A CHANGED LONDON.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14574, 9 April 1918, Page 6

A CHANGED LONDON.

SHOP WINDOW MAGNETS. : (LONDON, Feb. 5. lhere is nb mistake about it. It is the butcher's shop. One can tell it from the end of the street, for the thoroughfare.' ;ia blocked' by a motley queue, four-deep, armed with roomy baskets. The shop is closely shuttered, and the door is looked. But the people are there. After a few moments a little opening i$ furtively made— three happy-faced women come out— they have got some meat, and they hurry off to another queue, possibly for tea or fat. Three more of the waiting multitude push m, and) again the door shuts. For each trio that enters the queue lengthens many times three. This performance goes on as long as the half-dozen sheep are able to supply a modicum of the demand. Then appears a mysterious hand which hangs out a large placard, making sad reading— "All sold out." The disappointed myriad disperses by degrees, hardly at first being able to grasp the fact that a long wait m the ' chill street has yielded them nothing. To this condition has the butcher's business been reduced. His benches and hooks are bare, and his shutters are always up. Yet there is never any doubt that it is the butcher's' shop. But what is the next? Instead of shutters and gloom there, are dainty curtains tied with ribbon, bows, an attractive vase or two holds artificial flowers, andi a few Teddy bears and kindred toys occupy space behind the glass. _ The sweller the plaoe the fewer the window ornaments. Curiosity, or perhaps it is the Teddy Bear who cynically appeals "What you do not see m the^ window, ask for inside"— takes you within. But even then there is no immediate solution. Tthere are rows of glass bottles on every shelf, but they contain only shavings of colored paper —pretty but not explanatory. On the counter half a dozen caramels spread themselves> over a glass stand, six gay jujubes strike the eye, arid' a careful diisplay of the few chocolates at 4s a pound— each one looking like a monarch m its individual dignity. Presently it is borne, m ■ upon the enquiring brain that this is a London sweet shop. What a contrast! In normal times when every window was filled, every counter was overborne by the immense trays of tempting iflveets, and every jar spoke loudly of plenty m reserve for all comers. Wholesale toffees for the youngsters, once 8d per lb., are now 8d per quarter of that quantity, if they are still m stock, but usually they are not. Yes, London has undergone many remarkable changes m the past year, and though some threatened Jong ago. their development has been deliberate. Outwardly, the London sweet shop is improved, but inwardly its plight is sorry, andi the climax has not arrived.