Evening star., 1941-01-12

low them to set foot on shore. They
were thoroughly investigated. All
papers, personal and private, were
read and passed upon. War condi-
tions come as a surprise to an
American who has just left home.
There's a Waiting List.
There are about 10 Of us going to
London-three are Englishmen re-
turning from commercial enterprises
in America and Canada. And Los
Angeles has extended its limits in
the person of Mr.. Anderson, an
American-born Swede who is going
to London on business. Another
man Londonbound is Nicholas Slote-
maker, Hollander (who tells me
Hollanders don't like to be called
Dutch at this time because of the
confusion with the German word
'Deutsch~ from Batavia, represent
ing a Dutch East Indies press aSSo-
citation. Also in the same group is
Adolpho Kon, Consul from Haiti,
who will temporarily replace his
confrere in London, who has been
wounded. From there he expects to
go to Rome
Common topic of conversation
among us is how soon we will be able
to get out of Lisbon. We have heard
there is waiting list of more than
200 for the plane to London.
have been advised to take sugar
silk stockings, butter, tea. coffee, and
soap with me. The list is so long
that I shall probably ignore it all
except soap Mr.. Catford, our Eng
lishman, who was in London not
long ago, says there are many women
there who are going without hose.
And that there is movement
among certain classes to advocate
the prohibition of silk stockings en-
tirely so that those who can't afford
them will not feel conspicuous.
Glamour VS.. Reality.
We have four American boys In
the diplomatic service. Two are
going to Moscow, one to the Cape
Verde Islands, and another to Dakar.
These boys are surprisingly young,
none over 26, and none has ever
been abroad before. Bill King. a
young newspaperman on his first
foreign assignment, Is to be sta
toned in Budapest.
These boys speak Spanish. Russian,
French, German and Italian, and
are busy brushing up. One Il won't
tell which, had at least week OF
intensive study on French before he
left. They are all enthusiastic over
the prospect of seeing Europe under
war conditions, and are just now IN
the stage between the glamour and
the reality.
We are in submarine waters now
and floating mines are also COM
mon topic of conversation. AS l
understand it, these mines break
away from their moorings and DRIFT
great distances. We have one Italian
woman who cries and leaves the
room when we discuss the possibility
of hitting a floating devil" Other
wise no one seems visibly worried
over it. confess that kept sharp
eye out for a small, round object for
an hour or so. But what thought
was a mine turned out to be turtle,
floating peacefully by with two be-
draggled little birds on its back.
Nevertheless, we have had two boat
drills in eight days. I have never
seen passengers really take drill
seriously until now.
Some Varied Experiences.
Many of our passengers are sea-
soned travellers and can exchange
a great variety of war experiences.
A round table in the bar of an
evening is curious and interesting
to listen to. Out of a maze of
languages we try to find a common
denominator, as it were. So far
French and English have proved
most useful. A Spaniard bound for
Madrid tells of his experiences in
Barcelona, where he spent year
in prison during the war. A husky
Mohammedan gentleman from Bonn
bay produces the story of the rescue