Show A I 1 londoner in neto york this is the voice of a friendly alien ive been reporting arting this united nations war since september 1939 but first thing I 1 had to do when I 1 sought permission to visit U S A was HU fill out form for allens aliens this peacetime form is all rules and a yard wide full of highly personal cryptic I 1 questions it floored me only two questions im certain I 1 answered correctly were could I 1 read and was I 1 masculine they asked me also if id ever been insane sani even in the evil nazi prewar days when I 1 went often to germany the formalities were never so tough and id never been called an alien it seemed a symbol of our life and times that you and we so as I 1 believe fundamentally alike in thought and aspiration should build and maintain barriers to association and understanding symbol of our times too I 1 never saw liberty as we steamed upriver liberty passed by as I 1 was answering an FBI quiz very charming very courteous those FBI men but the going over they gave me less thorough for being so friendly Is it too much to hope that after the war the american and british peoples may share common citizenship in each others countries that would be a war aim it might even prevent world war 3 I 1 was entirely unprepared for new york years spent in the jungles of burma and on the vasty deserts of egypt libya and Tripoli tania were poor training grounds for this exhilarating hila rating contact A strange city but the natives are friendly everything has been said of new york but I 1 was surprised at its smooth velvety functioning the politeness of the inhabitants not surprised at its fascinating window displays its high prices its nothing for nothing and damn little for a dollar attitude london has nothing of new yorks spirit or character paris had a little the same tempo same fruity smell of 0 gasoline same gusts of warm air up rushing from the subways chestnut trees nostalgia broke over me like a wave at sight of those chestnuts rec recalling aHing paris maytime in 1940 sydney has something of new york in its waterfront its irregular skyline its hamburger heavens and gay gaudy and swift taxicabs new yorks i women and Syd have certain kinship too the skillful makeup lithe figures slim ankles and well shod feet 1 I am not disloyal to you you gallant british women who fill our factories clean our streets and man our guns on fifth avenue maidens in uniform are rarer than on londona Lon dons piccadilly Pica dilly but those I 1 saw sav rated a backward glance unlike british service uniforms seemingly designed by repressed spinsters spin as revenge on their sex US uniforms are chic feminine frequently fantas tique perhaps occasionally un peu trop fantas tique devised more for front row chorines than for front line corps theres something to be said for ugly uniforms those who volunteer to wear them must be pure patriots A new york girl asked me 1 I suppose you must resent our remoteness from actual war and seeing buU buildings dings unscarred coming as you do from britain and the african front line but of course not I 1 because my home is shattered and my people killed should I 1 wish the same came fate for others no does As they stroll on fifth avenue I 1 guess they feel like me that its good to be able still to find unscarred loveliness and beauty in peacetime proportions unaided I 1 spotted jack benny una merkel billy rose and some lesser aristocrats walter winchell was there too doing his homework I 1 was quite prepared to dislike winchell its the human thing to resent success in others I 1 did not expect to meet a starry eyed youth but winchell was much less sophisticate than id imagined maybe its true what they say that every new york columnist yearns to be a farmers boy lunch taking the other day I 1 pleaded for postwar common citizenship tor for british and US peoples someone cracked ah hahl the british want america back but what with the heat the miners strike the roosevelt versus congress issue the food wrangle and the race riots america was no gift just then and in britain right now weve troubles enough of our own talking to an intelligent new yorker about the united nations air assault on germany these days I 1 referred to the air battle of britain he had never heard of it I 1 told him it was the battle of america under another tame name except that chops and steaks are elusive new york show signs of war privations but war merely doing without things war is heartbreak personal loneliness for those left jeff behind for frontline front line soldiers it is ia short periods of intense fear long ion periods of intense boredom 4 |