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Cheques for Milli~ons And
6d. Kisses Swell War
Weapons Effort in London
LONDON, May 19.-London's objective for War Weapons
Week was £100 million, but at the rate at which things
have begun, three times that amount will be raised. Girls
are selling kisses for 6d., and quiet bowler-hatted men are
stepping up with cheques for millions.
,THE atmosphere of the bomb-scarred
Scapital resembles a country fair.
Buildings which have been blown in by
bombs, buildings which are heas of
rubble, and buildings which are bricked
up like fortresses against the blast of
bombs, have assumed a carnival gaiety
with flags and banners flying, and Dos
ters everywhere.
The Lord Mavor (Sir George
Wilkinson) was opening the city's
savings centre at Mansion House
when the secretary of an insurance
company stepped out from* the
crowd and handed up a cheaue for
£5 million.
Two other companies subscribed £3
million each, and 20 - companies sub
scribed a total of £31 million.
The Lord Mayor received a special
messenger with a gift of a dozen pre
cious onions for auction, and then he
joined the crowd jammed at the selling
counters buying stamps, certificates,
and bonds.
Kisses Sell for 6d. Each
it is the same everywhere. Kiosks
in Piccadilly, Trafalgar sauare, and
Charing Cross are busy all day. and 62
local committees manned by 1,000 vol
untary workers, have gathered in con
tributions throughout Greater London.
Subscriptions have poured in through
1.800 post offices. 1.800 branch banks.
and 750 special selling centres.
Southeate's glamor girls are sell
ing their kisses for 6d. each-the
price of a saving stamp, and have
already raised £3,000. The objec
tive of this district of Greater Lon
don was £250,000, but £300.000 had
been gathered in by the middle of
this afternoon.
Woolwich. aiming at £500,000. has
reached £492.000, and Tottenham has
already doubled its objective of
£250,000.
Every collector is competing in
evolving new inducements to lend.
One tradesman is offering a certificate
for every baby born in his district
during the week.
A cruiser tank acting as a mobile
selling centre in North London collided
with a surface shelter. A crowd col
lected and the quick-witted tank com
mander thereupon invited the people to
inspect the tank at 1/ a head.
Fleet Street is doing its bit. The
office of the Associated Press carried
"headings" 4 ft. high which read:
"Make London's Total World News."
In Hammersmith the agreement
signed by Mr. Chamberlain and the
dictators at Munich is on show, to
gether with the treaty, under which
Germany guaranteed Belgium's neu
trality before the last war.
Everyone is keen to subscribe. and
collectors at the Stock Exchange took
£200.000 from brokers whose turnover
today was the lowest for recent years.
-A.A.P.
$