Show A londoner in new york ahli la Is the voice of a friendly alien ive been reporting this united nations war since september 1839 1939 but first thing I 1 had bad to do when I 1 sought permission to vist visit t U S A was fill out for form M for aliens this peacetime form Is a all U rules and a yard wide full of big highly aly perso personal cryptic questions it floored me only two questions im certain I 1 answered correctly were 0 cc could uld I 1 re read d and was I 1 masculine th they ea asked me also it if id ever beanan been insane even in the evil nazi prewar days day when I 1 went often to germany the formalities were never so tough and rd 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 S symbol of our oar times toot too I 1 never sa law w 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 th the american and british peoples my 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 B burma a and on the vasty deserts of egypt libya and Tripoli tarda were poor training grounds tor for this exhilarating hila rating contact A strange city iut but the natives are friendly every thing hang has been said of new york but ut I 1 was surprised at its smooth velvety functioning the politeness of the he inhabitants not surprised at its fascinating window displays its high prices its nothing tor for nothing and damn little for a dollar attitude london has nothing of new yorks spirit or character paris had a little ittle the same tempo same fault fruity y smell of gasoline same gusts of warm air up rushing from the subways ches chestnut anut trees nostalgia broke over me like a wave at sight of those chestnuts recalling 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 women ind and Syd have hav 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 woman who fill our factories clean our streets and man our guns on F fifth fifth avenue maidens in uniform are rarer than on londona Lon dons piccadilly but those I 1 saw rated a backward glance unlike british women service uniforms seemingly designed by repressed spinsters spin as revenge on their sex US uni forms are chic feminine frequently fantas tique perhaps occasionally un peu trop fantas tique devised more tor for front row chorines than tor for front line corps th theres eres something to be said tor for ugly uniforms those thos who h volunteer to wear them must be pure patriots A new york girl asked me 1 I suppose you must resent our remoteness from acqua actual war and seeing buildings unscarred coming as you do from britain and the african front line but of course not because my home is shattered and my people killed should I 1 wish the same fate for others no does A As they stroll on fifth avenue I 1 guess they feel me 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 rd id imig imagined ined maybe its true 1 what they say that every new i york columnist yearns to be a farmers boy lunch talking the other day I 1 pleaded tor for postwar common citizenship for british and US peoples someone cracked ah hahl babl 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 bad never heard beard of it I 1 told him it was the battle of america under another name except that chops and steaks arr arc elusive new york show signs of war privations but war merely doing without things war is heartbreak personal loneliness for those I 1 left e ft behind for frontline front line soldiers it I 1 1 is short periods of intense fear long periods of intense boredom |