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Wednesday December 24, 1941 THE FUESHERTON ADVANCE . London in Blackout Real Black and Ouiet This is U>e fourth of a series of about conditions in Great Britain and other countries visited by a group of Canadian newspaper editors. It wax written for the week- ly newspapers of Canada by their own representative on the tour, Hugh Templin, of the Fergus News-Record. First impressions may not always be accurate, but they are always interesting. The first thing that any visitor to England wants to see is the* damage done by the bombs. I was no excep- tion. The airport where our plane had droppod us down on British soil was interesting in it.s way, but much like a dozen others I had visited m Canada. There were only two appar- ent differences: The planes were of different types, though there were a few familiar Avro Anson, and the buildings were protected against the blasts from bombs dropping nearby. The customs examination was brief, though the examiner did show some interest in the things I had thought it necessary to take to Eng- land with me. I had a short brush with the lady censor. She took away 11 the letters I had carried from Canada and appeared to be horrified that I had taken along a map of the British Isles. Apparently, had un- wittingly committed a grave crime and she said hc must confiscate it. Evidently, a few girls get that way when given some brief authority. I met censors several times during the next six weeks, but none like that younj? lady. She even went so far as to take away two picture postcards I had bought in the Azores on the flight across the Atlantic. After a brisk argument, in which the cus- toms man took my part, I jrot the map back. The letters and post cards arrived by mail at my hotel in London a week later, after being censored. First Impression of Bombing It was only a few miles to the nearest city, a seaport on the west coast of England. I had never been across the Atlantic before, so I watched with interest for the things I had been told about so often: the small fields enclosed by hedges, the slated or tiled roofs, the little loco- motives pulling long trains of tiny wagons, for photography had made them all familiar. Only the "barrage baloons floating over the nearby hills showed that England had changed. As our car entered the city, we al! looked around curiously for signs ol damage. Rumors in Canada SHU: that this ancient port wag practically destroyed German versions said that the dock area was rendered useless As we crossed a bridge over th' river, I looked at the shipping ami saw no sign of damage t the docks. The first blitzed house stood on a corner. Or it had stood on the cor- ner, for not a thing was loft except a pile of bricks in the basement. The houses on either side- seemed undam- aged, except for a few boarded-up windows, fout the corner one was done a s cleanly as though it had been carved out with a big knife. I thought to myself: "This is ex- actly what I expected to see: it looks exactly like the pictures." In the next block another house had been hit. It wasn't as thorough- ly destroyed. One side wall remain- ed, and up it at irregular intervals were the fireplaces which had once supplied a bit of heat to its rooms. Part of the floor of one upstairs fy the darkness. And London was not only dark, but quiet as well. This didn't sem like a railway sta- tion. Outside, not a light allowed in the city. Somehow, our hosts from the British Council found us, and they knew what to do. In a few moments they had a porter hunting for a taxi- cab. Where he went, I'll never know, but he came back with two, and in the light of later experience, that was something of an achievement. Our taxi driver was old and his cab was ancient. Four persons and their luggage seemed like too much of a load, but we entrusted ourselves to him, hoping he knew what to do. The only outdoor lights in London room hung in the air, with a bed on it. | are the traffic S j gna i 8 an d the shelter Again there was that feeling that this was just what I had expected. It remained while we drove down a long street, with half a dozen houses missing at more or less regular m- tenrals. After that, my feelings be- gan to change. Perhaps it was the ruined churches. Several of them had nothing left but blackened walls. On the main business street, man> stores were left without windows; others were hollow shells. It made me angry before lonj- This wanton damage seemed so senseless. Obviously, military tar- gets had not been hit or they had been repaired so quickly that the effect was slight. It was the houses that had suffered most, and the churches. The train to London was crowded, hut the six of us got a compartment to ourselves. On the wall was a de- tailed map of the railway line. I thought of the girl in the censor's office and my map. But I never saw another one on a British train. Most of the railway stations had the names obliterated or the signs torn down in the hope that invaders might get lost. London in the Blackout The train was about half-way to London when the blackout time ar- rived at about half-psst six. The guard came in and pulled down heavy blinds over all the windows and doors. Even the door out into the corridor had a blind on