Evening star., 1942-08-19
Watching d BIockout
From the Air
Washington Begins
To Improve
With Exceptions
Bu Ben NICK el1Cdu.


II the Germans or the Japs, whoever
gets here first, will kindly allow about
IL minutes after the alarm sounds SO
that all the street lights can be turned
out, they will find the city pretty we'll
blacked out when they arrive. Then,
they can follow the Mount Vernon Me-
mortal Boulevard, whose custodians must
believe in leaving the lights burning and
undoubtedly are proud of the pretty
string of brilliant jewels winding snake
like along the Potomac
That, at least. was the general i'm
preston OF those who rode in an Army
plane over Washington during the black
out last night We were well UP and
over the spangled city when the alarm
sounded. We could not hear the sirens,
OF course, but one and then another
pattern of darkness would form in the
field OF light below Gradually these
patterns spread like puddles of ink on
white CLOTH running together until
there was one large blob Of blackness.
1t seemed an interminable time before
all OF the street lights were out. Col.
Lemuel Bolles, looking down on hi.
handiwork with small enthusiasm, esti-
mated 1t was IL minutes-much too long,
This turning out of the street lights Is
a responsibility of the police, and while
some Of the policemen must have been
on time to the split second, others OBJ
viously were caught far away from
where they were supposed to be. Up in
the sky 1t was cool and dark but we
could imagine the red-faced officers
putting and blowing down below as they
tardily reached their switches.
From up In the plane we sat in judg-
ment on the good performers and the
derelicts. The Bureau of Engraving and
Printing is one OF the most beautiful
sights imaginable during a blackout. 1t
stands out like an emerald, lying on a
cushion of black velvet, with faint
touches here and there Of ruby red. It
may have been blacked out from the
street-we in the sky cared little for
mundane accomplishments-bu looking
down on 1t from above it presented a
spectacle for which Secretary Morgen-
thau will have to blush The situation
along the Mount Vernon Memorial
Boulevard seemed to us nothing short of
scandalous, for which Secretary Ickes
will have to blush.
But there were good performers, too.
Griffith Stadium, Union Station (except
for the exempt railroad YARDS and all
the other landmarks we looked for were
prompt in hiding themselves In the dark.
bridge over the B. e. O. at Hyattsville
at least 1t was identified as that bridge
from the air-shone in somewhat solitary
splendor. Here and there below were
touches OF red. Some OF the owners of
neon lights again had been caught I'M
prepared. Some of Washingtons mill
tary secrets blacked themselves out
quickly and eficiently. just to show what
they could do. Then they turned on the
lights again because they had to get on
with the war.
Easily the most numerous, If not the
worst Of the offenders. were the auto
mobiles. Why is it necessary that so
many OF them must dash up and down
the streets in blackout, their lights
casting long, searching fingers in front
OF them? And all through the city there
seemed to be hundreds of automobiles
standing with their dim lights burning
out not dim enough to conceal them
from indignant critics in the plane.
Have you skylight In your home7
Have you looked into the matter of
covering the skylights on the apartment
house roof? There were scores OF these
soft, shadowy spots OF light last night
and each OF them no doubt marked a.
roof beneath which some loyal family sat
IN the serene knowledge that no warden
IN the street would find glimmer.
But after 20 minutes or so of slow cir
cnng 'at $50 mp.h) above the city we
began to swell slightly with pride. After
all, busy Washington, all lit up, had
within remarkably short time gone
almost entirely black. Tens of thousands
OF good citizens below were doing what
they had been told to do. Two buttons
popped from Col. Bolles' khaki shirt.
Hadn't all this been accomplished prac-
tically from scratch? Wasn't it really
remarkable, thinking about it all from
up there in the plane, how the people
down below were getting the hang of
the thing and how anxious 80 out of
every 100 of them were to do what was
expected of them?
We could not hear the sirens sound
the "ail clear" To us in the air, the
automobiles signaled the end of the
blackout. All over the city their lights
began to burn brightly Impatiently
they started away from where they had
been stopped, and within a minute
streams OF gold were flowing through
the streets again. Then the street lights
came on, just as they had gone Off
but this time marking out their patterns
In glittering strings until all the CITY
was ablaze again.