Evening star., 1938-10-14

up. That was not q part Of last
nights problem. Once we had passed
over the target, the show was over.
Far behind us roared the other giants
OF our squadron, but for them the fun
was over. The target was q great
fountain Of light, possibly visible from
the air for 100 miles. The light began
swinging in circles to signal that the
blackout was over. Pope Fields lights
winked on and the revolving beacon
began again its merry-go-round ex-
istence. Our engine throttled down
to contented hum, we settled down
through the night. The wheels were
lowered and soon the tires scuffed the
ground at a 90-mile-an-hour landing
speed as we rolled through the flood
lights
FL Counties in Blackout.
The blackout involved 81 cities and
towns in 81 counties of Northeastern
North Carolina, in which are the
homes of some 100000 persons The
blackout area extended from the sea
coast westward to Pinehurst, in Moore
County, west Of the Fort Bragg res
ervation, and from Newbern to the
Virginia boundary
Newbern came into the blackout
upon the insistence of its mayor Capt.
Tom c. Daniels. one-eyed World War
veteran. Army officers at defense
headquarters had planned only par
tial blackout, leaving marginal areas
lighted for some distance west of the
coast, to provide an initial guide for
the invading bombers. Since the test
is of no value unless the bombers
actually get into the blackout area, it
was pointed out it was desirable that
they be given positive initial jump-on
points.
Newbern, therefore. was not in
cluded in the blackout plans. Capt.
Daniels, however, Immediately pro-
tested. Newbern. he said, was going
to come in on the blackout despite the
Army plans. It's citizens were loyal,
patriotic and interested in the defense
of their homes against the black" in
vaders from Langley Field, Va, or
any other foemen. in war or simulated
war. They positively were going to
black out. So the Army agreed. There
seemed to be nothing else to do.
The defenders made use of every
available facility to issue blackout
warnings once the invasion began and
the invading airplanes entered the
warning net and the civilian observers
began to observe and report. The IA
cilities included Is independent tele-
phone companies, three commercial
radio stations, amateur radio facilities
and, in the towns and communities,
sirens, church bells, whistles, the
switching on and off of electricity at
the power houses as signal-and
messenger service. Boy Scouts were
enrolled to warn motorists to turn of
their car lights and to visit isolated
homes which had no telephones or
radio.
The telephone companies worked on
the chain letter system" each chief
operator personally notifying five su-
pervising operators who each notified
five others and so on down the line
until every telephone subscriber had
been warned. City officials personally
supervised the turning out Of all street
lights. Power houses were instructed
not to turn of power at central
switches, individual cooperation being
sought in every case. Hospitals I'D
other places requiring light were in
structed to draw shades or blanket
windows.
Under supervision of inspectors of
the Civil Aeronautics Authority as
signed to duty at Fort Bragg to see
that civilian aircraft are kept clear
OF the maneuver area, Federal air.
ways beacons and radio range sta
lions were put out of action.
Roadside filling stations in towns
and along the highways co-operated
not only by turning OH their own
lights but also by notifying passing
motorists. All stations in the warn
ing net also assisted in carrying on
the blackout. There are q total of 307
stations in the net, including $40 tel
ephones, AZ State or Federal Forest
Service lookouts, IS Coast Guard sta
tions and five United States Army
Signal Corps stations.
Tomorrow night, for the first time
in the warning net exercises, Army
bombers will be supplied with live
bombs for use against the simulated
airdrome here. The bombs will con-
tain only small charges, sufIicient to
register the hits. For safety reasons
anti-aircraft and machine guns will
be moved out of the defense zone, but
searchlights will be left in place and
used in an effort to blind the bomber
pilots and SO to interfere with the
accuracy of their bombing.