A London Air Raid

From the Illustrated London News, 9th February 1918.

LADIES’ PAGE.

Here is a quotation from a private letter, written with no thought of publication, and therefore giving a faithful, unvarnished picture of London during an air-raid.  The writer is Miss Irene Miller, known both as a novelist and journalist.  She says:—

"I couldn't send you a card last night to say we were all right, for long before the 'All Clear' signal was given we were all in bed and sound asleep.  The 'All Clear' bugles just aroused me slightly, but only for half-a-second.  I was dining at the Club when it commenced.  The guns sounded very close, but nobody took any notice—nobody does now!  The diners went on dining, the waitresses went on waiting, and when it came to the speechifying, the speakers went on speaking—though I do think it must have been a bit of an ordeal to make a speech with that hubbub outside. 

"It was a very nice little meal.  First soup, and then an entrée,  something 'à la belle Otero,' which was baked potato with the top cut off, the contents mashed and mixed with cut-up oysters, and put back again and re-baked for a few minutes.  Then turkey—plenty of it, with potatoes and sprouts; then what they called Italian pudding, made of a thin sort of macaroni with preserved cherries, very nice; and dessert.  On the back of the toast-list was reproduced the cartoon from this week's Punch (Jan. 23)—one of Bernard Partridge's beautiful figures, attired as a knight-ess, on the top of a height, holding a banner marked 'Woman's Franchise,' and entitled, 'At last!’  It was said he was there: but I didn't see him.

"It was a bit of a job to get home afterwards, for the raid was not officially over, though we had heard nothing of it for about an hour (it was twenty to twelve now).  So I went in the Tube.  There were a lot of people taking shelter there, sitting about on the steps and platforms, but hundreds more were just going home in the ordinary way.  The trains came along packed full, and they seemed running quite frequently.  Lots of those taking shelter weren't really terrified.  I know, for they were loving couples, making it a sort of Hampstead Heath on Bank Holiday.  Each soldier and his girl spread a newspaper on the platform, sat down, and leant against the wall, with their arms around each other's necks and their heads on each other's shoulders (so to speak).  There were little groups of such, on the giggle, and enjoying themselves immensely; and, of course, Mother couldn't scold if one stayed out with one's best boy, and explained that it was all the Air-Raid, could she?  The firing recommenced very noisily after a while; and there were quite a lot of people out, but nobody took any notice, and when I got home the family were all comfortably in bed."

[An opening paragraph has been omitted, saying that although the 'hideous Germans' thought that Londoners were being cowed and terrified by the air-raids, it wasn't true.

La Belle Otero was a famous Spanish actress, dancer and courtesan.  She was in her 40s at this time, and lived to be 96.  According to Wikipedia, she had many aristocratic and royal lovers, including both the Kaiser and Edward VII.  It doesn't say whether she was particularly find of potatoes and oysters.] 

Bogus “Food Controllers”

From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 7th February 1918.

HOARD-SEARCH THIEVES.

BEDROOM RANSACKED BY "FOOD CONTROLLERS.''

Householders should be on their guard against bogus searchers for household food.  Two men yesterday went to the house of Mr. R. Hollington, Downs Park Road, Clapton, and boldly asserted that they were "food controllers,'' and were empowered to search the house for sugar.  The men were admitted, and they made an exhaustive search.  When they had gone Mr. Hollington found that his bedroom had been ransacked, and jewellery, including gold rings and a diamond and pearl necklace, stolen.  The police are now searching for the ''food controllers."  It was stated at the Ministry of Food yesterday that inspectors sent to examine premises all carry a search warrant in due form.

Ration Cards for Butter and Margarine

From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 7th February 1918.

BUTTER CARDS.

LOCAL SCHEME TO AFFECT 200,000 CONSUMERS.

The new card rationing scheme which is intended to operate in a wide area in and around Huddersfield has reached an advanced stage of preparation.  Cards should be in the hands of retailers tomorrow, and it is expected that the scheme will be commenced during the week ending February 23rd.  The scheme will affect a population of about 200,000 within the administrative areas of the following twenty-five Food Control Committees:—Huddersfield, Farnley Tyas, Thurstonland, Kirkburton, Lepton, Whitley Upper, Holme, Marsden, Kirkheaton, Denby and Cumberworth, South Crosland. Skelmanthorpe, Linthwaite, Meltham, Holmfirth, Shepley, Newmill, Shepley, Clayton West, Mirfield, Honley, Golcar, Scammonden, Gunthwaite and Ingbirchworth.

The new cards are in size 7in. by 6½in. and are printed upon white paper.  It is intended that in the first instance they shall apply to butter and margarine only, but it will be possible to extend their operation to two other commodities should circumstances necessitate that extension.  There are spaces along the top of the card for the applicant's name and address, and squares in which are printed the last dates of the twenty weeks from February 16th to June 24th, but it has been found impossible to bring the cards into operation next week, owing to difficulties of printing in the short period available.

From the Kirklees Museum Service collection

HOW TO FILL UP THE CARDS.

