Evening star., 1942-02-01
Civil Defense Heads
Laud Prince GEORGES
Afraid Rehearsal
Control Center Test
At M. U. Auditorium
Held Stute Example
By NEWBOLD MOVES, Jr.

Civilian defense chiefs of the Dis
trict of Columbia and Maryland,
after watching a demonstration OF
the type of AFRAID control center
Prince Georges County officials
hope to install in their county, have
pronounced it setup which should
be established in cities and populous
counties throughout the United
States.
The demonstration. believed to
be the first of its kind was ar
ranged by Mrs. Daisy F. La Coppi-
dan, chairman of the county de-
fense council, in cooperation with
Chief James w. Just, State fire
service co-ordinator and director of
the fire extension service of the
University of Maryland.
Among 300 defense workers in the
audience were Col. Lemuel Bolles,
civilian defense director for the
Metropolitan Area; Col. Henry S.
Barrett, director of Maryland air.
raid precaution services and State
director of the ground observer sys-
tenn of the First Interceptor Com
mand; Isaac S. George, executive
director Of the Maryland defense
council. and Herbert A. Friede, head
of the Metropolitan Area civilian
defense communications unit. Each
of the officials highly praised the
county's control center operational
. plan, which follows a general pat
tern suggested by the Office for
Civilian Defense.
Held at Maryland U.
The audience in the agricultural
auditorium of the University of
Maryland Friday night watched a
realistic stimulation of the manner
in which the ideal AFRAID control
center would operate under AFRAID
conditions. The stage, representing
the control center, was manned dur
ing the emergency" by q crew Of
nine men, assisting Mrs. La Coppi-
dan, commander of the center.
The staff included a switchboard
operator, a plotting officer" han
ding large-scale map showing
the location and construction of
every building in the county, fire.
man in charge of board showing
the distribution of fighting ap-
paratus throughout the county and
the heads of six key service de-
partments in the defense organiza-
ton.
Key department heads in the
county organization are:
Karl A. Young, fire service; Sergt.
Ralph w. Brown, police service; E.
F. Zalesak, warden service; Carl
Heckmer, utilities service; Paul H.
Kea. public works service, and DR..
John M. Byers, medical service.
Each of the service chiefs was
summoned to the control center by
the switchboard operator on recep-
ton of the AFRAID alert yellow
signal" from Washington. They
were at their stations on the stage
when the "red signal" was flashed,
indicating the start of the "air
raid"
A series of "air-raid incidents"
was then reported by wardenS
throughout the audience.
Realistic Reports.
A TYPICAL report stated:
"A bomb has fallen into the audi
torium of ST. James Catholic
Church, Rhode Island avenue,
Mount Rainier, where about 100
people have taken refuge. About 20
people have been injured by falling
debris, five of them seriously. Most
of the people are splashed with an
oily dark liquid. There is an odor
of horse-radish in the air. There
are no people trapped under the
debris"
This report and others received
by the control center switchboard
operator were transmitted to the
commander, who informed the
service chiefs of the situation. Each
of the department heads was then
called upon to issue orders to his
department designed to combat the
situation described. 1t was ex-
planned that communication be-
tween each service chief and his
department was to be maintained
by direct telephone wire.
Throughout the demonstration,
incidents reported and corrective
steps taken by each department
were plotted on the control center
map, as an aid to officials in max
ing decisions, while the fire service
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