Evening star., 1941-03-16

street corner for half an hour or more
to catch a bus or train. When they
arrive home they sleep, or more often
do not sleep, in shelters. The head of
my typing Office wisely arranged back
room with bed in it, and sent each
girl there for an hours rest and sleep
during the day.
One day my brother, who is a daily
worker in London, asked his secretary
if she were well You look rather white"
he observed. oh, it's nothing much"
the girl replied. Only last night we had
incendiary bombs at both ends of our
shelter at once, and when we had put
them out We had to dig out some people
who got buried-and they were dead.
1t was the first time any one had been
killed in our shelter-but I shan't mind
so much when I'm more used to it,
I'm sorry I'm late" another of these
London girls told her employer, but we
were bombed out last night. We're all
safe, but everything We had is gone"
wouldn't you rather go back to your
people and not work today?" he asked
her. mo. I think I'd rather stay here
and work." the girl replied. You see,
there is nowhere to 60 to-but I shall be
quite all right, and I can sleep in the
nearest shelter when the work is fin
ished."
No Place for Fear.
We lunched with a girl who was
great personal friend She had been
highly nervous and rather discouraged
girl: now she drove an ambulance night
ly through the barrage. Don't you ever
get frightened, Anne?" I asked her. She
considered the question thoughtfully.
"YeS, I did once" she said. Il was ter
rifled. 1 had to telephone to rather an
important person-it was about a lunch
ppointment-and she sounded sniffy-
but it turned out all right"
A. R. P. S.-air raid police-were highly
suspect at first, their tin hats and arm
bands were disagreeably reminiscent of
the law, but Londoners have accepted
them by now, as in the main assets. Still
they prefer to have these public sheep
dogs belonging to their own way of life.
Some upper-class people can be very
shocking except to each other. With the
best motives in the world they may use
their highly cultivated but sometimes
criminally mkind intelligences in a
wholly wrong direction.
In their praiseworthy desire to do
away with dirt, smells and other threats
to hygiene and public welfare, they NAV
break up companionableness and good
will that would withstand-if left to
themselves-the full extremes of panic
or boredom. But there are rare people.
OF whom many seem to have joined the
A. r. P. and who-whateyer section of
society they come from-seem to know
the needs Of their shelter populace as
the saying is-"By heart: and in the
moment of Londons sharpest adversitv
these men and women shine out like
jewels They belong to all classes and
professions or to either sex, and seem to
take no rest day or night They are
turned to now as if they were-as per-
haps indeed they are-angels of God.
Ambulance Drivers Set Example.
The pioneer corps of Scottish and
Irish navvies first employed for rescue
work on demolished buildings were a
wild and rough set of men, All were
violent and some criminal; terrible men
in peacetimes or at their normal Jobs.
but when they became rescuers they
turned, our doctor friend told us. gentle
as nursing mothers" Perhaps the doc
tors and nurses in charge-young girls
driving ambulances through flaming
streets-had something to do with the
change in them. Heroism is catching
Doctors are often a pretty good type of
men, and when they are, their influence
is highly salutary.
These rough pioneers rush into the
teeth of danger, shouldering incon-
ceivable weights risking cuts from glass
and falling masonry, to free the flicker
ing lives of their fellows
I'm not one to cry" little girl OF 7
said, as one of these men lifted her
out from weight of bricks and rubble
that had blotted out her whole family
and kept her long imprisoned, but the
fierce fellow who held her in his arms
found himself unable to practice her
heartbreaking stoicism.
tcopyrisht. 1941, by Phyllis Forbes-Dennis)