One little smile to share, at least.
"Miss Iris Davis, a nineteen year old from Clapham, London is a volunteer worker of the Dumb Friends Leagues, and spends a great deal of time recovering cats with the aid of a "lassoo" from the debris of bombed house. So far she has rescued six hundred of these feline strays, 8 November 1940."
[Dumb Friends is an animal rescue organization, if the name seems odd. Chapters exist today under that name.]
@MLClark It's called the dumb friends league because animals cannot speak in words.
"dumb" used to mean a person was mute or incapable of intellible speech.
The dumb friends league exists to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves - our animal companions.
I am aware.
The funny thing is, I debated putting that explanation into my post, then decided against it. I stuck to a simple note meant to reassure anyone who might have found it confusing instead.
But since two people have now tried to explain the meaning to me, I guess I should never leave an opportunity open to be presumed ignorant.
We live and learn!
That said, no shade against your summation! You offered a lovely and straight-forward one, with good intentions. Cheers.