INTERESTING INSIGHT INTO WAR
CONDITIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN
VIEWED BY AN OBSERVER
The following letter receive# by Mr.
Clarence M. Hamshaw gives an Inter
esting insight Into war conditions in
great Itrttain as viewed by an intelli
gent observer. The letter was written
April 14 und the deductions can there
fore safely be said to be “right up to the
hour”:
London, April 14, 1916.
Dear Mr. Hamshaw.
It gave the “Arm” considerable pleas
ure to receive your letter yesterday. It
Is always a nice shock to realize one—
in this case two—Is not forgotten.
You ask for news of the war, in re
gard to condition of business here. Well,
In some businesses it is better than
averuge. and in others it is about as bad
as It can be. iBut then It so often is,
that it is hardly fair to blame the war
for tt>. Naturally things hit the floor
with a loud bump when the war started,
and everyone was scared stiff at what
was likely to happen. It didn't happen,
■o loika picked up lh« pieces and into
the 'business as usual" racket, which
appeared to go pretty well, by and
large. W here Lite swings hat e suffered,
people gel it back on tlie roundabouts,
so to speak. Certain tines of business
have nothing doing, and where,, the boss
is wise, lie has tried side lines, anti
maUe good that way . VV liters, artists
and in some cases actors have suffered
ureadfuily. All the ornamental things
nave slumped, dressmakers are nearly
dead from inanition, but tailors are
busy with uniforms, any firm that can
make any tiling likely to be at all use
ful is working overtime. 11 a man can
sell something useful, lie is tilled Willi
orders for a year lo eotite. t know a
man who made jlS.ouu profft lean'l do
it lit dollars sorry) oil a quarter of a
million paiis of rubber boots, and could
Hate a lul more if he had known where
and how io gel file goods. Bo altogeth
er London is not yet knocked sideways,
and tlie provincial towns—especially
those up North are making money in
big little heaps. Then the number of
soldiers bilietled in the towns and vil
lages means a lot of money one way
and another, which is always useful.
Of course, food prices and coals and
things are dearer, but theatres are
crowded, which looks as though there
was money for all parties. London Is
darkened at night to a disconcerting
extent, hut people go around just the
same. The public houses close at ten,
but the tea-shops, that used to close at
eight, are now open until twelve. As
for Zeppelins, the chief fear seems to be
that ordinary people will miss them, if
they come, so that the folks seem to like
to keep around most of the time. The
raids up at Scarborough and Whitby
last December sent the recruiting fig
ures up to a big number. I think it Is
mostly nervous old ladies and the
vegetarians who are afraid to die that
get scared.
April 15th. This Is rather funny. I
got switched off last night, and in this
morning’s papers is the account of the
air raid on Newcastle and round there
—with no loss of life. However, the
mere cheek of their coming “gets my*
goat.” It makes me more than ever
agree with your Idea about "Heine los
ing his job,” and the sooner the better
and then some.
Although I think the war is going
very well for many people, except some
of the unlucky ones at the front. It is
making those of us left at home a lot
more considerate to our neighbors, and
giving people something else to think
about besides our own little worries;
hut I would not have recommended so
wholesale a burning of the house for
the getting of our roast pork, all the
same. As far as we are concerned. In
our little office, it has completely taken
the wind out of our sails, and we are
barely making our expenses, hut we
hope for a revival it) the near future
The discussion about the drink ver
sus work and the effect of drink on (he
output of war material is causing a
lot of trouble among the workers In
tlie arsenal at Woolwich, as well as in
other places, and wc venture to think
that the trouble Is being tackled from
tlie wrong end. I have lived a fairly
long time in this Vale of Tears, and
never vet have I heard of prohibition
causing any abatement of any evil. 1
know that as a child the thing* I was
flatly forbidden to do—with no reason
given, mark you—w’ere tlie thing* l
spent my time in trying to accomplish.
Luckily for me. there were not many of
them. a* m.v parent did nut take that
way in mv training, but 1 take it I am
not exceptional in this matter. I fall
to see what good total prohibition is
going to do for habitual drunkards,
and reasonable people should not have
to suffer such an indignity, putting
aside the possible inconvenience. As
i| is, many people are given unneces
sary trouble oyer the matter under pre
sent conditions. People travelling
cannot get anything with their meals
at certain hours, and fainting fit* and
snob thing* are not run by schedule
unfortunately. Of course, that is a
minor matter, hut a lot rf that sort of
thing makes major discontent.
I am afraid this letter is not really
what you wanted in tlie way of infor
mation—but I have endeavored to put
down what I know on the subjects you
mention. Put most emphatically there;
is no fear or panic on the subject of
Zeppelins, and trades of some kinds
are booming, while others are dead as
doornails; the Stock Exchange suffers,
naturally, but even neutral countries
feel tlie effect of tlie war in their
money markets. There is a great deal
of money in circulation, though the j
people who are making a lot are too |
busy doing their work to spend it in
frivolity, and naturally there is not a
great desire to he frovolous at such a
serious time; then the people whose
sons and husbands and fathers and
brothers are fighting are not wanting
to give parties and go to dances. There
is not a note of mourning being sound
ed to any great extent In spite of the
serious casualty lists, but people seem
all to he working and thinking ser
iously of tilings, and speaking general
ly, I think the nation is waking up very
widely to a sense of its responsibilities.
