Evening star., 1942-03-06
Afraid Setup
Of 500 Persons
Projects Parks
24-Hour Watch
Maintained; Highway
BIockout Arranged

A closely-knit air raid precaution
system that involves the co.opera-
tion Of 500 persons and Is responsible
for 1000 acres of land in the District
and some Of the citys most vital
arterial roads has been created with
out fanfare or a line Of publicity.
1t is the work Of the National
Capital Parks. In two months of
quiet work, an organization has been
formed that Is on duty "a hours Of
the day and is ready for any emer-
gency-from a forest fire in Rock
Creek Park to supervising a black
out of the Mount Vernon Memorial
highway. whose lights point like a
glowing arrow to the Capitals most
vital section.
Our watchword has been action
first and words later" commented
Frank T. Gartside, assistant super
intendent Of the parks system, who
Is co-Ordinator OF the AFRAID pre-
caution setup.
Machinery DecentraliIed.
Immediately after declaration of
war. Mr.. Gartside and his chief
assistant, Edward j. Kelly, ad-
ministrative officer of the system.
set about on the first important
task of decentralizing storage Of the
systems IS trucks. bulldozers, trac-
tors and tools Of all kinds to obviate
the possibility of losing all In 4
single air blow. Today they are
scattered about In seven strategic
locations among the TOO separate
park lands in the city.
Backbone of the systems per-
sonnel is the park police force and
the members OF the field crews-tree
experts. masons, mechanics, elec-
triclans, carpenters, plumbers, stone
masons and blacksmiths. The police
are primarily the warning arm, while
the others will be rushed to affected
areas. A reservoir of C. c. C. boys
trained in fire fighting Is at Fort
Hunt.
The through streets of Rock Greek
Park are expected to become highly
important traffic arteries in case q
heavy raid should cause other
streets to be blocked of with rubble
from buildings. 1t is the job Of the
field men to keep these park roads
open, free Of trees that might be
felled by bombs and temporarily re-
paired in case of bomb craters.
Six Switches for Boulevard.
In outlining the blackout system
Tor the Mount Vernon memorial
highway, Mr.. Gartside and his men
enlisted the aid of C. C. C. heads
at Fort Hunt, the Alexandria CVa. }
police and officials at the National
Capital Airport. Six switches scat
tered at various points control the
entire system. The lighted road. of
course, is like a beacon to the two
bridges across the Potomac and the
Important western end OF Constitu-
ton avenue.
Park police on duty "a hours of
the day are to handle the first warn
ing signals. Special telephone lines
link park police headquarters with
District afraid headquarters. Three
OF the key stations with maintenance
equipment have men on duty all
night.
In addition, all afraid zone head
quarters have been furnished mans
by the parks system showing those
portions OF parks in their respective
areas. with instructions to call the
park police in case Of trouble in one
OF the park lands. Similar maps
nave been furnished auxiliary police
Bombs Explained.
In the way of educational material |
Tor those in the system, Mr.. Gartside
got together in handy booklet form
reproductions Of posters put out by
the o. G. D. on incendiary bombs.
A chart listing various chemical
warfare agents, including gas and
smoke, also was reproduced and dis
trlouted. 1t tells of the agents
effects, methods Of protection and
nrst-aid steps against them.
More than 200 persons in the sys-
tenn have had first-aid courses and
have witnessed films on handling
1
lncendiary bombs and other AFRAID
precautions.
The setup has been created with
out a nickel of the funds specially
allotted to the District, but Mr.. Cart
side hopes to get at least about
$4,000 for equipment still necessary
10 bring the organization up to the
| tOp-nOtch quality Officials Would 1iLo
Others who have taken all i'm
porAnt part in organizing the sys-
tenn are George w. Harding, chief
of the Horticulture and Maintenance
Division; George E. Clark, chief of
the construction and repair; Donald
L. Kline, head of the Planning
Division; Capt. Mark H. RASPBERRY
OF the park police and Randle B.
.Truett.
Ave Dvin{un o. FL.