Evening star., 1942-03-06
Demonstration Bomb
Exp|odes, Showering
Crowd With Sparks
Initial Check Reveals
No Injuries at Meeting
Of Mount Pleasant Unit

Spectators narrowly escaped In.
fury from flying fragments of ar
1ncendiary bomb last night at q
fighting demonstration spon-
sored by the Mount Pleasant Citi-
zens Association and the Civilian
Defense Committee.
Bearing out a warning of Deputy
Warden Raymond j. Bowen that
such bombs are treacherous and
must be approached with the great
est caution, the incendiary exploded
before Demonstration Arthur E. Kim
berly had turned his pump hose
upon it. Sparks shot shoulder-high
to a distance of 100 feet through
the crowd gathered in the yard Of
Bancroft School.
A quick check revealed no injuries.
The balance of the demonstration
with the stirrup pump passed with
out incident, as had a previous ex-
hibition of extinguishing the fire
through the use of sand.
The demonstration featured the
first of a series of mass meetings to
be held by Mount Pleasant defense
organizations.
Bombing Warning Sounded.
A capacity crowd of over 600 filled
the Bancroft School Auditorium be-
fore the demonstration outside to
hear Constantine Brown, foreign
commentator for The Evening Star,
declare, ut can happen here!"
There is possibility, and a
strong possibility" he said. "that we
shall be bombarded within COM
parative short time
Mr.. Brown secuted the theory
that American cities were safe from
attack by air because Of the great
distance from continental America
of any bases likely to fall into hostile
hands.
He said it was not inconceivable
that the Axis might shortly attempt
to establish a base in Natal, a rela-
lively undefended region in Brazil,
from which an invasion of North
America might be launched. 1t was
equally possible, he speculated, that
two German aircraft carriers might
elude the British Fleet and lie of
our Atlantic Coast to bomb New
York, Philadelphia, Washington and
other cities.
More Volunteers Sought.
If catastrophe occurs, he
warned, "We should not blame the
Army and Navy for it, but we should
blame those who did not see the
necessity of taking sufficient pre-
cautions to reduce the loss of life in
our cities
Leaders in the civilian defense or
ganizations of Mount Pleasant ap-
pealed for more volunteer workers.
Mrs. H. P. Slauson, emergency hous-
ing warden, said her unit contained
only Is workers of the 100 needed
to insure proper functioning. Mrs.
Fred Rice, deputy feeding warden.
told the women of the audience that
to join her organization, You don't
have to know how to cook. All you
nave 10 know is now 10 open a can!
Mr. Bowen, deputy AFRAID
warden of the area, said SIS ward
ems and fire watchers had been on
duty in Mount Pleasant during
Tuesdays blackout, and asserted the
blackout had been under perfect
control all night long" Explaining
the failure of the Mount Pleasant
Library to turn off its lights, he
said the library was an official
building Of the District government
and therefore was exempt from
blackout.
Two brief films we're shown. "Stop
That Fire" and "Goofer Trouble" :"
The latter picture was warning to
civilian kibitzers who fail to take
shelter during raid, but insist on
staying outside to watch the attack