The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-09-09

This article is Number 2 in a series of ten prepared by the State Defense Council on the duties and activities of Air Raid Wardens.
 John Doe said the other day, eyes, grant you they've done . grand job in England, but why do we need air raid wardens over here? No bombs are going to drop on Connecticut"
 Well, Mayor LaGuardia admitted, not long ago, that the chances of that happening were perhaps only five out of a hundred. Or perhaps If Russia goes under and Hitler has more planes to spare, the chances are quite little stronger than that. The long-range bombers seem to be getting longer and rangier all the time, and Hitler could send a flock of them across from France almost any time he liked. If he had q jumping off place in Spain or Af- rica, or out in the Atlantic, he could do 1t still more easily, He might reasonably figure 1t would be good business to sacrifice twenty or thirty bombers to throw New York or Boston into disaster and panic or knock out some of our busy munition cities here in Connecti~ cut. He'd figure we'd be in such Q fright and uproar for shelters and anti-aircraft guns, and everything for our own protection, that we'd have to cut down making 50 much war material for Englands defense and our own.
 Even five chances in a hundred are something to think about. Life and fire insurance is taken out for fewer chances than that - and 1t isn't considered at all foolish thing to do. And war nowadays is so terrific on civilians that one ought to insure against 1t if the chance of It's coming this way was only one in a thousand. War hits everybody nowadays civilians worse than the army and the navy. At least that Is what's happened in England. And If our country has accepted the first peacetime draft in its history, and is spending bil- lions and billions to prepare Its soldiers and sailors for war, we've certainly got to do something for the people back home, and prepare them too. For the people back home, or at least those along the Atlantic seaboard, may find them selves right in the front line-like Southampton and Portsmouth and Plymouth over in Britain.
 And that's where the air raid warden comes in. He Cor she, for many of them are women) is the civilian defense leader for his own particular neighborhood. He shows people what to do if air raids ever come. He shows them how to stop incendiaries before they can ttart a big fire. He shows them the best ways they can protect themselves from high explosive bombs, by keep ing off the street, by making chel- ters in their own homes against splinters and flying glass, or by getting quickly to public shelters If they are caught away from home.
 The warden steadies people, gives them confidence, makes them feel that they are being looked out for and not forgotten, and will be told what to do in an emergency and how to do it. Then if the emer- gency comes there is little panic and confusion. There is coopera- tion and helpfulness and the same sort of fine morale the English have been so magnificently demon strating.
 People are not frightened by those things with which they arc familiar and know how to ham dle. More people will be killed and injured by automobiles than by airplanes during the coming months, but we are not in panic over it.. When We have something to do and know how to do 1t. we are not