In the bottom left hand corner of the card is a perforated square in which the customer should fill in the name and address of the shop keeper at which he or she desires to obtain supplies.  On the back of the perforated piece the customer should sign his name and write his address, and by tearing off the perforated portion and handing it to the shopkeeper he performs the act of registration.  The customer should keep the remaining portion of the card and show it to the shopkeeper every time he purchases butter or margarine.  The shopkeeper will then obliterate the appropriate date and hand the card back to the customer.

It should be clearly understood that one of the cards should be obtained for each person in the family —it has been found impracticable to work a system of family cards.  The cards may be obtained almost immediately from the retailer with whom the customer is registered for sugar supplies.  But the customer can select any other retailer from whom he desires to obtain butter supplies.  Once having selected his retailer, however, he must go to him every week for supplies, for he will not be able to obtain them elsewhere.  One of the chief objects of the scheme is to prevent anyone obtaining double supplies, and so making it certain that someone else must go short.  It will be an offence either for a retailer to serve butter or margarine to a person who is not registered with him, or for the customer to try to get butter or margarine from a retailer with whom he is not registered.

¼ LB. PER HEAD.

By means of these cards customers will be entitled to butter or margarine not exceeding a total quantity of ¼ lb. [113g.]  per head per week.  The ¼ lb. may consist of butter, margarine, or a mixture of both, but the ration should not be exceeded. 

During the week the committee has commandeered 3 tons 19cwts. [just over 4000 kg.] of margarine, and distributed it in the usual way.

MEAT SUPPLIES.

It is probable that local meat supplies during the week-end will be only 25 per cent. of the October supplies.  Every attempt is being made to obtain increased supplies, but the outlook is not very promising.

What to do when the rations run out

From Home Notes, 2nd February 1918.

SECOND BESTS

IF YOU'VE NO MEAT 
introduce into the menu cheese (grated), haricots, and lentils, fish, especially herrings and sprats, eggs (for instance, one used in a pudding or vegetarian dish), or extra fat, if available, used to fry vegetables for soup or curry.

IF YOUR SUGAR'S FINISHED  
make up for it by giving jam, date, or fig puddings, chopped date, fig or prune sandwiches, stewed dates or figs.  Honey is so wholesome a substitute that for children (when obtainable) it is well worth its increased price.

IF FAT RUNS SHORT 
remember that sardines are packed in valuable oil.  Herrings and sprats are rich in oil, while oxtail, fresh ox-tongue, and the cheaper cuts of mutton, contain much fat, and will supply what is needful in a margarineless and drippingless diet.

SPIN FLOUR OUT BY 
using potatoes for scones to replace bread, for puddings, piecrust, dumplings, stuffings, thickening soups and stews, in breadmaking, and so on.  Remember that flour substitutes, such as oatmeal and maize, are included in your rations.

How to Help the Soldiers

From Woman’s Weekly, 2nd February 1918

LITTLE WAYS OF HELPING THE SOLDIERS.

You’re Sure to Find Something Here which you Could Do for the Fighting Men.

ALL of us want to help; that goes without saying.  But so many of us have little or no actual coin to give, so our contributions must be made in other ways.  Every woman, however poor or busy, can help in at least one of the little ways suggested here.  And many a mickle makes a muckle, you know!

YOUR OLD GLOVES. 
HAS it ever occurred to you that you can do better with your worn-out kid and suede gloves than to throw them away?  The Glove Waistcoat Society will be only too glad to have them, for by a magic of its own it transforms them into windproof waistcoats, which are the greatest possible comfort in the trenches or at sea.  All the good parts of the gloves are cut out and stitched together on to a shaped lining. and in this way thousands of cold-defying garments are made. 
They are glad of any sort of leather and any sort of fur, even the old scraps left from fur-lined gloves or old fur rugs, not to mention the worn leather from dining-room suites.  Every scrap is utilised in one way or another.  So please make up a big parcel, and address it to The Glove Waistcoat Fund, 75, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. 2.

OLD CIVILIAN CLOTHES. 
IN many homes there are good civilian clothes which were left behind when husbands and brothers stepped into khaki, and some of these, alas! their owner will never need again.  Could there be a better way of using these valued relics than by sending them to some unfortunate civilian who is a prisoner of war in Germany?  As we all know, captives in the hands of the Huns suffer many hardships, of which lack of warm clothing is not the least. Don't let those unused suits hang another season in the cupboard.  Send them to one of these addresses: 
Miss N. Cotton, Pinewood, Camberley, Surrey.
Lady Dodds, Devonshire House, Piccadilly. (These go to Ruhleben.)
Or if you have a fellow-feeling for the Indian soldiers fighting so splendidly by our side, send the garments, with any comforts you can spare in the way of mufflers, mittens, etc., to The Indian Soldiers' Fund, 11, Somerset Street, London, W. 1.
Have you a pair of field glasses?  You can do without them, but they would be invaluable to some Army officer who cannot afford to buy himself a pair.  Send them to The National Service League, 72, Victoria Street, London, S.W. 1.

