The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1944-07-20
Nurse Writes
Of Sights
In London

Ill LUIUUII
Following is the concluding in
stallment of letter written by an
Army nurse in England, 1t Marie
Llnster, to her parents in Lennon,
>. u. 1t. Linster was a high school
friend OF Mrs. Chris Ramlo of Lib
by, which gives the letter a local
touch in addition to the interest
aroused by the description of places
visited.-EDITOR.)
We went through the fish mar
ket where our guide warned US
the odor would be strong and that
language often used would be
stronger. It smelled just like New
York's market but what amused us
was the funny little hats they wore.
They were made of leather and met
al and were shaped like pie tins
turned upside down on one another
to catch the water as the ice melts
and runs down. They carry from
five to seven boxes of fish on their
head at one time and they maintain
their balance by swinging their hips
and holding their shoulders perfect
~ still-made me think they would
DC WOW at doing the rumba! Pete,
Edith and | were kneeling on the
back seat hanging over the back of
the cab, as the top was down, and
I'm sure some of the people found
us as much of spectacle as we did
them But we didn't care, we went
right on feasting our orbs on Lon
don's sights.
We saw London's skyscrapers
which were IA stories high and most
OF their buildings are no more than
five or six. 1t is built on a swamp
and spread all over with many little
streets and lanes and GU Ii ar
names such as: Pudding Lane, Little
Love Lane, Milk Street, Old Change
St, where no money was used, but
people would bring whatever they
had to trade for whatever there was
they could use.
When we approached the vicin-
1ty OF the Bank Of England we were
struck by the appearance of all the
important looking old men in tall
silk hats and on inquiry we learned
they were bank messengers. They
looked more like owners Of the bank
than only messengers. The bank is
guarded by soldiers instead Of po-
licemen
Then we visited st. Paul's Ca
thedral. That was very impressive.
1t is next to the largest cathedral in
the world, second only to st. Peters
in Rome It is beautiful and YOU
wonder how it was possible to build
anything like it in the DAYS when
they didn't even have scaffolds. We
didn't climb up in the dome as it is
SO high its days work in itself, and
there certainly aren't any elevators.
We saw the part of it which was
Bombed and it is shame but for
tunately it wasn't the main part Of
the Cathedral. When you stand in
the center Of the Cathedral you are
in the center of the city of London.
The next thing we saw was the
London Tower and people were
queuing for the morning tour and
we went on as that was on our P. M.
itinerary. We had our picture tax
en- with the beefeaters, who are lit
tie men who used to be used in the
old days to taste the Kings food be-
fore the King ate it to make sure it
Wasn's poisoned. They still wear the
uniform they did in those days that
consists Of a blue tunic trimmed in
bright red and a flat topped hat
with broad brim. The beefeaters
act as guides and the Tower is only
open for military personnel during
the war. tie was a very good guide
and how he gave out on the very
bloody history of the ToWerl The
Tower has always been used for a |
prison and since the war it has
housed quite a number of German
prisoners but unfortunately they |
had been moved only day before
some Of the buildings were bombed
by the Germans during the Blitz,
or bunch of them would have been
killed. The walls of the White Tow
ers are l8 feet thick and taper to IA
feet at the top. | must say it is a
cold, dark dank place with cold cir
cular stairs which, although now
lighted by electricity, really must |
have been something in those days. |
The dungeons are now used as air
raid shelters We say the site of the
scaffold where many poor souls lost
their lives, some traitors but the
of them weren't. They al
SO retain the old chopping block |
which was used for their numerous
All the people that
were executed there were also bur-
led in the Chapel or on the grounds. t
Two Of their Kings, Richard III and |
Charles II, and three Queens were
executed and many other members
of the royalty to say nothing of all
the others. When the Catholics
reigned they would turn all of the
Catholic prisoners loose and round |
up the Protestants and retain those
they didn't execute and when the
Protestants reigned they would treat
the Catholics the same way. So on
and on they went. Nice people! ALI |
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