Evening star., 1940-12-29
Family Prove Adage That MANS Best Friend Is His Dog
Just
| Between
Yourselves
. BY PHILIP H. LOVE,
Junior Star Editor.

Recently, this column contained
an interesting letter which Miss
Josephine Cobb of Springfield, Va,
received from little English girl
named Bessie Whitehead. Several
readers have addressed Bessie In
care of Miss Cobb, who has been
pleased to forward their letters
Meanwhile, the British girl has
written to her Virginia friend again.
Bessie's latest letter, written No
vember II and received in Spring
field nearly q month later. closed
with this quietly courageous para
graph.
"A number Of evacuees are with us
now, and some have their mothers
with them, If they have lost their
homes in London. We all wish you
q very happy Christmas. Ours will
be quieter than usual; but never
mind-we shall make the best Of it!''
The letter also described some Of
the precautions that Bessie's teach
ers have taken against air raids.
All the windows Of our school have
been done over with strips OF cello
phane, in case a bomb should be
dropped on it," Bessie wrote. Now,
II the glass breaks, 1t will not sprin-
ter. In one room, used by the in
fants, the windows have wire net
ting; so have the windows Of the
BOYS and girls porches. These rooms
are used as our air raid shelters"
Sometimes" the English girl
continued, we have practice. Mrs.
j says, Take cover, and she
gives two taps on the screen as
signal to Miss G-'s class. We line
up, carrying our gas masks, and
march out to the girls porch in
single file. The boys also 60 to their
porch and the infants to the room
where the wire netting is on the
windows.
Sometimes, Mrs. j says,
ouick-take covert And that means
we have to drop to the floor and get
under desks. If bomb were dropped
this would save us from splinters." }"
-
Two English refugees-Jean and
Heather Robertson, aged 6 and 8,
respectively-have been guests at
the Springfield home OF Miss Cobb's
brother since last September. They
came from Paddington Station. Lon
don. to remain for the duration OF
the war.
ut was my great happiness to be
with them on their first Thanks
giving" Miss Cobb said in a note
to this column. Although they were
lust two children from London IN
the beginning they are now as dear
to us as If they had been born into
our family"
When somebody asked Heather
what she thought of America she
replied. according to Miss Cobb: 1T
is a big country. All day we rode
through New York State, and when
we left New York State we were
still In America
Jean was asked how she liked the
Cobbs' Thanksgiving turkey-the
first such fowl she had ever seen.
"I like 1t very much" she answered,
"but I'd thought it would come
with the feathers on!'
At their Virginia refuge, the two
London girls are the playmates OF
Miss Cobb's niece, Carol Joanna
Cobb. 7.
Jottlngs: Thanks to Edna De
Coste. II, of 1704 Sixteenth street
Sc. for an interesting account OF
Anacostia High Schools "cash-and-
can" assemblies Zone for the seniors,
the other by the juniors) to provide
Christmas gifts for the needy. The
girls Of the home economics depart
ment also made many useful articles
for friends who were ILL" Edna
wrote. These articles included
necklaces. pocketbooks, gaily painted
strings of pine-cones for fireplaces
and mantels and pretty corsases
made from pine-burrs' A
similar report came from Mary Jane
Thompson, II, of 1922 Minnesota
avenue Sc, who said: "Anacostia
believes in .elping the unfortunates
on our side of the river" -. Well,
that belief also is held by students
of Central and Gaithersburg CMdo
High Schools, according to letters
from Charles StebbinS, II. OF 1896
Thirteenth street NV, and Ophelia
Esther Neal, IL, Gaithersburg- Cen
tralites engaged in wide variety
of activities to aid the poor, while
students of the Maryland school
concentrated on a Santa Claus
workshop" in which old toys and
clothes were repaired. Miss Ter
nent, our teacher, was pleased,
Ophelia said. Janet Reid
Ralph. II, of 521o Illinois avenue
NV, author of one Of the Christ
! mas stories published on this page
! last Sunday, observed: The Junior
| Star was certainly Christmassy to-
day and the poems were lovely
I'm glad We live in city whose
paper runs . Junior page where we
can express our views and imagina-
tions In stories and poems" =.
The recent column on Valerie Beer
British refugee, inspired Marry
Mouat, 304 Kentucky avenue, Alex
andria, to write q poem. Stella
Anagnos, 8, Truesdell School, wants
''to hear every one singing during
the Christmas holidays" she wrote
because in times like these a good
hearty song makes person feel 50
much better"