DARKNESS IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16040, 5 October 1915, Page 7

DARKNESS IN LONDON.

FOILING THE ZEPPELINS. USE OF HEAVY BLINDS. NO RIVER LIGHTS. (Rewired October 4, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, October 3. The streets of London, which for months have been gloomy and dismal at night, are now darker than ever. As a result of new regulations which have come into force in order to guard against the Zeppelin raids, the street lights are doubly shaded. The 'buses and taxis, which are only dimly lighted, rush along the streets and avert collisions in the most remarkable manner. Private houses and the public, buildings show no outward signs of life owing to the use of heavy window blinds. The gloom is so deep that where an occasional blind is lifted the shaft of light cuts the darkness like a searchlight. When the police detect such a case they curtly order the householder to observe the regulations. Previously the reflection from the furnaces of the railway engines has given a clue to the whereabouts of trains, but this has now been remedied by the use of curtains, which obscure the cab of the engine. A Zeppelin commander recently boasted that he could find London by the reflection of the "silver ribbon" of the Thames. The new order provides that there shall be no lights along the riverfront. All are loyally assisting to carry out thia order. Searchlights sweep the sky, rest on the clouds for an instant, and then all is complete darkness again.