(no subject)
'Lower Manhattan was soon a furnace of crimson flames, from which
there was no escape. Cars, railways, ferries, all had ceased, and never
a light lit the way of the distracted fugitives in that dusky confusion
but the light of burning. Dust and black smoke came pouring into the
street, and were presently shot with red flame.
'For many generations New York had taken no heed of war, save as a thing that happened far away, that affected prices and supplied the newspapers with exciting headlines and pictures. The New Yorkers felt that war in their own land was an impossible thing... They saw war as they saw history, through an irridescent mist, deodorised, scented indeed, with all its essential cruelties tactfully hidden away.
'They cheered the flag by habit and tradition, they despised other nations, and whenever there was an international difficulty they were intensely patriotic, that is to say, they were ardently against any native politician who did not say, threaten, and do harsh and uncompromising things to the antagonist people.
'And then suddenly, into a world peacefully busied for the most part upon armaments and the perfection of explosives, war came... The immediate effect upon New York of the sudden onset of war was merely to intensify her normal vehemence... Great crowds assembled... to listen to and cheer patriotic speeches, and there was a veritable epidemic of little flags and buttons... strong men wept at the sight of the national banner... the trade in small arms was enormously stimulated... and it was dangerous not to wear a war button.
'One of the most striking facts historically about this war, and one that makes complete the separation between the methods of warfare and democracy, was the effectual secrecy of Washington... They did not bother to confide a single fact of their preparations to the public. They did not even condescend to talk to Congress. They burked and suppressed every inquiry. The war was fought by the President and the Secretary of State in an entirely autocratic manner.
- H.G. Wells, The War in the Air (1908)
there was no escape. Cars, railways, ferries, all had ceased, and never
a light lit the way of the distracted fugitives in that dusky confusion
but the light of burning. Dust and black smoke came pouring into the
street, and were presently shot with red flame.
'For many generations New York had taken no heed of war, save as a thing that happened far away, that affected prices and supplied the newspapers with exciting headlines and pictures. The New Yorkers felt that war in their own land was an impossible thing... They saw war as they saw history, through an irridescent mist, deodorised, scented indeed, with all its essential cruelties tactfully hidden away.
'They cheered the flag by habit and tradition, they despised other nations, and whenever there was an international difficulty they were intensely patriotic, that is to say, they were ardently against any native politician who did not say, threaten, and do harsh and uncompromising things to the antagonist people.
'And then suddenly, into a world peacefully busied for the most part upon armaments and the perfection of explosives, war came... The immediate effect upon New York of the sudden onset of war was merely to intensify her normal vehemence... Great crowds assembled... to listen to and cheer patriotic speeches, and there was a veritable epidemic of little flags and buttons... strong men wept at the sight of the national banner... the trade in small arms was enormously stimulated... and it was dangerous not to wear a war button.
'One of the most striking facts historically about this war, and one that makes complete the separation between the methods of warfare and democracy, was the effectual secrecy of Washington... They did not bother to confide a single fact of their preparations to the public. They did not even condescend to talk to Congress. They burked and suppressed every inquiry. The war was fought by the President and the Secretary of State in an entirely autocratic manner.
- H.G. Wells, The War in the Air (1908)