep on. Each
berth was permanently numbered.
My head was about level with the
top. The place was clean, better
lighted and not so many Of the shell
tered were asleep. 1t was a relief
to be there. The people we talked
to were obviously pleased with their
lot. ooh, yes, have my number
and I can come back here every
night
what about plumbing" said
Hide to the warden. they were
going to put it in here"
"This Is the place I'm yelling so
much about" said Hide to me. The
warden grinned.
eyes, ma 'tm," he said, "they sent
us plumber and he's working over
there" He pointed into a corner.
But" and he grinned, ma am,
he's such little man"
Hide said, How many hunks
have you got now?"
He said, About 400. They are
very slow coming. Can't you do
something about that, ma'am?" Far
into the Ritz there was a first-aid
bay.
81 want to show you a tube to-
night, too" said Hide. We STOOD
talking to the warden for a while
and then left.
Wardens Do Their Best.
I only remember him the way I
remember other wardens I talked
with k1noloI fntA a
kind Of composite memory of q
young man, kindly. intelligent,
cheerful, obviously able and COM
petent, doing his best with an enor-
mously complicated problem in
human relations. He is the man on
the firing line between the bureau
cracy above the people in his charge.
There was no question about on
whose side he was. He was on the
side of the people he looked after
A volunteer worker, he had no legal
status.
Policemen could order him about,
his superiors could give him stupid
regulations to enforce, turn a deaf
ear to his requests or demands for
equipment or tools with which to
work. He stood there in the middle,
never complacent. He took what he
had and did the best he could,
talked and worked to do more. I
told some one in England that Lon
don would one day erect statue
to the unknown air raid warden.
They agreed.
AS we left the Isle Of Dog shell
ter Hide said: There you are. I
know it's hard for you to believe
it, but that place was much worse.
There were many more people and
no canteen and no place to smoke.
And then there's the Ritz. And the
warden's hunks are slow in coming
and the man who Is putting in the
plumbing is such a little man. But
that's the way we do things here.
Slowly and often stupidity. But
they'll get done. That man won't
give up working to make that place
better. You don't know what he's
done already. But it's very terrible,
that place, isn't it? And one day
q bomb Is going to hit it and there's