Evening star., 1939-10-22
Sidewise Windows
One Step in Guarding
Cities From Bombs
Maj. Quentin Tells
How Barcelona Learned
To Minimize Raids

To Minimize Raids
BY HOWARD w. BLAKESLEE,
Associated Press Science Editor.
Windows in new buildings are
likely to be turned on their sides,
making their longest dimension
horizontal, if war lasts the seven
years predicted by Herr Hitler.
This is the present advice of emf
nent engineers who have been study
ing how to make great cities COM
paratively safe during air raids.
The side-winder windows will
have their lower sills six feet above
the floor. The idea is to prevent
shattered glass from being driven
directly against occupants of room.
The story of air raid building plans
Is told in Civil Engineering by Will
liam J. Quentin of Washington,
civil engineer and major in the
Military Intelligence Reserve, U. S.
Army.
Speaks 22 Languages.
(Maj. Quentin. a native OF
Czarist Russia, has been civil
engineer with the Navy Depart
ment in Washington for 10 years.
He at present is assistant head
of the research and records
section of the Bureau Of Yards
and Docks. His article in Civil
Engineering Magazine, from
which this story was written, In
corporated his thorough knowl-
edge of engineering and artillery
maneuvers, the latter learned
while he was actively engaged IN
the artillery of the Car.
Educated in Great Britain.
Mai. Quentin has travelled
throughout the world. engaging
in engineering work in scores OF
countries. He speaks % Ian
euaees. He came to Washington
from Mexico in 1929. He and
Mrs. Quentin. a native OF Great
Britain, reside at 1928 street
NW3
Mai. Quentin in his article begins
by pointing out something which
most readers of the Spanish war
news overlooked. This was what
finally happened to Barcelona. At
the start of the terrific air raids
there, each one, he says, caused
several hundred casualties. But by
the end of the siege, there were
hardly any deaths.
People Learned How to Live.
During this latter period, he says,
455 high explosive bombs, dropped
in five days, resulted in only 2
killed and 10 wounded. Nearly all
these were persons engaged IN
voluntary ambulance work.
It was the people of Barcelona
themselves who discovered how to
thwart bombs They found that by
digging to a depth of As feet they
were safe if thick enough roof was
put over the emergency trench. The
authorities thereupon evolved a
system of galleries IS feet or more
below ground. BY the end of the war
there were enough of these so that
no person was at any time more
than 500 feet from some effective
refuge.
THE conclusions drawn from the
effective protective measures of
Barcelona" Maj. Quentin says, have
dispelled the formerly popular idea
that air raids would make shambles
of q modern large city; they have
proved, on the contrary, that even
with a very moderate complement of
anti-aircraft artillery, able to pro-
tect only vital centers, the life of
large city will not be severely dis
turbed by air raids, provided the
population can be furnished rela-
lively secure refuge during the inter-
mittent raids themselves"
London Is Handicapped.
Not all cities, Maj. Quentin says,
are built or ground which can be
trenched as easily as Barcelona.
Clay and marshy soil are the handi-
caps. He declares that London has
these handicaps.
London therefore has furnished
the motive for the architectural
changes for air raid protection.
These plans were made by a large
group of Britains best engineers
They do not contemplate complete
protection. That, the engineers say,
would require years of rebuilding. 1t
would be like reinforcing city to
Withstand earthquakes.
But to meet immediate emer-
gencies, the engineers have adopted
the principle of dispersion. This
provides shelters where people live
or work or nearby, always avoiding
large concentrations.
Protection against a medium high
explosive bomb, the engineers figure,
is afforded by IS feet of concrete. OF
this, the upper feet count as re-
sistance against penetration proper.
The remaining 10 feet protects
against results of the explosion.
These facts at the start, Maj. Quen-
tin says, made the problem appear
rather hopeless.
The "Demolition Slab"
NeVertneleSS, many protective |
measures were developed. One is the
demolition slab" This is a heavy,
strongly reinforced concrete floor
intended to sustain the crash of
floors above it which collapse from
direct hits. This slab may be
located over the basement, pref
erably not higher than the third
story.
Another change is in the pattern
bf the steel rods used to reinforce
concrete. These are now, usually,
simply straight rods of steel inside
the concrete. The vibration of ex-
plosions tends to jar loose this kind
Of steel rods. A grid of cross bars
between the rods gets around this
trouble.
The engineers recommend that
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