Evening star., 1944-11-08
Thousands in London
sill Use SubWays
AS Homes al Night
by CHARLES CHAMBERLAIN,
Associated rress eorsisn corfssponasrs.

BY CHARLES CHAMBERLAIN,
Asapciatsd rress forsisn corfssponasut.
LONDON. Thousands Of Lon
doners, driven underground by the
Luftwaffe and the robot bombs, still
are living Z nole-like existence be-
meath the city.
Many were left homeless during
the 00-day robot blitz which de-
struyed or badly damaged some,
823, 900 homes In the London area.
Others, accustomed to life in the
subways, are reluctant to live any
where else even though now the
bombings have virtually ceased.
Housing Arranged.
Lord Woolton, Minister Of Re-
construction, has announced plans
for housing 10000 bombed-out VIC
Tins this winter in requisitioned
and reconditioned houses in the
center Of London. Many more will
be sheltered in 10000 huts being
built with wood and asbestos with
concrete floors.
Older persons, whose homes still
are intact, have taken up their
nightly residence underground just
to be on the safe side. Some have
been tube dwellers so long that
when they return to the surface
the unfamiliarity of night breeze
and . comfortable bed probably will
keep them awake.
1nstinctively each night the older
folk return to the shelters, unaware
that the menace from above Is all
but over. The grimy subway will
be their haven until the war Is over;
only then will they grasp the fact
that life on the surface can be safe.
Shelter for 5000.
The largest tube dwelling Is at
the Liverpool station at the end Of
the underground line. Its half mile
OF unused extension sheltered 5000
persons nightly during the height
of the blitz. The number has now
dwindled to 900.
They seem content to enter the
strange, fantastic dormitory rather
than hear the frightening skirl Of
the alert signal which occasionally
breaks the night on the surface.
Assigned to certain spaces in the
lines of triple-tier hunks, they sleep
in comparative peace. although
thousands Of persons pour in and
out of the subway trains at their
elbows
They carry their homes around
with them-suitcases crammed with
salvaged possessions. Some curl up
in their hunks under coats: others
are lucky enough to have blankets.
Board Stats for Beds.
In the mornings they tidy them
selves as much as possible and de-
part for work with "Cheerio, old
boy, see you again tonight at the
Liverpool Station"
A 7l-year- -old woman said she
had spent each night on the board
Stats Of an underground station
bunk for five years.
Il am one Of the few who never
has been able to drop of to sleep
while the trains are running" she
smiled. so I just wait until they
stop around midnight and from
then until about 6 in the morning
I sleep like top.
"It may sound silly, but in way
will miss subway living. I have
struck up so many friendships and
that means much to a woman Of
my age"
Romance. too, lives with the tube
dwellers, some of whom have spent
their evenings underground for the
past five years. Take the case OF
Meyer Moses, shelter warden at one
Of the larger stations.
Old Clothes Merchant.
Moses, an old clothes merchant,
who was born in Bagdad and came
to London 23 years ago, lived three
years in the subways at night before