LONDON CALM BUT ANXIOUS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 299, 29 September 1938, Page 5

LONDON CALM BUT ANXIOUS.

FAINT GLIMMER OF HOPE. PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE. [LONDON, September 28. Faced with the grim fact that hours and not days remain to decide the fate of nations, London is calmly and terribly anxious. v Since Mr Chamberlain’s broadcast, the city has sought unsuccessfully for a glimmer of hope in the early morning news from Europe. All are waiting now to see what happens at the reported German mobilisation hour at 2 p.m., and the momentous meeting of Parliament at 2.45 p.m. Throughout the night there were scenes of activity as messengers raced about London. Trench diggers have redoubled their efforts and streams of sand-laden lorries are moving continuously. In the vital areas anti-aircraft units are fully in position. Londoners awoke to the spectacle of long guns pointing silently to the sky. Naval officers and men are standing by to respond to the call for the fleet mobilisation. Thousands of civilians, mainly women and children, have already evacuated the city and taken up residence in the country. In the meantime, Mr Roosevelt has made another attempt to persuade Herr Hitler to the acceptance of a peaceful settlement, and it is regarded as significant that the full text of his first appeal has now been published prominently in all the Berlin morning newspapers. A faint glimmer of hope is seen in a report from Warsaw, which states that an agreement between Czechoslovakia and Poland for a territorial revision is officially announced. The communique adds that a practical plan for the settlement of the Teschen problem has been submitted to Prague. The Order-in-Council, under which the defensive units were called up last Monday, has been published. It states that the King declared a state of emergency to exist. City banks and business houses are arranging for duplication of their records and in some cases are moving their offices to the country. The many precautions in Lancashire include the rapid construction of trenches in Manchester parks.