The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1948-06-03
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES
BY Hazel Bronnon
London
MAY 10

1fOIlQOu
May 10
During the war the British sang
a song which said in part there will
be fun; fan; fun, when we finally
exterminate the Hun, Hun, Hun"
This dream has yet to come true.
There isn't much fun, if any, liv-
ing in England today.
Take the three necessities Of life,
food, clothing and shelter.
Food is strictly rationed. The ra-
ton the average family lives on to-
day for a week can easily be held
in both hands. 1t is pitifully small.
Each person gets only one shilling
and one pence (about % cents) worth
of fresh meat per week and canned
meat can be bought only on points.
Only three ounces of butter, If you
can find it, three ounces Of mar
garine and one ounce Of cooking fat
per person per week is allowed. Two
pounds Of sugar per person per
month is the sugar ration with a
little extra allowed in the summer
for jam making. The 'little" is just
that-one pound per month. Two,
three or four eggs per week are al
lowed for the summer months but
in the winter there is difficulty in
obtaining the one or two per mon
tn allowed. American powdered eggs
may be bought the year round on
points
It should be emphasized that eat
ing in England is not just a problem
OF securing by any means possible
enough ration tickets. The food
simply isn't here. Fresh meat Is
practically non-existent in London.
Restaurants get special rations but
they are by no means either ade-
quate or interesting. There Is no
meat listed on the menus of the
best cafes.
It is impossible for the average
American to imagine the drabness
and unattractiveness of the English
food served at home or in the cafes
Consequently food is the first consi-
Iteration and the most absorbing to-
pic of conversation in all levels Of
society 1t is deadly serious and no
thing to joke about.
The rural resident is little bet
ter off. He can still kill his own
animals for home consumption but
ne cannot sell or give away any part
to his friends and neighbors.
One well-to-do Englishman told
me his son had pneumonia twice
last winter. The doctor told him II
was caused from contamination
and on being asked for certificate
asking for extra rations said: 81 can't
give it. The food simply isn't here"
Politics has entered in the matter
of clothing to make bad situation
even worse. The system of clothes
rationing in England today is more
rigid than during the war. Then the
Britisher was allowed Sc clothing
coupons per year against 40 today.
Shelves of stores throughout the
country are bullying with goods the
people need and can't buy because
they do not have the coupons
1t is impossible to buy clothing
without coupons. Everything in the
way of clothing is rationed except
hats, purses and belts. Most of the
merchandise in the large depart
ment stores are extremely high
priced and are inferior by American
standards. But the average Britisher
would be glad to buy and pay the
price, for it represents a great inn
provement over his present shabby
clothes.
A roof over ones head is a priced
possession here regardless of how
humble it may be. During the war
block after block of homes were
1eveled by bombs. Today the man in
the street can't tell you how much
bomb damage London actually suf
fered. But it is known that over ten
square miles in the heart of Lon
don suffered severe damage. Forty
per cent of the hotel square before
the war is non-available now. Part
was destroyed during the war and
the rest is being used as living
quarters by families who lost their
homes during the war.
1t is impossible to find a living
place in London today and almost
as hard to find hotel room. Re-
turning servicemen have doubled
up with their families and in-laws
TO such an extent that family life
is disrupted and threatens to be-
come national calamity. As one
doctor put it, 'My patients are not
sick for the most part, that is ply
sically. They are just sick Of their
mother in-law or their jobs, or the
same food every day and the terrible
drabness of their miserable every
day lives. And most of all, l think,
it is the bleakness of the future.
They can't see a life much better
for themselves anywhere in the flu