Changed War Conditions;-Horses Popular-Again From Oun Own Conassronpenr London,: Sept.: 18./ Home Front. is brightening—very much so.
It was a brilliantly fine weekend—not. perhaps so, warm as. recently but very delightful. It might almost' have been a, peacetime Saturday and Sunday.
Cinemas. were open everywhere' and packed*to capacity.. There was football—friendly games "but. well. worth watching.
Save that there can be no meeting "under lights" greyhound racing is back nearly to normal.: In London and within a radius of 20 miles no fewer than a'dozen stadiums have resumed their interrupted programmes. biggest success—returned to the "Band Waggon'"—the "B.B.C.'s radio, 'Military bands are to play in the parks. West End' Clubs and hotels are reopening; while many shops are doing indifferently owing to the calling up of the Army and to Evacuation, which has taken away their clients, others record good. business.
Moreover, to the surprise—and relief—of the motorist, the introduction unexpected period of grace is presumably the intention to avoid cases of unnecessary hardship. Many motorists entitled to extra supplies of tion' for, young. people; after.' their day's: work, and. in. order, as. far as possible, to avoid a break in the sys tem' of industrial, commercial, and domestic training.
Perhaps the West End is the quietest' of all -places—in an area of' approximately within a'mile and a halt of 'Leicester Square—cinemas still must' close at 6 p.m. whereas throughout the rest of the country they may remain open till ten. The Central London restriction is imposed. because of the transport confusion an air-raid late at night might precipitite. However, the West End managers are undismayed. They have a rich selection of films on hand, and know that not only have they saved the jobs of something like 30,000 people, but now have the opportunity to offer welcome relaxation to Lon-
Ministry of Transport earnestly that cars should be used only in cirly into its altered state. The air is no longer heavy with the threat of storm: is on, about its business. The gasmask sits more lightly than it did, though everybody carries one, the sandbags at the corner are as familiar' as the pillar-box, and the last curtain-chink,—so the wardens hope—has been blocked. Weare used to the sunset curfew, to thinner newspapers, to a restricted wireless programme, steel-helmeted police, stations and "buses lit—if that is the word—in pallid blue, and gas-detectors of greenpainted wood on the pavement doge.
The inconveniences of the first week of war proved to be the common places of the second. In the third they may hardly be noticed. The children of Londor and the evacuated towns are happily at school in the country—and life runs on with only a few inevitable jolts. Indeed, in a letter to local education authorities the Board of Education announces that technical schools and evening institutes in evacuation areas may be reopened for both day and evening work, subject to certain conditions. This course has been adopted in order to prevent the social consequences likely to result from the absence of any form of. occupa-heard to say that missions, home and foreign, must have the pre-eminence in all of our plans. Many of the Negro delegates' declared that the time was now ripe for them as a body to send their own foreign missionaries to every land, and not simply to confine their activities to people of their own colour. A practical demonstration of the revival spirit was a noonday meeting down town in Atlanta on Peachtree street, with Dr. Oscar Johnson of St. Louis, preaching. Several conversions took place in the congregation of many thousands, which held up traffic for over an don's eager' citizens.
Meanwhile, the black-out in country districts must continue for various reasons. There are important targets in the country which would be bombed if they could be located, while a lighted countryside and. unlighted towns would create "pools of darkness' giving away the positions of the towns as effectively as if they were lighted. It has been pointed out that street lights can be seen from..a much greater distance than window lights, and cannot always be extinguished by the turn of a switch without turning off all the current or gas in the locality. The general glow of a city's lights can, of course, be seen, for a considerable distance, Newspaper Problems There will be no rationing of advertising space in the national Press for the time being, but in the light of future events, rationing may be introduced at short notice, In the meantime, purely to conserve newsprint supplies, and not because of any shortage of newsprint, N. P. A. members came to a mutual arrangement'as to the size of daily papers. The: arrangement is likely to be reconsidered week by week, Under the present agreement the popular dailies—Daily Express," "Daily ' Mail," "News Chronicle" and "Daily Herald"—are allowed a maximum of 56 pages a week, which permits the publication of four eight-page issues and two 12-page issues per week, The "Daily Sketch" and "Daily Mirror" are allowed -twice this "ration" and may publish 112 pages weekly. This would allow publication of four 16-page and two 24-page issues. The "Daily Telegraph" has the same figure as the popular dailies, with an additional daily ration for classified pages. The allowance of "The Times" is 96 pages. Any paper may, of course, remain any size of issue which is economically suited to itself,- and the figures stated are merely maximum sizes beyond which they may not go, An urgent plea.to correspondents to continue sending ordinary: news copy is made by Mr. Henry Martin, Editor-in-Chief of the Press Associ tion. Mr. Martin states he estimates that' the supply "of "common or: garden" news—as. distinct.. from "war news—has fallen off by 97% per cent. since the, declaration of war. "I have no desire to be flooded with material" Mr, Martin remarks. "but I can't understand why correspondents are starving themselves. The newspapers have lithited "space but' they can do "with ordinary, news material' and. I am "sure the public would welcome
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.