Show Raids on london Create Commuting Troubles Troubles' Editors Editor note nole With this chapter The Telegram brings bring to tn a conclusion the story of life Ufa In I England niland under undercurrent current wartime conditions written by Dilio M. M Thompson hid chief of nf the London bureau of the A Associated Press who ho returned to the United States recently on hI his first firstI I lt since 1938 By MILO IILO M. M THOMPSON IPSON NEW YORK Dec 30 W If jp-If If you I Iare are a good rummy player putting your faith in combinations of cards which give you several chances not merely one of success you will enjoy the gamble and adventure of going to work with me in Lon Lon- don I am a commuter and I offer atypical a atypical atypical typical experience because it will show what most ost Londoners face I have slept through the storm of the night lulled by the grind grind- grind-grind grind of German planes overhead overhead overhead over over- head and anc wakened only half alf a dozen dozen dozen doz doz- en times by spasms of gunfire close enough to make the house tremble A near near-by bomb or two has made my dreams nightmarish and I am amnot amnot amnot not quite rested when I leave the house an hour earlier than in peacetime days We shall not choose the pre blitz route under under- the chestnut trees and beside the typical English gardens to my suburban railroad station If the night bombs have interfered with that line which is part of the underground system we shall have had the walk for nothing and lost time That is like putting all our faith in the turning up of one card only Wait for Bus Instead we wait at our own corner corner corner cor cor- ner for a bus bound in the direction of the city hoping we shall not have yesterdays yesterday's experience Yesterday Yesterday Yesterday Yes Yes- because the railroad was tied up all the buses in that direction direction tion were too full to stop and it was necessary after four or five misses to go in the opposite direction direction tion to the nearest town and take a roundabout southern railroad train to Waterloo station then a bus to the office That alternate route offers two chances of success but ut if we catch a bus in the right direction today wo we w shall have four We are successful this time andoff andoff and andoff off on the gamble Half a mile down the road our route parallels another part of the underground system and we watch the railroad closely If there are signs of trains moving we shall hop off presently near a station and take one But that doesn't happen today and we continue on to Hammersmith Hammersmith Hammer Hammer- I smith a junction which offers I three chances There is the district I Iline line which runs shallowly underground underground underground under under- ground following the general line of the Thames river There is the line which after several surface stops goes deep underground underground under under- ground far out of reach of the bombs There is also a terminal on the Metropolitan line which however is a rather out of the way route for me and to be avoided if anything better offers We pile off the bus and dash into the station to have a look at the blackboard Each station has one now to chalk up the temporary breaks in the service on the immediate Immediate imme imme- diate line and connecting lines Only eight or 10 entries usually Y cover the early morning situation but this time the signals are against against t us Somewhere near near by some debris de debris de- de bris of the night has not yet been td cleared away Both district an and d Piccadilly lines are tied up They may be running in an hour or two r but we cannot wait walt The nearby metropolitan line Is Js f not overly encouraging and w we e choose to hike five blocks across town to try the Central line another another another an an- other deep underground at Shepherds Shep herds herd's Bush Theres There's some technical difficulty here something affecting the electrical elec elec- current So instead we ar are e herded on an emergency bus fo for r Marble Arch be beyond ond which point poin t 3 1 the f-the the subway s is running so the bus loader says It may be just as wel welt we didn't I catch the Piccadilly line back at i Hammersmith today That ride I means a short bus ride at the office end and it was just the other day that slow movement In the tunnel made me miss a bus I sometimes take A bomb caught it messily a afew afew afew few minutes later Raid Alar On Besides there happens to be an alarm on Though we have lost count of sirens we can tell it by bythe bythe bythe the helmeted A. A R. R P. P men at their doorway stations and by the policemen policemen police police- men wearing their gas masks on their chests i iThe I The day is sunny and nd br bracing bracing I I am rather glad to be on the bus t r There are no planes in sight nor any sound of them If It they are arc in inthe inthe inthe the area they must be at t a distant I end of it I decide when I 1 reach Marble Arch to take another surface surface surface sur sur- face bus to the office to enjoy the morning and avoid three blocks of walking I wait walt beside a shoe store which still has plenty of plate glass windows windows windows win win- dows for the right bus It seems slow coming Then suddenly out ut of the upper blue comes a swelling scream a whoosh a jarring sion A second one follows The sound of planes overhead reaches me Though the bombs have fallen fallenI I two blocks away something takes the appeal out of the nipping air I I and sunshine and I walk briskly up the street and duck into the dismal bowels of the earth content to ride the tunnel a hundred feet down and later grab a steel domed taxi for that three blocks to the office And so arrive on time in spite of it all This is just a true picture of a Londoner going to work My case is different from that of many of my friends only because I have more choices to make more cards to play During the blitz so far I have used all the six available routes and various combinations of them I congratulate myself that the trip which normally takes 25 minutes minutes min min- utes has never yet taken more than 90 I also knock wood at this point I |