A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK T HE Home Office handbook on protection from
gas-raids may have its advantages. It certainly has some dis- advantages which provoke reflection. One picture paper on Wednesday splashed across its front page to a depth of three inches the heading : " GAS ! NATION' WARNED BY GOVERNMENT. PLANS FOR ESCAPING THE DEATH 'PLANE."
No doubt the contents of the booklet justify such a caption—but the effect of such scare headings on young children, who if they look at any daily paper look at a picture paper, is worth considering. I am not writing at random. In a case brought to my notice the effect on a child was such that the paper in question was promptly destroyed and its further delivery countermanded. It ought to be possible to counsel adults without terrifying children—though in both cases there is something to be said for letting them realize what war may be.
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