“THESE DAYS IN ENGLAND”

Evening Star, Issue 25701, 26 January 1946, Page 5

“THESE DAYS IN ENGLAND”

CHRISTMAS FOLLOWS AUSTERITY GRATEFUL TO HEW ZEALAND [Written by E. B. Whitelaw, for the ' Evening Star.']. In a. West End cinema, a short time ago, we watched breakfast being prepared for the hero in glorious, glowing technicolour. Into the frying pan went a family's ration of fat; then a month's supply of bacon, as we know it, for .one person, sizzled and spluttered there. How our mouths watered, and the audience licked their lips 1 Out the bacon came, and two eggs—real eggs—were carefully cooked. A stack of pancakes and a steaming pot of coffee appeared by magic, and all were served up to " our hero." A small boy was so moved by all this opulent show of food that he ejaculated the old English word of " guts " so loudly and fervently that he almost broke up the show. Londoners who had to eat their scanty, half-shiged joints on the Sunday of the gas strike, and the one on which the United

States'switched over to unrationed food once again, must have felt much the same way as the small boy. At 1 gOa,about Britain 1 have noticed a feeling'that, although the British have fought for Europe and their womenfolk have knitted and given all the clothes that they could spare f.ir it, they do not want to starve for it as well Sir Ben. Smith, the new Food Minister, was quick to appreciate that, and refused to have the rations, which are ndw at a minimum, cut any further. Especially, too, when German magnates' homes are raided and found to be full of food, and from all accounts, if most of these countries instigated proper rationing, ami abolished black marketeers by death sentences, there would be enough food for all There is in Britain, however, a grand appreciation for all that New Zealand and the rest of the Empire have doue to help us out over here by "denying voufselves, so that we shall have more. Perhaps few have a better idea of the gratitude of the women of Britain towards you than I Lave, for 1 go about so much amongst them in my work, and being a New Zealander they express their grateful thanks to me, and tell me of the joy that they have had in sharing' a parcel or. cake that has been sent over .to them. Your sacrifice, when you spent the money that you intended to spend upon yourselr in sending a parcel to a friend over here was not in vain. Neither" lias been the butter or the mesit that yon have gone without as a gesture towards the people of Britain, and tor the tact that they stood alone against the Hun except for you and the rest of the Empire, nor has this gone unheeded over here No! Somewhere in West Riding, or the fells of Westmorland, the East ' End of London, Sussex, Surrev, or lovely Devon there are many grateful hearts, and those who think of all that you have done and are doing for them. How do I know? Well, they have told me so, and asked me to tell you. Christmas Day' has come and gone since I began this account of things as thev- are to-day in England. It was a quiet Christmas People commented upon it from all parts Even t.e crime wave seemed to abate tor the time being. 1 collected my goose, as per schedule That it turned out rather skinny, and with an oddly moalike chassis, was tempered by the tact that a " lan " of mine in Devon sent me a succulent young gosling quite unexpectedly. We had friends in to share our repasts, and we were asked back to share their half ' turkeys—they were sold that way this yearchickens, and whatever they had mustered up. ™ • * We had all dressed our, Christmas trees in the strangest decorations found about the house—old wedding and birthdas cake trimmings—and ours had paua slfell ornaments that gleamed anil glittered upon it A few fairy lights that would always fuse at the wrong moments framed it in their pre-war splendour. There was a glitter of •frost on it, too—not " artificial frost that has long since been on a luxury list and ceased to be made, but EpsoM salt's for there are still plenty of them about and sprinkled over glue they <rive quite a make-do effort worth recording Brightly coloured pieces of paper were cut into fantastic shapes, with here and there a cherished piece of brightly hued ribbon or a bow of cellophane On the top was a small silk flag—triumphant. Everywhere in the evenings curtains were drawn back to show our efforts and give pleasure to each other, the friend and the passing stranger. We even went so far as having a 'hollv wreath on our front door with a "'Merrv Christmas to All " streamer attached as done so attractively and dworativelv in the United States hut here they seem to have been used For centuries' just on graves, and the lorn.s did not seem to be able to comprehend whether there hacl been a death in the house or some new-fangled idea or celebration. Perhaps it was both, death of the war, the bombs, the destruction that we have known for so

many years, and a crazy celebration that' here on the so-little-time-ago frontier of England, we could show as many lights as we liked without tho. wardens and the police at the door, or some marauding Jerry dropping a bomb at the light helow. Probably, like the brightly lit little ship that T had seen bohbing along so jauntily those few mornings hefore we wanted to show that' the dreadful " Muck-out " had at long last bpen rent asunder, and now there was peace on earth and goodwill towards all men.