it. It was the first hint that there is nothing half- hearted about the British black-out. It's black. Inside the railway carriage, two dim lights kept the compartment in state of semi-darkness. One a white light, set high up in a deep funnel in the roof. The other light more exposed, was blue and did not (five enough light ta make it possible to read a newspaper. Of all the first impressions, noni is more vivid than that of my arrive in London in the blackout. Thero was some doubt about wlu-thor the train had reached Paddington station or not, but everybody seemed to be getting out. One of the editors opened the door. There wasn't a thing to be seen except three scatt- ered blue bulbs in a ceiling overhead. Moving shapes came past the door nnd one of them answered the ques- tion: "Is this Paddington?" with a short "Yes, sir." Nobody who hasn"t been there will ever believe how dark London can be in the blackout at the time of the new moon. Three blue bulbs really give no light at all: they ju.*t intonsi- signs. Even the traffic lights are covered, except a tiny cross in the centre. The shelter signs have only n dim "S" showing on them. An Uncanny Quietness The feeling persisted that this could not possibly toe the world's largest city. Sometimes the axi would stop and a bus or some more taxis would go across the intersec- tion. Each had on dim headlight, fitted with shutters so that it threw a circle of semi-darkness on the pavement. The windows of the buses were covered. They weru just dim outlines as they passed. The tiny red cross at the corner would disappear and be replaced by a Teen one and the driver would start up again. Some of the editors, fam- iliar with London in the past, askec questions about the localities Onl> once, at the corner of Hyde Park, did one of them guess correctly I am told that London in norma] times is noisy at night, though no! as bad as New York. In the black- out, it is quiet. Taxi and bus driver? find their way largely by instinct. The cab stopped under some kim of roof. A man with a tiny pocke flashlight helped us out and callec for someone to take the bags. We passed one 'by one through a revolv* ing door and emerged suddenly into the bright light of, a hotel lobby. There was something familiar about the place. The feeling persist- ed even after I had been taken to m; room and had looked into the bath room with its Roman bath and Roya Doulton fixtures, reminders of pas splendor. Then I remembered had seen this famous hotel in moving pictures long ago. Bomb Damage in Londwn The next morning I saw Londo for the first time. Our hosts from the British Council came around i an old car and drove us around th centraj part of the city, particular! that part of Old London which hail been destroyed by the Great Fire in 1G66 and rebuilt better than it had Channel and it was feared they could ot return safely. Whether that was he reason or not, London's fire flght- rs escaped to fight another day. Seeing othe r parts of London later felt again and again that the Ger- man bombers had failed. They de- troyed thousands of houses and tores and offices, and dozens of hurches. They did get many fac- ories along the Thames. But they ot only failed to frighten the British I -i i pie; they also missed many of the most tempting targets. For instance, every bridge over he Thames is in operation. It is said lot one has been hit though thous- nds of bombs have gone into the water in an attempt to cut traffic. Tiere are temporary bridges which an be quickly finished if any bridge s destroyed. They have never been eeded. I wandered through the dock are-, near Tower Bridge one day. The ittle houses in the East Bml have taken a bad punishment. In two places, I saw vacant lots piled high with bricks that must have come 'rom hundreds of houses. But the docks were still in operation as usual with convoys going out the Thames. It was obvious that Tower Bridge tself had never been hit. The Tower of London hs lost only a corner of one small bastion. There hasn't been any bombing in London lately. It is now five months since the last bombs have fallen on the capital. Only once while I was in London did an enemy plane ever come near the city. From the roof of a newspaper office, I watched the flashes of the anti-aircraft guns away to the east. The German never got through. There was bombing going on all the time, but it was around the coasts of Britain. I came through bombing one night in Bournemouth, and will tell of it in a later stroy. But conditions have obviously chang- ed. The Germans no longer have superiority in the air. Defences are stronger. It doesn't seem likely that the British will be 'blitzed' again as they were last winter: actual inva- sion seems impossible. Italian soldiers are complaining about the cold weather on the Rus< sian front. They get so stiff they can hardly run. The Land of the Rising Sun would like to seize a large portion of the Empire on which the sun never sets But after the war clouds have dis- appeared it will be found that the Rising Sun is in eclipse. It isn't practical to provide a tele- phone system BIG enough for all those who want to chat across the miles on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Hundreds of us will be on duty to put your calls through. If