18 OCTOBER 1940, Page 14

EVACUEES AND HOSTS

SIR,—I expect you will have many letters showing a different picture of the reception of London and Kent evacuees in the quieter parts of the Home Counties from that given by " A Provincial Reader " in your issue of October 4th.

I should be very sorry if your correspondent's unfortunate choice of acquaintances should be considered typical of the country gentle- folk of England, especially by Empire and American readers.

I can only speak for my own district, but I have no reason to suppose that it is different from any other. I have got four families of mothers and children in my own home, and nearly all my friends and neighbours have them, too. We meet frequently in the car park of our little market town, and we hostesses compare notes while our guests visit Woolworth's and do their shopping.

We are all on very friendly terms with each other, and we find that the Londoners are prepared to put up with the dullness of the country so long as they get satisfactory news of their husbands. The children, I am glad to find, are delighted with the country, and most of my own child guests have never been in real country before.—