1 do think there ere a few dreamers
still, hut that Is largely the fault of the
authorities who keep all news, good or
had, so strictly secret. You can't ex
pect the man In the street to grasp the
real seriousness of things while the
government plavs the Idiot and goes
around making colossal errors and
spending vast sums of public money In
the wrong way to right a matter that
should never have gone out of order
But then you also cannot expect a
government that never governed to
start In doing things properly at this
late hour. And you can’t expect people
suddenlv to cope with contingencies
that never have arisen before and are
of auchworld-wlde Importance and are
so Intermingled Then again the pan
tile over here are too close to the scene
nf work to be able to see clearly, or to
take a proper view of matters Tf a
man only knows his own street and
the road at the bottom of It. you can't
expect him to be ah!e to meet tha needs
of several Continents, or grasp thetr
importance. If a man has never seen
anything higher than Highgate Hill, he
is not going to he able to Imagine the
size of the Rocky Mountains. It is the
same with governing, when they have
had to settle little coal strikes and
village pump troubles all their lives,
and for several generations, they are
not going to cope with the entire Wes
tern Hemisphere grasping at the next
man's throat 1 That is a bit Involved,
hut perhaps you know what I mean,
and anyway there is no use in saying
the obvious, is there'' But It Is ex
traordinary how things have settled 1
down, and we all take In our stride the
reduced lights, the Increased eosts and
unsettled train services which are the
main inconveniences, and I do honest
ly think that at the back of his mind
every man is prepared to do his bit at
tlie pinch And above all. there Is no
question about ihe tight being fought
to a finish, with the allies on top. In
Spite of the hot air of some of the more 1
misguided Socialists and cranks which ,
is given so much prominence, in the
absence of real news and matters of
more Importance.
Tour very truly, etc.
NOW IS THE TIME.
Te come in and see ue. as the bright :
sunny days are cotnirfg bn, and have
yeur clothes cleaned, pressed and re
paired.
We make them loek like new.
tte clean hats.
We make alterations.
We guarantee first-class workman
ship
We guarantee modern methods
We guarantee preuipt service.
And vyc will appreciate your patron
age
We else make suits re erder.
NOME TAILORING COMPANY,
Between Separation < Hagea and Ft B
Zehner's Jewelry Stores.
100 TONS OF FLOUR.
Breed only So. Nerth Fete Bekery
I end Anvil Bakery.
.■■e.s.ss, i-wwh—s—e——a— .. in
A CHRISTMAS
ANTI CLIMAX
f •
An Englishman who joined the *
French foreign legion at the beginning t
of the war wrote to the London Times 1
the following account of his Christmas t
morning: (
I was on guard instantly on arrival
and, incredible as it may seem, at the <
end of t wo hours I went inside a loan to i
and instantly fell fast asleep, though i
the bullets were crashing against the s
walls from the German trenches and <
the shells bursting. I was so exhaust- 1
ed. The 21st five shells fell in our or- I
chard, two covering me with dirt; was
firing all day during the five dajs. 1
carefully. methodically at popping
heads, but very difficult to see the re
sult through narry loopholes: two days
we were shifted into another position
and slept in dugouts.
Shall I ever forget this Christmas
day! My two hours ended at midnight,
a bell rang in the ruined village, and
Instantly a great volley, preconcerted,
from all our line, our way of heralding
Christmas with a message of “Peace on
earth, and good will toward men;” up
from 2 to 4 and again fi to 8.
Slowly dawn rose and there I waa
with rifle between two loopholes, the
ground white with frast, end so great
the contrast—I was feeding a tamo
robin at my feet with breadcrumbs,
the only Christmassy thing on this
Christmas morn.
Suddenly I heard deep singing on my
extreme right louder and louder ns it
passed along the line towards me: it
was the stirring strain of the “Mar
seillaise;” we joined In with our loud
est, our little lot in the orchard and the
French regiment took It up on our
left; how wild and beautiful it sound
1 in the semi-darkness, then it died
out, and from the German trenches
'e the answering “Watch on the
Rhine.”
My churn and I agreed not to Are
that day. hut, looking through the
loophole, T plainly saw two Germans
carrying a plank. I took careful aim
and pumped three shots In. T saw the
plank fall—that was all!
WHY EAT POOR BREAD.
Whan you aan got GOOD, WHOLE
SOME Broad at Bo por loaf,
i ANVIL BAKERY,
NORTH POL" MKERY,
MEETING NOTICE.
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THE NOME BARTENDER’S UNION
Local SiiS, B. I. L. af A. (AfBliated
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DREAM THEATRE
-.■■■ 1
MONDAY.
Drama
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THE GIRL IN THE ARM
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MISS LILLIE KOCH, Pianiat
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5 Think It Over J
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