The Telegraph Book of Readers' Letters from the Great War (23 page)
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Authors: Gavin Fuller
22 October 1915
SIR â Will you kindly give me room to say that, with the approval of the War Office, I propose to carry on my undertaking of last winter to dye for the troops any sweaters sent me, and hand them over to the proper quarter.
On the whole, sweaters seem the most useful garment of all to send. If there are not more sweaters for me to clean and dye will not some of your readers try their kind and clever hands at knitting them?
Last winter I was able to send out over 13,000, and the supplement of smaller comforts kindly sent to help fill up the sacks brought the total number up to nearly 20,000. Let us see what we can manage this year.
Yours faithfully,
John Penoyre
8 King's Bench Walk, Inner Temple, E.C.
SIR
â
One of the greatest resources of our wounded heroes in their weary hours is a game of cards, and there is a demand from our hospitals in Flanders, in Malta and Egypt, and wherever our soldiers are being cared for, for spare packs of cards from home.
The Court of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards has been approached on the matter, and has very willingly agreed to make an appeal to the public, through the powerful aid of the Press, for their generous help by forwarding to us (1) packs of cards, whether new or partially
used, and (2) money for the purchase of cards, which the company can secure on trade terms.
Packs of cards and donations may be sent to W. Hayes, Esq., J.P., Master of the Playing Card Makers' Company, Guildhall, London E.C.
This appeal is made with the express approval of the Lord Mayor.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) William Hayes, Master
Harry S. Foster, Past Master
John Farrer, Senior Warden
A.K. Barlow, Junior Warden
Worshipful Playing Card Makers' Company, Guildhall, E.C.
23 October 1915
SIR â Some few weeks ago I reported that a naturalised German with a German wife, who had been chauffeur to the Kaiser when on a visit to this country, and had remained here after the Kaiser's return, was now keeping a garage at Penrith, which a glance at the map will show is a point that, besides being on one of the high roads between England and Scotland, presents possibilities for observation, with the aid
of a car, on both east and west coasts. Having heard nothing of the matter since I made my report, I motored to Penrith to see how it stood, and found that the German in question was still running the garage, though it was no longer advertised under his name.
That any German, whether naturalised or not, should be allowed to run a garage in time of war is, I submit, indefensible, and why it has been permitted is beyond comprehension.
Further than this, I venture to assert that the time has arrived when no enemy alien, whether naturalised or not, should be permitted to be in possession of a private car, for there can be no doubt that the indiscriminate use of motor cars without any check or restriction affords opportunities to enemy aliens to undertake activities which may be greatly prejudicial to this country.
How this works may be seen from a recent experience of my own. Last week, in motoring from Castle Douglas to Blackburn, I passed important works (for ammunition, I believe) without any challenge whatever. There was apparently nothing to prevent me making observations or taking photographs, if I had wished to do so. Surely I ought to have been stopped, and the authorities should have satisfied themselves as to who and what I was.
It will no doubt be objected that such stoppage would be a grave inconvenience to users of motors. So it might be in time of peace, but we are at war and cannot afford to sacrifice any precaution.
I would, therefore, suggest that no enemy alien, naturalised or other, should be permitted to be in possession of a car during the war; and I would further urge that in the case of genuine British subjects of British race a special permit to own and use a car, to be issued by the defence authorities, should be made obligatory.
Yours, &c.,
Robert Yerburgh
Carlton Club, S.W.
25 October 1915
SIR â Our hearts are too full for us to say all that we feel about the martyrdom of Miss Edith Cavell, but I venture to suggest that a day be appointed by the various authorities concerned, on which a memorial service should be held in every church and chapel of all denominations (according to the accustomed forms of all sections of religious opinion) in memory of this noble lady done to death by the ministers of Satan in Belgium, at which her death should be solemnly presented in prayer before the most High, and the whole German nation solemnly called to judgment before the Throne of God. Personal and national vengeance is to be deprecated. âMihi vindicta, ego retribuam dicit Dominus', and this is still the Christian rule, but against the verdict of
history and civilisation no race group can make successful appeal. Doubtless such a memorial would be widely observed in America.
Yours faithfully,
J. Plowden-Wardlow
St Edward's Vicarage, Newnham, Cambridge
1 November 1915
SIR â Permit me to suggest that London should without delay follow the example of Paris and rename some street after the brave lady whose murder we so bitterly lament.
The site on which the New Nurses' Home in Whitechapel is to be erected is bordered on one side by Oxford Street, E., a name which is continually being confused with the great thoroughfare farther west. To change this into Cavell Road would be a graceful act on the part of the London County Council, and would at the same time be a useful improvement.
I am, yours faithfully,
A. Marshall Jay
17 Old Broad Street, E.C.
2 November 1915
The Return of Our Soldiers
SIR â There arrived at Victoria Station on Saturday last, at about 2.30 a.m., about 1,300 tired officers and men, home from the front on four days' leave.
And there, in the cold and miserable morning, they were left stranded, without any facilities for getting away to their homes in London or to the various stations to continue their journeys to the provinces. No conveyances of any kind were available, and the only place of refreshment open was the VAD coffee stall in the corner of the station. The ladies there did everything possible, but it was totally beyond their power to supply 1,300 men in the very small place allotted to them.
So these men, after weary months in the trenches, came home for four days, and that is the welcome we gave them. We landed them at Victoria at the very worst hour of the morning, without food or shelter or means of getting home; and there they had to herd in the station for hours until the omnibuses and trains began to run. I understand the same thing is happening every day. It is a poor return for all they have done, and are doing, for us; and I think something should be done at once.
There is at Victoria Station a large hall underground, and if nothing better can be arranged I suggest that the hall be
opened to the arriving men, a good fire lighted, and that the VAD stall should be set up in the hall, so that the men could assemble there in the warmth and light and with the possibility of getting some light refreshment, until such time as they can get away to their homes.
The cleaning of the hall and the fire would entail some little expense, but that would be so very slight as compared with the comfort of the men that it is not worth considering.
If this matter can be arranged I will undertake to provide a fair share of the expense, and if possible the whole of it.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
Billeter
London E.C.
No Fiction in Wartime
SIR â We live in sad and dull days. The Library Committee of the Wandsworth Borough Council has, with the instincts of a public undertaker, decided to add to this depression by placing a ban on the circulation of all works of fiction to adult or juvenile during the period of the war. What is the motive â economy, or a desire to strip us of anything that may give a
change to thought? My lad wants to read
Coral Island
. I may not revel in the delights of
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
.
In sheer desperation I have been driven to the literature of the law. I have, for instance, gambolled in the sunshine of
Torts
.
Coke upon Littleton
has been my charm, and I have passed on to Halsbury's
Laws of England
, with
The Institutes of Justinian
as a delicate snack.
At this moment of parochial dictation, I shall, with the permission of those enlightened folk who govern me, pass on to brighter fare, and perforce, ponder over
The Literature of the Graveyard
,
Meditations among the Tombs
,
Dr Blair's Sermons
, Bunyan's
Holy War
, and Fox's
Book of Martyrs
. And when I am satiated with this inspiriting fare I shall delve into
Notes on a Case of Self-inoculation with the Bacillus Aerogenes Capsulatus
, and close my researches with a work dealing with
Investigation of the Brain and Nervous System
, in order, if possible, to discover the genesis of the stupid decision to which, with your permission, I venture to draw attention. I wonder what the late Sir George Newnes, the donor of the library, would think of this official action?