Evening star., 1943-01-29
Bombed London Hotel Made
Gay Spot for u. S. Soldiers
D. 6. Man and Girl
Sign Hostesses for
Red Cros Dances
By THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.

ruins of bombed Chelsea hotel,
! once a rendezvous of fashion and
royalty, have been transformed into
! one of the gayest. homieSt spots in
London for American soldiers.
The hotel was noted through the
Edwardian era as the scene of elab-
crate wedding breakfasts and recep-
| tions Of British aristocracy. 1t had
one Of the finest wine cellars in Eu-
rope. The winding. intricate subter-
ranean vaults still are intact.
Early in the blitz bomb went
through the roof and the building
was abandoned for nearly two years,
until 1t was taken over by the Amer
ican Red Cross early last october.
Much of the credit for the trans
formation goes to two Washing
tonians-Director Howard B. Scog-
gins, Washington and Baltimore
broker, Of 304 Whitestone street,
Silver Spring, Md, and Miss Pa
tricia Hartnett OF 223 H street NV.
former hostess on the Pennsyl-
vania Airlines.
! Noted for Its Dances.
The place now is noted from one
end OF Great Britain to another for
| it's dances, its corps of about 500 OF
the prettiest girls in London recruit
ed from among department store
clerks, bus drivers and conductors,
and from many other sources as
dancing partners for enlisted men
on leave.
These girls are a well-selected lot,
Miss Hartnett explains. The chief
source has been the girls whom
BOYS themselves have met in British
homes. A soldier calls and asks per-
mission to bring certain girl. She
is looked up through Red Gross
headquarters from whatever sources
of information are available and
then. II her record Is clear with the
British, is extended an invitation tc
one dance.
If the girl proves to be wet
blanket, that is the end unless her
soldier friend or some one OF his
buddies asks that she be invited
again. But II she proves TO be
decided asset to thu gayety Of the
evening. she Is stopped at the door
and asked to enroll in the corps OF
dancing partners and invited tf
come at least once a week-probably
oftener. She becomes a Red Gross
volunteer hostess.
Recruiting Starts.
But it soon became apparent, Mis-,
Hartnett says, that this was not
sufficiently prolific source. So mem
bers of the staff started recruiting
They would see bus conductress
for instance, who seemed to have
Just the sort of personality to make
party click. Or a girl in book
store might seem to have just the
sort of personality to fit into a va,
cant niche in the corps"
Such a girl is asked If she woulo
be willing to volunteer. II she ac'
cepts the invitation, the customary
investigation is conducted before sh'
Is enrolled The object OF the in
vestigations, Of course, is to keeI
out any sirens who might be in thu
pay OF the enemy, trying to worn
information from soldiers. ,o-......,.-
/ One Of the difficulties of FORMING
this corps of partners, Miss Hart.
nett says, has been to keep it bal
anced with Just the right sort o.
personalities to meet the needs O.
almost any lonesome soldiers Som,
soldiers are serious and studious
They don't want to hot-foot 1t al
the time but like to sit out and tall
about the serious things Of life, K
pour their troubles into sympathetic
ears. So an appropriate number o
serious-but not depressingly serious
London girls have been enrolled
Others are just out for an evening
of carefree fun. For them has beer
enlisted a goodly number Of Utter.
bugs. except that they must not b.
too jitterbuggery.
Better" Dancers.
the girls are better dancers than
would be members of so large q
group brought together in any
American city. The parties have
resulted in three engagements tc
date. by-product of which the
staff Is not particularly desirous
now. But they realize it is more or
less inevitable.
And, says Miss Hsrtnett, IT think
the thing which has heartened me
more than anything Is the wonder
full loyalty of the American soldier
husband to his wife in the States
Married men often come to our
parties and we try to get them to
join in and have good time. But
almost as q rule I think, it is i'm
possible to get them to pay any
attention to our girls or even to
dance with them. They seem to
think it wouldn't be quite loyal to
their wives-although I certainly
don't think the wives would mind Il
they knew the circumstances"
Another innovation at the hotel
Is a menagerie. Pets are needed
Miss Hartnett says, to make q place
seem like home. Nothing puts a
soldier more at his ease than to
ask him ito take the dog for a
walk"
Thus far the menagerie consists
OF a mongrel dog and two black
kittens. 1t will be increased in the
next few weeks by a parrot. some
goldfish, some canaries and "a
turtles, each with the name OF one
Of the States carved on it's shell
1t is planned to run sectional turtle
races.
Much of the success Of the estab-
lishment in putting men at their
ease has grown out of Miss Hart
nett's own experience as an airline
\ The Yonks |
IL En~I~rl