Evening star., 1942-07-29
10000 Watch
Bombing Drill
Al Water Cate
How Defense Force
Works in Air-Ruid
Disaster Depicted

raid victims watched last night a
local civilian defense authorize
took over the Water Gate barge t
show what they would do if a rai'
demolished part of downtown Wash
ington.
Although Orchestra Leader Vaughn
Monroe. Concert Pianist Eugen,
List and several other practicet
speakers had held the attention o
the audience until that time, the
could not compete with the dram;
of the communication drill.
During the simulated bombing
the audience saw messengers run
ming to the telephone table il
the center of the seats with report
that 100 were trapped, many alread.
dead. so seriously wounded in {
burning downtown theater. A re
port came through that large de
partment store was demolished b.
a high explosive bomb. The. fire wa
out of control, streetcar lines tori
UP, wires down. traffic paraylzed.
Crowding on the heels of thest
reports came word of high -eXplo
sive bomb striking car barn a
Fourth and P streets S.W. Street.
cars we're hopelessly aflame, 20 dead
more dying.
Marked for Priority.
The man at the telephone table
dialed a number and phone rams
on the brilliantly lighted barge few
feet away on the water. Girls wrote
down the messages, passed them tf
three men who put priority num-
bers on the disasters. Each OF these
rated an "a" marking Lesser in
cidents" would rate "B' or &C
markings.
Details of the reports were ther
passed to row of service chiefs sit
ting before telephones at a long Ia
BILE. Swiftly, Inspector Harvey G
Callahan dispatched seven squads
of police to the theater, three squads
to the department store and two te
the car barn.
Fire Chief Stephen T. Porter
asked rush aid for the blaze at the
. department store. P. Y. Howat
chief of repair work for the District
civilian defense. sent sewer and
demolition squads to the all three
incidents" Utilities Chief c. Melvin
Sharpe reported an exposed tele-
phone cable at the theater, street
car rail damage by a crater on q
street. and the car barn explosion to
the telephone, gas and transit COM
panies.
DR.. John A. Reed, chief of medical
service, could ignore the depart
ment store blaze until one of the
firemen was hurt. No persons were
caught in the building during the
might raid" He sent three squads
of doctors and nurses to the theater,
however, and one to the car barn.
Wardens Instructed.
Chief ir-Raid Warden William A
Mileham asked wardens to keep all
but qualified persons away from the
disasters scenes. He also reported
the high toll of dead and dying" at
the theater so that clergymen could
be sent to the scene.
City Controller Herbert A. Friede
described the steps in the control
center to the audience, emphasizing
that not three but ten such incidents
might be reported at the same time
The reaction of the audience seemed
to be what Commissioner John Rus
sell Young had prophesied at the
beginning of the rally.
I'VE want you to have a greater
realization" he told the crowd, "ol
what we are trying to do for you"
National Civilian Defense Direc.
tor James M. Lands pleaded with
the audience to regard the taking
of Rostov as they would the capture
of New Orleans; the siege of Alex.
andria. Egypt. as they would a blow
at Norfolk. Va.
Then" he maintained, mo civil
ian defense duty will seem tot
menial, no war service too routine"
Wardens on Duty.
The crowd had gotten tickets o
admission from their AFRAID war
dens. must of whom were on duty a
the rally. Civilian Defense Directo
Lemuel Bolles asked that citizens o
Washington have more confidence il
and respect for these wardens.
Brig. Gen Albert A. Cox, Distric
provost marshal, another speaker
shook a finger at the crowd and de
clared:
Don't let light from your win
dow kill a neighbor's child
Not only the wardens, he main
tanned. but every man living in eacl
neighborhood, is responsible for tn
Just before the AFRAID commu
pliance with regulations.
Representative Randolph, chair
man of the House District Commit
tee. urged the audience to max
Washington a leader in civilian de
fense work as it is the leader in tn
war front.
Bands Play.
Just before the air raid commu
nication drill was staged. M
Monroe led his orchestra in popula
selections and then the audience i
community singing of three songs.
NOt even tne roar VI tle dTpldne
flying low over the barge seemed t
distract the listeners as 24-year- -ol
Corpl. List, on leave, played fol
piano solos. A concert piani
at II, he gave concerts continuousl
until he joined the Army fol
months ago. He appeared Monda
night at the Water Gate.
Arch Mcdonald was master {
ceremonies at the rally The A
Forces Band. under the direction
1t. All Helburg, preceded the speal
ers with a half-hour concert. TT
invocation was pronounced by tt
Rev. William Sweeney.
Barney House School