Peekaboo

As Germany last week continued to build more & more airplanes, Britain continued to dig deeper & deeper holes in which, to hide from them. > Lord Privy Seal Sir John Anderson, who actually is British Minister for Civilian Defense, announced in the House of Commons last week what the well-dressed British baby will wear in the next war. Sir John said the Government has ordered 1,400,000 little gas helmets which will fit over the babies' heads and shoulders and will be strapped on over their chests. Attached will be small air pumps through which mothers--in gas masks--can supply their young with filtered air. To get the babies accustomed to the new "toys," British ARP (Air Raid Precaution) officials suggest that mothers begin right now to "play peekaboo" with their infants through the helmets' mica windows.

> As protection of buildings against bomb splinters Britain now has on hand 127,000,000 sandbags. For civilian protection the Government has accumulated 50,000,000 ordinary gas masks and 940,000 special masks for men who will be on outdoor duty even during air raids. Britain's population is 44,500,000. Since millions in the rural sections will probably never need a gas mask, many a Briton in London and other big cities will have a mask not only at home but at the office.

> In case of war the British Government plans to evacuate as many people--especially mothers and children--from the big cities as possible. Canvassing the countryside recently have been corps of civilian-defense workers taking notes on how many city dwellers could be housed in Britain's farms and country estates. The Government will pay $2.50 a week for board and room for each child. Some owners of the stately homes of England have lately intimated that they were not anxious to have slum children on their properties. A national advisory association for taxpayers has urged its members: "Think of the dangers--dirt, disease, theft, vandalism, immorality and strife!" But Minister of Health Walter E. Elliot last week announced that Britain's countryfolk had already offered keep and shelter for more than 1,000,000 city children and their mothers, left no doubt that the Government would use compulsion if necessary to make every country dweller do his share.

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