Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-23
Bv MILO M. THOMPSON,

Bv MILO M. THOMPSON,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
NEW YORK, Dec. 23.-One gets
a little weary of the dreary stories
of misery in the shelters of bonn
barded London, and it may be time
to give the other side of the pic
ture.
The newspaper men who write
. of the squalor of Tilbury Arches do
not sleep there, or in the other
places where people huddle by thou
sands under begrimed blankets,
smelling still the aroma of horses
stabbed there so years ago, and
doing with few sanitary conven-
fences. Reporters dash in and out
of such places. They themselves
live in no such shelters.
Perhaps the largest concentra-
ton of these fellows has been at
the Savoy, famous to American
tourists for its bar as also for the
floor shows patronized in pre-blitz
days by the ultra-elite in white tie
and tails.
You Can Still Dine and Dance.
You can still enjoy the dine-and-
dance side of life there, two floors
below the level of the main dining
room in the specially bombproofed
"River Room" the windows of
which, on the embankment side,
are now screened by thick fragment
proof brick walls.
But I think the Savoy shelters,
60 r+l IF tho
prime sights of blitzkrieg London.
If you choose to put yourself up
at the Savoy and find the night
little too thick for comfort, what
with gunfire, explosion quake and
the blood-curdling scream of bombs
uncomfortably close, you throw on
your bathrobe and start following
ITO the Shelter" arrows, which
lead you down softly carpeted
stairs.
Down and down you go to an
underground haven below nine floors
of steel and concrete and come
noiselessly before a serious clerk,
who methodically checks you in and
sends you to your allotted bed in
care of uniformed servitor.
Four Departments There.
You find there are four depart
ments. reached down corridors made
by long, thick silken hangings softly
lighted
Turn to the right as you leave
the check-in clerk and you go to
the snorers' section.
Turn to the left and you pass in
turn the departments for ladies,
for men and for married couples.
Each is a broad eXpanse of floor
space filled with beds side by side
in neatly regimented rows. And such
beds!
They are the beds of luxury you
read about in the mattress adver-
tisements, soft and immaculate and
complete with eiderdowns.
The silken walls all about you
and the fresh conditioned air make
you forget this is communal sleep |
ing. The dim lights and silks make
you pay little attention to the lace
work of steel scaffolding designed
to protect you from debris. The
silence makes you forget war is on.
Shores Attended To.
If you and your wife go to the
married section, you slip into your
double bed without knowing who
may be already asleep in the close
~ adjoining beds on either side.
You could reach out and touch
them if you chose, but the lighting
is too dim for recognition and the
enforced silence, plus the need of
Sleep removes any curiosity.
Take it from me, if you snore at
all you will be we'll advised to take
the turning to the right. If you
go to the quiet sectors, your night
will be a hideous thing in spite of
everything.
The moment sleep comes and its
relaxation causes you to emit the
first sounds of a snorer's broadcast
you will find yourself suddenly
awake, feel soft hands on your
temples and catch, out of the cor
ner of your eye, a disappearing
shadow.
1t is the shadow of a vigilant
nurse who reaches you quickly and
silently, deity grasps your head
and expertly turns it.
That can go on all night.
In the snoring department, on
the other hand, you will listen to
the night-long symphony by your
neighbors until it, or your weari-
ness, puts you to sleep.
A Feeling of Security.
The everpresent nurses and ply
sicians in such places add to the
feeling of security silence brings.
You know that the cougher and the
sneezer, who might spray you with
germs in a shelter of the other
type, are going to get courteous,
but quick treatment from one of
them or, if that fails to work, pro-
tective isolation.
There is no lack of the most
modern and sufficient conveniences
in connection with such de luxe
shelters of London, and you can
be sure there will be Watchful ward
ems at the door and a fire watch
on the roof all through the night.
I am sure the dreams in such places
are usually of land where there
is always peace.
1t is easy there to forget the
hundreds of thousands cramped in