The cables and wireless have described very fully to readers in this part of the world the fateful days of September when Europe was on the verge of war but diplomacy triumphed over armed might. It is left to the the newspapers from Europe to fill in the details and supply the bold relief which the telegraphic picture lacked. How well they have mirrored these stirring events at a time when London publishers were considering emergency plans Yor publishing in Manchester and Glasgow is revealed in the latest newspapers from home which portray in an amazing degree the hopes and fears of the people. Within the space of a few years since the last war when, in spite of air raids Britons at home felt quite safe, in their service to the public the newspapers reveal a vastly different situation regarding war possibilities and precautions. On September 29, when the newspapers were announcing the forthcoming Four Power meeting at Munich they were publishing numerous advertisements for air raid shelters, filtration plants, gas masks, steel helmets and appliances for meeting household needs, One newspaper has two full pages of advertisements announcing these wares with the purchaser-attraction terms as if they were purveying hats, coats, shoes or cars. Concrete tube air raid shelters, produced by a company with works situated in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Staffordshire and Gloucestershire ranged from £8 for four-feet diameter to £22 for six-feet diameter "supplied in strict rotation unless otherwise instructed by the Government" More elaborate shelters of self-shoring protective steel casing are delivered for £85, no skilled labour being required and all materials included. Activated carbons are another necessity to absorb gases and therefore another firm is prepared to supply these carbons for filtration plants because, otherwise, shelters are costly and would accommodate only one third of the proper number. "Economical immunity" is another firm's slogan for shelters which any handy-man about the house can assemble at a small cost, and there are all sorts of fireproof and protective lining materials for the home in case a shelter is not possible. Fire extinguishing appliances, first aid kits, and protective anti-gas clothing are among the commercial world's preparations for civilian preservation, with steel helmets as cheap as 7/lld. and the inevitable appeal to nerve solace—chewing gum for "jangled nerves are soothed by daily use of healthful, delicious——s gum" and "wherever smoking is forbidden (as in air raid shelters) then chow a piece or two of—s gum to overcome the longing." It is difücult to conceive, from this distance, the conditions created in every-day life by the threat of war in these circumstances although only fourteen months ago a similar shock upset the equilibrium of this community and its ignorance of war conditions when huge aeroplane bombs rained down. Perhaps from across the Atlantic came the proper response when the "New York Times," at the beginning of the fateful period, preceded its leading article with this appeal:
A prayer that peace may be maintained in Central Europe should rise today from every house in our land. Each day that war can be staved off will allow that much more time to find a just and acceptable solution.
Newspapers have been accused, according to the bias of the interested parties, of making or breaking Governments, advancing or obstructing progress, and creating or preventing war but they never had a more difficult role to fill than during the month of September, 1938.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.