Evening star., 1943-05-16
Business Areasitack
Sufficient Shelters 10
Meet Afraid Needs
! Arthur Reports Negative
II. Response From Most
Of Property Owners
By DON S. WARREN.

BY DON S. WARREN.
s. A "very serious shortage" OF air
raid shelters exists in the. business
district of the midcity area, Assist
] hnt Engineer Commissioner Joseph
I'd. Arthur, jr.. revealed last night in
p report on the work of the Air Raid
Shelter Survey Committee.
!. He said that in Washington there
are approximately 1900 shelters
sxAvailable and marked with signs,
having a total capacity in excess of
sg13O,0O0 persons. Aside from the
ssdowntown problem, he said, addi-
sstional shelters are needed in many
Presidential areas.
8 While praising property owners
sswho have co-operated. Col. Arthur
said the response has been mega
s9tive, with few exceptions, from own
s3ers Of business establishments in
F9the midcity area. He added that for
@obvious reasons the survey unit had
ga policy of not approving shelter
.ssigns for place unless it was avail
sable at least from 7 am. to IL pm.
& Reports Problem Difficult.
q cThe problem admittedly is
#vely difficult one" Col. Arthur's re-
s port said. 1T has been found i'm
q 5possible to arrange for adequate
5protection of merchandise in or near
1sh elter areas. Recent practice
alerts, held after business hours,
have showed that many persons who
are required to seek shelter have
no place to 60 and are forced to
huddle near doorways or Just stand
around in groups in the dark. The
, situation has been and will be
criticized, yet there seems no solu-
, ton in sight"
, Col. Arthur had said earlier in
his report that cooperation of
building owners had been "encour-
aging and that where refusals
were encountered the reasons stated
were valid and convincing. "Appar-
emily few cases of vandalism in
shelters have occurred" he said,
/ adding that such vandalism was
~tantamount to obstruction of the
civilian defense effort, as was
70 ebreakage or removal of shelter signs
by pranksters.
Promises of shelters, in case of
actual attack, he held to be of little
or no value.
Need Shelters Before Raids.
Unless shelters are clearly
marked and the people become
acquainted with their location and
arrangement during practice alerts,"
he said, there is no assurance
whatever that the shelters will be
opened in time and the people
directed to them in case OF an actual
raid. An actual raid certainly will
come as complete surprise to most
people and generally, will be taken
for an unannounced practice alert
until enemy planes make their ap-
pearance and bombs begin to fall
at then will be too late to start
thinking about the opening of shell
sters''
Federal Government Aids. 81
Aside from these "unsolved prob
lens" Col. Arthur said, the distri-
button and capacity of shelters fairly
represent the anticipated need in
most areas. Practically all fireproof
and semi-fireproof buildings have
been surveyed and designated as
shelters wherever permission could
be obtained without time limitations,
he said. The Federal Government.
he added. has made available many
large shelter areas" in buildings it
owns or leases.
Col, Arthur revealed that a sys-
tematic study of density of traffic
during peak hours and the CORE
spending available shelter caapcity
Is being made, with traffic counts
being made at many points of the
number of people passing in 30
minute periods. Automobile traffic
also is being counted.
81 Shelter Signs Are Problem.
as In event of an attack, he said.
sfrafflc will be directed to the near
est available shelters. Recognizing
that the distribution of passengers
from streetcars, buses and private
automobiles to shelters will be diff
cult In blackout, Col. Arthur said:
No practical way has yet been de-
vised to make shelter signs visible
without violating blackout regula-
tions and much depends on the eff
cheney OF wardens who have the lob
OF conducting people to shelters"
Answering criticisms that specified
shelters are not absolutely safe
against the hazard of flying glass or
other fragments, Col Arthur main
tanned that any shelter is better
than open air spaces. He added that
curtains and muslin coating of
glazed surfaces have proved effec-