Evening star., 1942-06-06

otner tenants
Henry McLemors. when their
building stages alert" drills. It is
their lot because engineers have
found that the middle floors OF large
buildings are the safest in time Of
an air raid. They are high enough
to escape shattered glass and flying
fragments, and are protected from
direct hits by seven, eight. or more
floors above them.
So, when an "alert" sounds, Mr..
and Mrs. 7-B. Mr.. and Mrs. 8-North,
and Mr.. and Mrs. 81 must open
their doors and welcome the thun-
dering herds from above and below.
laundering herds they are, too. A
friend of mine who is seventh
floor dweller told me:
when the superintendent asked
me If I would allow families from
other floors to seek refuge in my
apartment In case Of an alert I
said sure and then forgot all about
it. On the night the practice alert
was sounded, l was reading Amer
lean history and chanced to be in
that part dealing with the Okla
homa land rush. A second or two
later I felt as II time had been
turned back and I was in the land
rush.
Through the door of my apart
ment rushed men, women, children
and dogs I had never laid eyes on
until then. They carried all before
them, and couldn't help but wonder
if even a direct hit could have
caused such bedlam. Even while
sketchy introductions were being
made the refugees were nibbling
at my meager supply of spirits. the
children we're in the kitchen work
ing away at jars and tins, and the
women we're eying the place as If
to determine whether or not it was
done with the taste OF proper air.
raid shelter"
When the all clear" sounded, and
the whatever their ir-nameS-were had
stormed back to their apartments.
my friend said that his place bore a
marked resemblance to spot where
combination typhoon and host of
locusts had visited.
His story was similar to that told
me by other middle floor dwellers.
'I don't mind the confusion" an
other fellow told me- TITS the ex-
pense that's getting me. A man
just has to be hospitable. and you
know how we Americans are. When
we drop into a home for a visit,
even during a practice alert we
expect a drink or two and a bite
to eat My only hope is that the
Government will let me put cheese
spread. salted peanuts, potato chips,
crackers and Scotch and soda and
rye and ginger ale on my income
tax return. II 1t won't, we'll, I'll
Just have to take a penthouse and
take my chances on getting bombed
or get in the free lunch rush my
self"
Dogs are gradually getting down
another middle-foor patriot with
whom I talked.
"All the tenants assigned to my
apartment in an alert have dogs"
he explained a bit sadly. Every
kind of dog is represented, and they
don't like each other. The Dalma-
tians go for the Schnauzers. The
Boxers have no patience with the
Scotties. The Cookers look upon
the Pekes as rubber balls TO be
chewed. At one time the other
night three rousing dog fights were
going on at one time In what used
to call home. My aspirin bill is un-
believable."
The aspirin, the harried man ex-
planned, was not for himself, but
that excited dogs need aspirin, so
middle floor dwellers must have the
stuff on hand to feed it to them.
"One Collie that comes 10 my
place for safety" the man said, "eats
aspirin as though it were puppy
biscuits. He wants a whole hand
full. Some dog owners don't want
their pets to have the stuff, though.
During the last practice alert a
stoutish woman from the 18th floor
threatened to whack me with
book end when she found me Of
fering some to her Great Dane To
judge from his size and behavior he
could have eaten a paving block
without i'll effects"
Yes, there's many q hero who
never gets a medal.
Distributed By McNsusht Syndicate. hcl