Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 277, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1916 — London Bridge in War Time [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

London Bridge in War Time

/ ✓ HERE were 900 of us from I Calgary," said a young man in khaki, with the word “Canada” in gold letters on his shoulder, “and now there are not 200 of us left worth looking at.” “We were cut up,” he said, “three separate times. I was called out for special duty and the man who took my place got it right between the eyes.” “What are you waiting here for?” 1 asked him, Hope F. M. Ross writes to the Manitoba Free Press from London.

“Well,” he said, “I was just waiting here to see if I could hear Big Ben." “I read a story many years ago about London bridge. In the old days there was a fortified gate at each end and, as a rule, there was an array of human heads in view, placed there, as the French say, for the encouragement of the others. The edifice was more like a street than a bridge, having a row of houses along each side. “The old picture was a strange one, but the people of that day would have deemed the picture of this sunhy summer morning much more remarkable. On the bridge today there were young soldiers of South Africa, of New Zealand, of Australia and of Canada. There are many English, both sailors and soldiers, men in uniforms which are not seen in Canada. All these young men are in Britain and in uniform today in this incredible war. I told my Canadian friend that he might hear Big Ben —which, as everybody knows, is the huge bell in the main tower of the house of parliament —provided it was rung, but that it would not ring again until after the war. ’

We looked out from the bridge over the city on both sides of the river and I was reminded of these words of Heine, written, of course, long before the world dreamed of the present developments. “I have seen,” said Heine, “the greatest wonder that the worjd can show to the astonished spirit. I have seen it and am more astonished than ever, and still there remains in my memory that stone forest of houses, and amid them the rushing stream of faces, of living human faces, with all their motley passions, all their terrible impulses of love, of hunger and of hate.” The river itself was peaceful enough and serene, clearer than Canadians would expect to find it and much narrower. , The Thames Is only 900 feet wide at this point, which constitutes the reason why the first structure was built here. Up to the latter part of the eighteenth century everyone used this crossing, since there was no other medium except the boats. The soldier by nay side looked long into the busy “pool,” but I do not think he saw anything except the bloody struggles of the war. He did not tell me, but I was aware that he was riot ihinking of London. Perhaps he thought of that little prairie village in Alberta, out of which 20 young men came with the first contingent, and to which, if degtiny so wills It, not a single one will return.

At St. Margaret’s Church. We decided to make the long journey down to St. Margaret’s church, adjoining the abbey. The preacher of the day was Canon Murray of St. John’s college of 1 Winnipeg, and among the auditors I saw one of the wardens of the St. John’s cathedral — Sheriff Inkster. St. Margaret’s does not make the same appeal that the abbey and St. Paul’s do, but there is.plerity In this historic structure to satisfy the Imagination. As the service proceeded, this morning it came on to rain, as they say in Scotland, and the church grew dimmer, the light slowly fading. The wonderful windows gained in beauty, and the entire place became redolent of the past. After the service one of the wardens showed me the windows in detail. I asked after the famous east one, since I had knowp tebout it, and the warden said that he did not know where it was. This window, as I recollect, was presented by Spain to King Henry VII and at a time it was removed from Its place in the east of St. Margaret’s in the fear that the soldiers of Cromwell might destroy It. Now, apparently, it was gone again arid its place was taken by plain glass. On

the former occasion of its disappearance it was said that it was hidden in the tower of the church. “I do not know where it is,” said the warden. “It was taken out in the fear that it might be destroyed in a Zeppelin attack. We know that the chance was slight, but It was best to be safe.” The warden then called my attention to windows in which people of the United States had an interest. Among these is the large one in the west which bears the American flag, a very small one, at the upper lefthand side, with the British arms in the corresponding place on the other Ririo- This was placed in the church, as is well known, wholly by people of the United States, and beside it is another put in by George W. Childs of Philadelphia. The large church had been well filled for the morning service of prayer, and as the ruin was falling heavily at the close many of the worshipers lingered longer than usual. I am not well up on the differences between the high and low church, but I am free to say that the service In St. Margaret’s seemed very natural and sincere. The war has had its effect on many things, and it has given an atmosphere of reality to the prayers of the church which was not always present in the past. The words were read In normal human tone and under the circumstance it is no wonder. In and Around Hyde Park. It was the afternoon and my friend the captain and I were standing at the Marble arch, just outside the entrances to Hyde Park. It was raining and we were waiting the arrival of another fripnd, looking eastward toward the

effy. Suddenly we heard the music of a band coming from the west, and turning in that direction I saw for the first time the army of the working men of London, more interesting to me than the most brilliant and inspiring military display. They filled the street from side to side, mardhlng on with a hundred inP mense banners and bands playing in spite of the rain, falling now actually in torrents. They are used to the showers, these London people, and they cheered and shouted and marched into the park. In the park the men gathered about various platforms In accordance with the usual custom, and twenty or thirty addresses were given. The speaking was good in quality, too, the leaders being men of force If not of much education. “While the navy has been blockading the Germans,” said one of the speakers, “the mercantile marine has beeri blockading us.” In the evening we walked down to Ivingsway and down Kingsway to Aldwych and the Strand. London is very dark at night, but the inconvenience is slight and there Is less crime, as the records show, than usual. I asked a police officer on the Strand why it was that under the circumstances offenses were less numerous than before the war, and he replied that a lot of young men who had formerly gone about bashing private citizens were now bashing the Germans. There is another reason to which the officer did not refer, but which is worthy of consideration, namely, that crime has diminished in London because poverty has diminished. Wages are higher both for men and women and there is not the same reason for certain classes of violations of the law. In the evening we were close to one of the sites visited by devotees of Charles Dickens, and when I made some inquiry and received a reply not particularly illuminative I was reminded of the answer made to Dickens hint self. Long after he had written “Little Dorrit”« he made the attempt to located the Marshalsea prison. He finally found a portion of it and learned that someone was lodging in the old room. “Who is living in this apartment?” Dickens asked of a very small boy. “Tom Pithick,” was the reply. “And who is Tom Pithick?” pursued the great novelist, to which he received the' natural answer, “He is Joe Pithick’s unele.” The government of Chile''has author* ized the erection of a technical industrial school* ■ „

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