Evening star., 1941-07-17

"'S 4'i'bo""ie' CeHSOTS, j was
angered. After all a man doesn't
like to spend hours splitting infini-
tives squarely in the middle, or
creating really remarkable hanging
clauses, without the assurance that
they will reach an apprecistive audi
ence.
Too, trip to this part Of Canada
isn't calculated to build UP in a
writer a feeling for the need Of cen.
sorship. You see so little Of the
war with naked eye. You catch
a night boat at Boston, and II Il
were not for the giant American
flags Illuminated on both sides of the
ship, you wouldn't know that the
waters ahead were potentially dam
gerous.
There's laughter and dancing and
all the food you could possibly want
on the boat, and you land in the
morning in country that, on the
surface, stresses its merits as vaca-
ton playground. The literature
handed out on the pier explains how
dig the tuna are which run in nearby
waters, how many golf courses are
available. and the perfection and
proximity Of The bathing beaches.
The drive along the shore to IT,
point at which I am writing tn
is as unvarhke as you could ina
inc. A winding road of perfect paw
ment that follows the sea. Snl
little harbors. Cozv houses. Lobstc~
pots and nets drying in the su''
Bicyclists. Oxen carts. Deep, stft1
forests. War and its horror seen
a million miles away There is rTr
feeling of war Even the presenca
of men in uniform fails TO dispel tho
impression that this natureblessed
strip of the world is far removed
from shot and shell and blood
So, when the time came for me 70
write a story I started with a date
line of the town I was stopping in,
and went off from here.
The dateline was taken off.
cussed a little. So a man came IL
and explained it to me. "
The man was very nice. He e..
planned it all to me
You don't see much that has =
do with the war around here" r.
told me, and that is to be eX-
pected. But there is a lot of va,
going on. Only its not the sort OF
war We have ever had before. There
is no glamour to it, no color, no
romance. 1t is aUfully damn grim
and mean. I remember the last
war, and how 1t was around here
Every one knew when the troopships
left, and the farewell at the piers
we're like that of farewells in
Hawaii Bands, songs, waving and
shouting.
Nov the troopships leave in the
food and munitions and planes. In
the old days there we're no Stuka
bombers to fly half across the ocean
TO attack a convoy, no long-range
submarines to threaten the ships
from the start of their journey 10
the finish. That's why you don't
see much of the war around here.
Flyers come and go from all parts
Of the world, but their arrival and
departure are kept quiet. Ships really
pass in the night. Its terribly im-
portant that no information Of the
passage of men or material leak out.
The sea had become the chief battle
ground, and from where you stand,
looking toward England, you can see
to point where the danger begins"
All along the Canadian seaboard
secrecy is the watchword. The first
thing you see in the public rooms
OF hotels is poster urging all
citizens not to talk too much, not
to divulge in casual conversation
any military information they may
have. The first thing that greets
traveller in hotel is a placard ex-
planning how it is against the law
to mention the weather in any tele-
phone conversation.
Weather forecasts are not allowed
in newspapers. The forecast of a
bright day or a foggy day might be
OF help to the enemy
So, you see, I don't know how
much of this is going to reach you.
Maybe Mr.. Scissors won't like any
part of 1t, and order Br'er Blue
Pencil to give it the works.
All know is I have come from
New York to Censored, Canada, for
story.
may be long time in telling 1t,
but there is a great one up here
II you can get it out.
distributed BY McNausht Syndicate. Ine)