The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1942-03-13
M!!Mt
Eleanor Roosevelt
INSIDE LONDON


INSIDE LONDON
This is a particularly good time,
think, to read the article in Liberty
magazine by John Gunther, and is
entitled Lessons From Inside Lon
don." Much that he tells us points
the way to the spirit which we must
develop here. He was back from
six weeks in London when he wrote
this article. 1t is all the more
vivid because what he saw Is still
fresh in his mind.
He advises us to take bombings
calmly, and / suggest that we I'M
derscore one sentence on that sub
ject. IA greater enemy than bombs
Il speak quite seriously-is bore
DOM
He suggests that we 60 about
blackouts-realb lackouts-with eau
ton. / think all of us will agree
with him, that once having learned
how to put on blackout, we should
not live in an atmosphere of con-
slant darkness at night.
We should take to heart his OBJ
servations on the acceptance of Rus
STA as an ally by the British. We
should remember the following
thought: 'sThe lesson from England
is nevertheless clear, striking and
obvious-that sacrifice is necessary
to wage war, that the need of sacri-
flee becomes more urgent as the
war goes on. One striking phenom-
enon in England is what might be
called equality of sacrifice"
I went to the civilian defense rally
one night at Greenbelt, Md, the
housing community which Mr.. Rex
Tugwell had the vision to promote.
The meeting was in the school
house, for they have there real
conception of community activity
and work. Their Greenbelt Commu-
nifty band gave very good concert.
They had good reports on the work
they have done for civilian defense.
Better than anything else, I had a
sense of community spirit, which is
what we must develop now every
where in our country.
Buy Defense Bonds
PRIVATE LIFE
had my first press conference
back in the White House one day
during the week and, quite obvious
ly, the girls asked me how / liked
my return to private lifel 1t made
me add up what really has been diff
ferent in the past few days. I dis
covered: l, have really spent sew
eral hours reading; 2, I walked for
an hour Sunday morning; 3, ! spent
an hour in the National Art gallery
Sunday afternoon.
If you are in Washington, don't
fail to 60 to this gallery. You can't
possibly see the 80 galleries all at
once, but little at time refreshes
the spirit. Most inspiring is the fact
that on a Sunday the place was
crowded with men in uniform, young
people, old people and children.
took my cousin, Mrs. Joseph Al
sop, to see the exhibits of drawings
and paintings on defense subjects,
and then we went through some of
the Early Italian rooms. found
that she enjoyed the carving in wood
of the Madonna kneeling before the
Child, as much as did.
We saw few of the Early Dutch
paintings also, and had a glimpse
of the different courts with their dis
play of flowers and fountains. I
came away feeling a real gratitude
that such collection has been given
to the nation, and that so many
people seem to be enjoying it.
REFRESHING OPERA
This is a young opera company
and the orchestra and the singers
are a most refreshing group. Their
performance, given in English, was
full of life. / discovered for the
first time that Mozart's "Cosi Fan
lutte" is really comic opera, per-
haps not quite Gilbert and Sullivan,
but certainly full Of amusing by
play.
The audience, as well as the
actors, seemed to me remarkably
young. Service men and students
were all about us. Many Of them,
of course, probably grew to love mu-
sic through the youth concerts
| which DR.. Stowkowski gave, and
which were always popular.
The young manager Of the opera
company, Mr.. David Hooker, and
all the people who work on the
mechanics of this performance, are
so enthusiastic, that ! feel it must
eventually be real financial as well
as an artistic success.
caught an 11:43 train to Wash
ington. It was an unbelievably
long train and, being in the car at
the end, we were almost in Wash
ington before any heat reached my
compartment. In spite of certain
amount of delay, ! liked the trip and
finished book which I have enjoyed
more than I can say. The charac-
tiers in Ellen Chase's "Windswept''
accept life as it is, its sorrows
and its joys, so completely, and live
it without resentment. They make
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