SPARE-TIME SEWING. 
IF you have some spare time in which you could do some interesting light sewing for our wounded men, you couldn't do better than make some of the "gay bags" which Lady Smith-Dorrien sends out to wounded men in hospital.  They are just home-made bags of bright cretonne, and so simple that anyone could manage them successfully.  Every wounded Tommy gets one in which to keep his letters and other little treasures while he is in hospital, and it is difficult to tell you how much pleasure they give to our brave fellows.  This is a wee way of helping that ought to appeal to school-girls as well as to older people.
Make the bags ten inches long by nine inches wide, and pulling up at the top on a drawstring.  Please choose a nice, cheerful cretonne; a rose design some sort is what the wounded Tommies like best of all.  Then send your bags to Lady Smith-Dorrien, 21, Eaton Terrace , London, S.W. 1.

GAMES AND PLAYING-CARDS. 
OF course, everybody knows that books and magazines for the troops can be handed over the counter of any post office, but it is not such common knowledge that games, such as draughts, halma, chess, playing-cards, etc., are just as welcome. These cannot be transmitted through a post office, but should be sent to The War Library, Surrey House, Marble Arch, London, W. 1.  Lady Newnes's Fund, 83, Pall Mall, London, S.W. 1, is also very grateful not only for books, but for gramophones, to send out to the wounded in Egypt.

FOR THOSE WHO KNIT.
IF you have time to knit or sew comforts, over and above those for your own special soldier and sailor boys, don't forget the splendid work that is done by Queen Mary's Needlework Guild in sending out every kind of hospital requisite free to the hospitals.  Among their needs are ward shirts, pyjamas, socks, bed-jackets, and scarves.  Parcels should be addressed to The Central Depôt Surgical Branch, Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, 2, Cavendish Square, London, W. 1.

DO YOU USE WAR SEALS? 
DO you seal all your letters with a War Seal?  If not, please start this practice, and by doing so you will be helping to raise money for benefit of disabled soldiers and sailors.  The seals are brown and diamond-shaped and cost ½d. each— not much; but all the profits go to helping our brave broken men.  The seals can be bought at most big stores, but if you have any difficulty in getting them, write to The War Seal Foundation, Coliseum Buildings, London, W.C. 2.

Compulsory Food Rationing

From the Llangollen Advertiser, 1st February 1918.

FOOD CONTROL.

LORD RHONDDA AGREES TO RATIONS.

"INEVITABLE AND URGENT."

Lord Rhondda now states that he regards compulsory rations as "inevitable and urgent."  In the opinion of many this was so as far back as May last, but it has taken a good many demonstrations of workers in industrial areas to bring the Ministry of Food to the realisation of the fact.  The whole country, the Food Controller says, will shortly be covered by rationing schemes framed under his order by the local food control committees, and they will thus be developed into a comprehensive scheme.  Meat as well as butter and margarine will be rationed under the new scheme that comes into force on February 25 for London and the Home Counties, and there seems every probability of an early extension of this arrangement with the rest of the country.

WREXHAM BOROUGH COMMITTEE

The Wrexham Food Control Committee have decided to give priority in supplying of milk to children up to five and to invalids.  Parents unable to obtain supplies will be given an order by the Food Office under which a milk retailer will be required to give a supply of milk in preference to the customers.  Joint action has been taken by the Borough and Rural District Committees in carrying out a scheme for equalising the distribution of butter and margarine.  During the past week all persons requiring margarine and butter have had to produce their sugar cards before obtaining a 4oz. ration of butter or margarine.

Comforts from Denbighshire

From the Llangollen Advertiser, 1st February 1918.

War Guild and County Comforts Association.

The collection for the above was held on January 23rd, a week late owing to bad weather and indisposition the week before.  Collections will be fortnightly from this date in future.

The articles brought in were as follows: — 29 pairs socks, 32 pairs mittens, 40 scarves, 27 helmets, 3 shirts, 2 vests, 9 pairs bed socks, 39 bags, 3 various, making a total of 182 of which 96 articles came from Lantysilio parish.  The Pentredwr group has failed to contribute except once this winter.  Distributions have been made to Pte. R. S. Jones, Bank Top shirt, pants 2 vests, to Pte. Austin Roberts, Church Street, shirt, 2 vests, scarf, pair socks, to Pte. Downham 2 pairs socks, jersey, to Pte. C. Davies, Liverpool Regiment, scarf, to Pte. Lloyd Jones, Church Street, shirt, 2 pants, 2 pairs socks, to E. Mommens of the Belgian Army, 2 shirts, jersey, helmet, to the C.C.A. [County Comforts Association] 40 scarves 30 helmets, 30 pairs mittens, 30 pairs socks, 10 pairs bed socks. 

In a letter of thanks and appeal from Sir E. Ward dated January 18, he says “demands from the troops abroad are exceptionally heavy at the present time, especially needed are scarves and helmets for the Italian Expeditionary Force.”  The next collection will be on Feb. 6th.

[How shaming for the Pentredwr group, publicly denounced for only making one contribution of comforts during the whole winter.]