BATTERED LONDON

Patea Mail, 16 May 1941, Page 4

BATTERED LONDON

GOOD OUT OF EVIL “The demolition men have been busy and many of the broken and blackened walls which looked like decayed teeth are now pulled down, leaving only blanks as do teeth pulled out,’ said Mr, David Low, the cartoonist, in discussing the burial by bombing of London’s dead past. “This is death. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. Let us mourn. But not too much. Probably there has been a good deal of ‘.bunk’ talked and written, about the destruction of our ancient sites. The two problems that are engrossing the attention of London before Hitler appeared were (a) what to do about all these numerous churches, deserted since London’s residential population floated awiay to the suburbs, and (b) how to find a parking space in narrow, poky Ch capside, which had become impossible for modern traffic. It was becoming a question as to how many museum pieces a city can afford to the square yard and live. After all, the City of London has been burned before. Fifty years after the Great Fire of IfidC the inhabitants were thanking God for it, and affirming that ‘ however disastrous it may have been to the then inhabitants, it proved infinitely beneficial to their posterity.’ It is undoubtedly true that if bombs destroy our beautiies they may also (no thanks to Hitler and Gocring) with moderate luck destroy some of our ugliness, which the more public-spirited of our citizens have long striven to do. Even in the heat of our righteous indignation, the optimistic eye sparkles at visions of new glories now possible.”