Evening star., 1943-03-17

s#*Ea E#$$## sprouts London
$ N ers have been
''''SSS'SS' fS''1-'s forced TO hnd
Henry McLemore. other national
sports. With true British resource
fulness they have succeeded.
The most popular sport now Is a
thing called "Queueing up" Every
body plays It because everybody
must. "Queueing up" consists OF
| standing in line with hundreds,
sometimes thousands, Of others.
waiting TO be served or TO buy some
thing
You queue up" to DO almost
/ everything To buy matches, chg
arettes, vegetables, pair of pants,
to get in a restaurant, 10 get out OF
a restaurant, to catch a bus. TO hau
taxi, 10 see a picture There are
so many more Londoners than there
are things to 60 around that unless
you develop into a competent, will
ing 'queuer-upper" body and soul
will soon part company and go sep
arate ways
| 1t Is game that calls for IN
! finite patience and delight in
being Wedged between a stout gen.
| tleman who carries an umbrella like
sword and a woman carrying a
small child who likes to drop odd
items down your coat collar. It calls
! orSoN - ~
ankles, legs, and, most Of all. for a
deep. abiding understanding. be-
cause the usual result OF "oueuainz
up is to be told by an attendant
when you finally reach the head OF
the line that there isn't any more
OF what you have been waiting to
get.
have ''queued up" 50 much In
my brief time here and shuffled
along so many lines that I walk like
star boarder at San Quentin or
LeavenWorth and I am sure to be
marked as man on parole when I
return to the States.
Another new sport in London Is
| trying TO catch q bus. In peace
time this was much too easy a sport
to attract Londoners because then
1t was possible to hop on and of
bus without risking more than q
few bruises or contusions. In those
days buses slowed down TO 10 or Is
miles per hour when passing q sta
ton. but since wartime they have
speeded up. probably due to the
elimination of many stops TO save
petrol. thus allowing the monstreus
things to gain high speed between
stations. They thunder UP like rogue
elephants on the loose and pas
sengers swarm toward them after
the manner of pygmies attaching
wild beasts. Drivers and conductors
evidently have been instructed that
their chief duty Is TO see that no
one gets aboard. 50 they maneuver
like sky fighters to avoid being
boarded and they attempt to shake
of those skillful enough to grab a
handrail or to get a foot on the
| platform.
1t IS rlunored that the govern.
ment is thinking OF striking medals
to be awarded to the few men and
women who have successfully COM
pleted 10 full round trips on a bus
without being bruised or losing an
article OF clothing. I talked with
bombardier who said he had been
on many raids over enemy territory
without suffering one tenth the
fright he did on q bus between Pic
! cadilly and Grosvenor Square. He
said any bomber pilot who showed
such recklessness IS did bus driver
would be grounded
Those Londoners who lack ths
strength and daring to attempt
buses have sport Of their own,
namely, trying to get a taxi. It Is
sometimes possible to get a taxi In
daylight, after hours Of yelling ONE
self hoarse and walking 5 or 10
miles in search of one. but once the
nlghtfau blackout arrives taxis. of
which there are said to be four in
London, although but only two have
ever been actually seen by reliable
persons, completely disappear.
one OF the most heart-rendin1
! sounds imaginable is to walk the
streets OF London at night and hear
| the wall of thousands of lost citi-
Zens crying for cabs that do not
exist, blinking feeble little flashhght
gloWs in the hope that a miracle
would come to pass and a taxi would
come out Of nowhere and pick them
up. This sport makes looking for
needle in haystack as simple "a
locating Kate Smith in a revolving
door.
II man could come 10 London
With small portable taxicab. a hen
that laid even one egg a week and
three dozen pairs of nylon stockings
ne could come close to ousting
Churchill and set up hight house
Keeping at 10 Downing street. Did
I say "egg"7 Come to think Of II.
what is an egg? What does it Iook
like?
Hero Of Wi|he|mshaven
Raid Reported Mjssino