LONDON IN WARTIME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20142, 11 January 1940, Page 12

LONDON IN WARTIME

NUMEROUS DISCOMFORTS TAKEN LIGHT-HEARTEDLY BELIEF IN VICTORY t “A trip abroad at present is full of the most absorbing interest and I was particularly impressed while in England with the manner in which the population is putting up with numerous discomforts and inconveniences caused by the war.’’ said Mr. J. H. Duncan, a business man who has just returned from a tour of Great Britain and the United States of America. Mr. Duncan said that it was impossible out here to realise that there was a war on. One had to be closer to it and affected by the restrictions forced on people. ’’lmagine all the motor traffic in New Zealand and multiply it by 10," he said. “Send it out on the roads in fog and on the inky night of a black-out. A small pocket torch was the only light we were allowed to use on these occasions and there was one girl who was sentenced to a month’s imprisonment for flashing a torch about after she had been warned by a policeman not to do so.” Mr. Duncan said that the people of London were taking the inconveniences in a light-hearted spirit and there was no doubt that all believed the Allies would ultimately achieve victory, though it might take a long time. All were prepared to do what they could to help. Plenty of Money in U.S.A. The American scene was very different. There seemed to be a great deal of money about and people were not afraid to spend it. He had received only a little more than three dollars for his pound, and had consequently found his visit there expensive. There appeared to be nothing under a dollar. Whisky and soda cost a dollar in most places, and to obtain a seal at the New York horse fair, one of the social events of the year, cost 3 dollars 85 cents, or about 25s in New Zealand money. At the present rate of exchange, Americans could advance many good arguments why their country should not come into the war, Mr. Duncan added. It was far removed from Europe and they could not see that they should be put to the cost of a war every twenty years or so.