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Show SAMMY'S WELCOME IS WARM IN LONDON His ' 'Pep" and Slang Are Being Eeadily Absorbed and the Peo- i pie Like Him. By WILLIAM J. EUTLEE-, Universal Service Staff Correspondent. LONDON. July ?7 (by mail). The welcome wel-come mat is out on London's doorstep ! for Sammy. The United States khaki is j the entree everywhere here. j This surely is "Sammy's Blighty." Staid old England has opened her arms to him. She's beginning to absorb some of Ids Americanism, his pep, his slang, his baseball. And, what's more, ehe likes it. : Singing lustily "All Bound 'Round With the Mason-Dixon Line," a gang of American Ameri-can 'rookies," four abreast, strolled down the Strand. Men stood aside and smiled their approval. The woinen and girls wa.ved their "Cheery, Sammy." Sunday night vaudeville concerts for United States soldiers and sailors are held regularly in London theaters. The American Ameri-can uniform is a ticket for admittance. All the London theatrical managers and "stars" are co-operating in this, and Sunday Sun-day night'.s a gala night for Sammy. But he's m his element Sunday after- . noon. For the benefit of the American fighting man in England, the British au- ' thorities for the first time in history have authorized the playing of Sunday baseball, and Sammy is there with all his baseball jargon and' pep. General Diddle, Admiral Sims, allied officers and soldiers and Englishmen also attend. Under the auspices of the Anglo-American Baseball league army and navy teams cross bats hero. The Englishman is gradually grad-ually catching on to the "Atta boy, slam out th' ole pill Slide ya rummy Oh, whatta bone," and the game is catching on in England. Major Sir Randolph Baker has been appointed ap-pointed director of American troop welfare wel-fare in Great Britain and he has elaborate plans under way for converting Britain into an American "Blighty." In the London theaters the appearance of an American flag is always the signal for applause. |