they're delayed and acme are bound to be please understand and be patient. Thank yon. been. Now it has .been destroyed agnin. East of St. Paul's Cathedral and north of Fleet Street, tkere is an area of almost a square mile with hardly a building standing. Perhaps you have seen that remarkable photo- graph which shows the great dome of St. Paul's standing up above a mass of smoke and "flames, while in the foreground the walls of ruined h >uses are silhouetted against tin fire. I had wondered sometimes if that photograph was not faked. In a room of the Press Club in London I saw the original. Walking through the ruins of the old City of London, it is still easy to picture that terrible' night. Many of the walls which stood up in that blackened area since the big blitz last December have been torn down by demolition squads. Where there are basements, they have been cemented and turned into water res- ervoirs for fighting future fires. This was an area of office buildings and publishing houses, with u number of fine old churches and some of the most famous administrative build- ings. It was burned in a concentrated blitz one week-end, ibefori' the Lon- doners had Uiirned how to fight the inrendiary bomb. I don't think it could ever happen again. An imlend- iary bomb is small and light. 1 large homihing plant- might carry a thous- and of them. They are showered down by hundreds and are just heavy enough to go through a slate roof. It is two minutes or so before they burst into flame. Every second counts. The incendiary bomb can be conquered in the first two or three minutes. After that it takes the fire brigade to do anything about it. Strangely enough, the things that touch the he-art of the observer in desolate aroas like this are the small things. In ruined houses, it is dolls or other toys lying around: in for- mer office building*, it is battered typewriters .piled up, a dozen or so together, or some other evidence of the normal life thnt was once carried on t'here. Yet even in the midst of this deso- lation, I had a feeling thnt the Ger- man 'bombers had failed. Tiey had not even tried to hit military targets. It is thought they tVied to wipe out the whole of London's flrt> fighting apparatus. They didn't succeed. The tire brigades were massed in that small area and more bomber* came over, droppod high explosive bombs. Suddenly they stopped coming. It is said thnt mist arose ht\ck over the "Every line in a newspaper costs the proprietor something" says an exchange. If it is for benefit of the individual it should be paid for. If the grocer were asked to contribute groceries to one abundantly able pay for them he would refuse. The proprietor of a newspaper must pay for the free advertising if the bene- ficiary docs net and yet it is one of the hardest thing to be learned by inuny that a newspaper has space in its columns to rent and must rent them to live. To give away rent for anything less than living rates is as fatal to a newspaper as for a land- lord t furnish free rent. Gospel Workers' Church Feversham, Ont. Kev. C. McNIchol. Pastor Feversham Appointment Sunday School 10 a.m. Sunday Morning Service 11. Sunday Evening Service 7.80. Olivet Appointment Service at 3 p.m. Flesherton United Church REV. G. K. MCMILLAN. B.A., BJ>. Minister 11.00 a.m. Worship, Flesherton 12.00 a.m. Sunday School, Flesherton 2.00 p.m. Sunday School, Ceylon 8.30 p.m. Worship, Ceylon 7.80 p.m. Vesper Service, Flesherton Maxwell United Church KF.V. GEO. I, MERCER. .!).. DJ>. Minister SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, U41 11 a.m. Eugenia. 2 p.m. Mt. Zion. 8.30 p.m. Wareham. 7.30 p.m. Maxwell. Note: The minister's subject will he "The New Year as an Adventure. 1 ' A cordial welcome to all. KLK8HERTON AND ROCK MILLS R ' PTI8T CHURCHES Frank B. Key*, Pastor ROCK MILLS SERVICES Sunday School 2 p.m. Church Service 3 p.m. HLESHERTON SBHVICB6 Church Service M a.m. Sunday School 12 o'clock PRKBBYTERIAN CHURCH FEVBR8HAM Rev K. Forbes Thomson. H.A. Minister EVening Sorvlco at 7.80 Merry Christmas We wish to express our appreciation of your patronage and courtesy during the year now drawing to a close and to wish you A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR O. & A. Co-operative Season's Greetings . . . We think of our Customers as Friends and wel- come the opportunity to tell you so, and to thank you for the friendship you have shown us in the past We Cordially Extend the Season's Greetings D . McTavish & Sons w Best Wishes and Thank You May the spirit of Christmas stay with you throughout the coming year, and guide you to greater health, wealth and hap- piness than you have ever known. That is our Christmas Greeting to all. HOWARD MILLIGAN Best Wishes IN APPRECIATION OF VERY PLEASANT RELATIONS DURING THE YEAR JUST CLOSING WE EXTEND TO FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS A WISH FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY DURING THE COMING YEAR 1942. Flesherton Planing Mills ' 9}!&)d}9)i&&ii3ti3^^ Greetings Merry Christmas ! These two words have behind them all our good wishes for your future, and our gratitude to our patrons for their many kind- nesses to us through the past year. May health, wealth and prosperity be yours ever-increasing abundance. McDonald Bakery in