Evening star., 1942-03-24
b|ackout Plans
Are Made for
Traffic Lights
Rheostot and Switch
Boxes to Be Installed
To Reduce Voltage

" AAoAAoc OAA AAOeSSS ~ AAAAAo04y W.
thorities.
Arrangements for the installation
Of rheostats to permit the operation
Of traf1c lights on greatly reduced
voltage were revealed today by Traf-
flc Director William A. Van Duzer
as he met with other municipal ON
cials to plan procedure for handling
traff1c during test blackouts or real
warnings.
He pleaded for public co-opera-
ton to avoid any extra hazard to
life. limb or property during the
early morning trafiic light black
outs.
There now are nearly 500 inter-
sections or isolated spots where the
trafnc light operation is controlled.
When wires and relays now used
for operation Of flashing yellow
warning signals are converted by
Friday for the dimming apparatus
the District will need and have but
81 boxes for controlling trafnc
lights.
VON1Sc "nl he he0occ0.
The next step will be to install
rheostats to reduce the power oper-
ating trafIic lights from ITO volts to
n. District officials say trafic lights
operated on this voltage would not
be bright enough to serve the pur-
poses Of enemy raiders but would be
suf11cient to aid trafi1c movement
Orders already have been placed
for 100 rheostats and delivery is ex-
pected within 10 days to three weeks.
When the rheostats are installed,
traff1c control will 60 back to nor
NAL operation, officials said, with
air-raid wardens posted to dim the
traffic lights by setting the rheostats
in operation, or. to cut OF all traflc
lights, depending on the need and
nature Of the orders.
One hundred selected afraid
wardens are scheduled to meet at
8 pm Friday in the auditorium of
the Potomac Electric Power Co.
Building, Tenth and E streets NV,
to receive instructions and keys for
the control switches. Because Of
the difficulty of obtaining steel or
brass, the District is having the keys
made by Lorton prisoners out Of
cast iron.
Later other keys will be given to
other selected air-raid wardens so
that at all times no less than three
men will be charged with the duty
of handling orders for traf1lc lights.
No Blackout Date Set.
Col. Lemuel Bolles, metropolitan
civilian defense director, said today
it had not been determined when
the District and nearby Maryland
and Virginia would have the next
blackout test. He said the next one
would be a total" blackout and that
he was hoping to be able to spot the
test 50 that it would not interfere
with any Eastertime services. He
added that If this were accomplished
it would mean the test would have
to be held before next week or after
April 4. He plans to confer with
religious leaders before applying to
the interceptor command for the
necessary authority.
District health, penal and welfare
institutions, meanwhile. awaited al
location Of funds by the Commis-
sioners to complete their prepara-
tions for operation during a black
out.
With the exception of the Home
for Aged and Infirm at Blue Plains,
most are in good shape to operate
under blackout conditions but will
be able to complete preparations
only after certain materials are pro-
vided, Commissioner Guy Mason
disclosed yesterday after a meeting
with the heads of the institutions.
Mr.. Mason was quick to add that
the fault for the Blue Plains situa-
ton did not lie with Otto Cass,
superintendent of the institution,
but in the location Of the buildings,
lack of materials and the difficulty
of explaining the precautions to the
aged inmates.
Perfecting of blackout precautions
and substitutions for some present
makeshift arrangements at some in
stitutions may require from SIS, 100
to 100000, which Mr. Mason said
he hopes to get from the 81 .000, 900
blackout fund approved for.the Dis
trict some time ago.
Highly commended for their
preparations to date were Gallinger
Hospital and the tuberculosis Sana-
torium at Glenn Dale, Md.
In explaining the situation at
Blue Plains Commissioner Mason
pointed out that the buildings are
right in line Of searchlights from
Boiling Field, the Naval Air Station
and the light of the Naval Research
Laboratory, making it almost i'm,
possible to screen the buildings.
In addition, Mr.. Mason said, the
inmates do not understand the pre-
cautions, and unless the master
switch is thrown they are continu-
al,y turning on lights, thinking them
out of order. Where black paint
has been applied to windows, Mr..
Mason said, inmates have scratched
it OF. A few sand buckets placed
around have been dumped on the
floor and the pals appropriated for
other uses, he continued.
Testing Of q powerful air-horn
warning device developed by the
Bell Telephone Laboratory will be
undertaken here at 11:30 am. to-
morrow at the Capitol Garage, Thir-
teenth street and New York avenue
NV.
The demonstration was arranged
jointly by Commissioner John Rus
sell Young, United States co-ordi-
nator for civilian defense for the
Metropolitan Area, and Col. A. S.
Janeway, acting director of the
Third Defense Region, which In
cludes the. District.
The demonstration follows sched-
uled tests at pm. today of 50
electric sirens already Installed at
various points around the city. Per-
sons failing to hear today's test Of
the sirens have been requested to
write in by post card to Capt. Her
bert A. Frieds, head Of the District
communications system, at room
5l2. District Building, giving the ad-
dress OF the writer.