Evening star., 1942-07-16
Hamper
bIackout Test
In Nearby Area
Maryland Defense
Aides Have Trouble:
Public Praised

Public Praised
Suburbanites, generally, in nearby
Maryland were commended for their
cooperation in the first Statewide
dusk to- dawn blackout last night
but numerous reports of mix-ups at
tributed to civilian defense officials
marred the effectiveness of the test
There were few complaints of
blackout violations in the Metro
politan Area of Montgomery and
Prince Georges Counties. Homes
stores and all but street and traffic
lights were darkened from pm.
until o'clock this morning. A half
hour period of total darkness began
with an AFRAID test at 9:36 pm.
A woman identified by police as
Mrs. Frances K. Corone, AZ, of 529
G street Sc. was killed early to-
day when her car ran off the road
near Prince Frederick during the
blackout.
A State police car and an Army
jeep collided in Pocomoke City dur
ing the half hour of total darkness,
but no one was injured.
f1cials in charge of the test showed
lack of organization and co-ordin-
alton.
Use of short-wave radio for the
first time as supplement to the
regular telephone communications
system showed wireless would
speed up the dispatching of air raid
signals by several minutes and could
be employed in the event regular
channels of communications broke
down.
Prince Georges Signals Premature.
In Prince Georges County, how
ever" Chief Air Raid Warden j.
Robert Sherwood blamed the use
Of short wave radio signals as re-
sponsible for premature ''red"
signal flashed to police cruisers
waiting to stop traffic.
The State police radio station at
Pikesville, was used to send the
air raid alert and alarm signals to
control centers throughout Mary
land although the actual sounding
of sirens was supposed to be started
only on receipt of the telephoned
signals.
Some confusion resulted when Of
station received the red" signal
after it received the yellow" and
without receiving the blue" The
county police radio dispatcher i'm
mediately sent word that the air.
raid test had begun. A few min
utes later the control center called
in the blue" signal to police
headquarters and the original order
to policemen was countermanded
over the county radio.
Then, when the Official "red"
signal came through few minutes
later, police again were informed OF
the air raid test. The "all clear"
was signaled without hitch, how
ever.
Officer Accused of Speeding.
Another high light OF the Prince
Georges blackout was the arrest of
an Army lieutenant who, according
to Pvt Lloyd Hamilton of the
Hyattsville police, was speeding 81
miles an hour on the Baltimore
boulevard when a 25-mile e-an-hOur
speed limit was in effect. The Army
officer posted $6.70 for appearance
in Hyattsville Police Court August 8.
The policeman told Justice OF the
Peace Henry O'Neill the speeding
car had been stopped and its driver
warned at Laurel, but that the auto
sped off again.
The name of the driver was listed
as 1t. Harvey M Spear OF Provl-
dence, R. l., and that of passenger
es 1t. H. v. Joslin of the Wardman
Park Hotel.
Conflict in Mount Rainier.
In Mount Rainier, conflict among
defense personnel developed when,
during the air raid test, auxiliary
police stopped automobiles con-
verted as ambulances which were
responding to simulated bombing in
cidents, according to Percy Wolfe,
chief of the transportation and
evacuation services.
The vehicles we're stopped, Mr.
Wolfe said, and the operators made
to show their driving licenses de-
spite the fact official stickers and
triangular civilian defense flags were
displayed.
During the half-hour period of
total darkness about 10 Friendship
Heights streetcars on Wisconsin ave-
nue. were held up by auxiliary po-
licemen at the District line. The
cars had only to go few feet
on the Maryland side to negotiate a
loop so they could be driven back
into Washington.
An accident was reported to
the Montgomery County control
center in Silver Spring after the
air raid test. Vehicles Travelled
about the streets with parking lights
and a car knocked a motorcycle
rider to the pavement at Eastern
avenue and Juniper street. Robert
Edmison, 40, colored, Of Chestnut
Ridge. the cyclist, was treated by
the Silver Spring Rescue Squad for
cuts about the face.
Georgia Avenue Dark.
No bombing tests were practiced
in Montgomery County during the
"air raid" Judge Albert E. Brault,
head of the County Defense Council,
said this was because the last test
on June II showed the communi-
cations system had not been per-
fected. The system is now being
changed and the control center
moved into new quarters.
Georgia avenue was totally dark
from the District line to the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad underpass
throughout the night while street
lights burned further north in Sill
yer Spring. District auxiliary and
regular policemen guarded all roads
leading into Maryland, warning
motorists to proceed at Is miles an
hour and dim their lights.
Judge Brault said he had heard
many complaints because the Dis
trict failed to hold a blackout last
night in view of the nearby Mary
land areas cooperation in previous
District tests.