100 miles upriver. We sat munching our sandwiches prepared to watch the expected "frightfulness" when it came. It was a lovely day, the wooden benches of the launch were hard, and there was no air raid. As the shades of evening fell, we returned to the city, chastened by the thought of the edifying effect of this exhibition of Western fortitude on the watching Chinese.
The "black-out" system in Nanking was not like the one to which we have subsequently grown accustomed in England. There were no special arrangements to mask lights, whether on the streets or in the house. At night all lights would be turned on full, until the "alert" was sounded, when everything would be thrown into pitch darkness by the turning of a master switch at the power station. Some days later the plant was knocked out by several direct hits from dive bombers. The sale of electric torches soared and there was a hunt round for kerosene lamps: but the most serious consequence was to cut off radio reception. The Club came into its own, and of an evening everyone would be there seeking news and absorbing refreshment in the dim glow of flickering candles, stuck in the necks of empty bottles, of which the supply continued to grow.
We were by this time all experts in the technique of bomb dodging; even the dogs had their routine. At the first siren Sandy, the labrador, would get up from his place in the sun on the lawn and haughtily stroll into his corner behind the sofa in the drawing room. Tim, the springer pup, would continue to doze, until he heard the noise of the aircraft engines, when he would stand up, glance at the sky, and walk into a downstairs cloak room to go to earth behind a certain domestic convenience usually found in cloak rooms. Within the city wall was a game preserve, where pheasants flourished; and it was remarkable how little notice they took of the loud bark of the anti-aircraft guns nearby, but as soon as they heard the dull sound of a distant bomb-burst, the old cocks would all start to cackle angrily. It was evident that the earth tremor caused by the crump upset them more than the crash of the gunfire, though of course pheasants have very sharp hearing.
Our boy was a great stand-by. He became a self-appointed expert at distinguishing the different types of plane, friend or foe, whether by the noise of their motors or by the shape of the wings, and he would announce his opinion with the complete confidence of extreme...
100
miles upriver. We sat munching our sandwiches prepared to watch the expected "frightfulness" when it came. It was a lovely day, the wooden benches of the launch were hard, and there was no air raild. As the shades of evening fell, we returned to the city, chastened by the thought of the edifying effect of this exhibition of Western fortitude on the watching Chinese.
The "black-out system in Nanking was not like the one to which we have subsequently grown accustomed in England. There were no special arrangements to mask lights, whether on the streets or in the house. At night all lights would be turned on full, until the **alert" was sounded, when everying would be thrown into pitch darkness by the turning of a master switch at the power station. Some days later the plant was knocked out by several direct hits from dive bombers. The sale of electric torches soared and there was a hunt round for kerosene lamps: but the most serious consequence was to cut off radio reception. The Club came into its own, and of an evening everyone would be there seeking news and absorbing refreshment in the dim glow of flickering candles, stuck in the necks of empty bottles, of which the supply continued to grow.
We were by this time all experts in the technique of bomb dodging; even the dogs had their routine. At the first siren Sandy. the labrador. would get up from his place in the sun on the lawn and haughtily stroll into his corner behind the sofa in the drawing room. Tim, the springer pup, would continue to doze, until he heard the noise of the aircraft engines, when he would stand up, glance at the sky, and walk into a downstairs cloak room to go to earth behind a certain domestic convenience usually found in cloak rooms. Within the city wall was a game preserve, where pheasants flourished; and it was remarkable how little notice they took of the loud bark of the anti-aircraft guns nearby, but as soon as they heard the dull sound of a distant bomb-burst, the old cocks would all start to cackle angrily. It was evident that the earth tremor caused by the crump upset them more than the crash of the gunfire, though of course pheasants have very sharp hearing.
Our boy was a great stand-by. He became a self-appointed expert at distinguishing the different types of plane, friend or foe, whether by the noise of their motors or by the shape of the wings, and he would announce his opinion with the complete confidence of extreme
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