The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1945, Page 12

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
June 1945
Out Capital City Ottawa
By VERA JOHANNSSON
What shall I say about Ottawa? In
peacetime it is a small-town city, leisure-
ly—almost somnolent, free from noises
incidental to a busy manufacturing
centre, unruffled by news such as a pro
posed visit by a celebrity—which would
cause no end of excitement and prepara-
tion in a provincial capital. For Ottawa
is the home of celebrities—people who
are in the news almost daily. The citizens
regard all these with a calm dignity
quite astonishing to the newcomer. Be
fore the war there were few flurries
in Ottawa; perhaps the opening of Par-
liament, a conference of more than usual
importance, or the illness of a Governor-
General.
With the onset of war people streamed
into the capital from all parts of the
Dominion—military men, dollar a year
men, advisers and experts and not to
be forgotten—girls by the hundreds,
stenographers and clerks, until Ottawa
became a veritable Girls’ Town. Now
Ottawa is moving at a tempo never
experienced before—even the street cars
roll along a little faster and with fewer
stops.
The incoming rush of war workers,
most of whom received a telegram as
authorization to come and work for the
government “as soon as possible” has
created more than a mild disturbance
among the Ottawans, and as a matter
of fact, the newcomers have quite taken
over the city. Boardinghouses are at a
premium. If one is a dollar a year
man, you just stay at the Chateau
Laurier; its as simple as that. But strug-
gling stenographers have the hardest
time as no one wants girls. It seems
that the young ladies take the magazine
advertisements of various cosmetics and
soaps so seriously that they are con-
tinually bathing or washing their
clothes, and this puts the landlord’s
electric bill up and landlords here, as
elsewhere,are not overly fond of high
electric bills.
Rooms and apartments are scarce, but
if finally found they are generally com-
fortable. Lighthousekeeping, boarding
and eating in restaurants is the order ot'
the day and many a Civil Service Susie
makes extra money by serving in the
crowded restaurants after office hours.
There are some landladies who take
in roomers for patriotic reasons and then
there are others such as the landlady
whose husband was seriously ill and
was rushed to the hospital. The doctors
explained the situation as kindly as
they could to her, that she would have to
learn to live without him, and she, no-
thing daunted immediately rented their
bedroom. A month passed by and the
physicians reported that much to their
surprise the patient had recovered suf-
ficiently to return home. She was most
perturbed—what should she do about
the roomer? If her husband came back,
she would lose the room rent! She
solved the problem for the time being
by leaving him rest in a hospital bed,
but finally the staff of the hospital was
screaming at him so loudly to leave
that the poor man had to insist that
his wife let him into his home. So she
took him back; what a sacrifice!
Most of the buildings are old and made
of brick. Years ago, Ottawa experienced
a very destructive fire and as a result
a city by-law was passed that buildings
should, in the future, be constructed of
brick. Many of these buildings do not
have fire escapes, but rather a surprising
display of leather and stout rope, and
in case of fire one person at a time
slips the leather belt around his waist
and throws himself out the window, at
the same time, kicking violently with
his feet to keep himself away from the
building. When the ground is reached
the belt is slipped off, and immediately