Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-12-03
Bomb Shelters
IN Back: Yards
Urged in Area
Simple Cellars
Aid in FoHout,
Peterson Says
BY WiIIiom A. MiIIen

~
By Wilton A. Millen
Washington area residents
should get busy digging UNDER
ground shelters in their back
yards. is the advice Of Federal
Civil Defense Administrator Val
Peterson.
Such shelters would provide
some protection against the ra-
dioactive "fallout" that follows
an atomic blast Mr.. Peterson
told the Conference Of Mayors
yesterday afternoon in the State
Department. The advice was
aimed mainly at those living in
the outskirts of the city or the
suburbs. The target in a bomb
ing attack would be the Capitol
itself. he said, and the down.
town, area would be destroyed.
IF you live seven or eight
miles away from the Capitol.
you should right now build a
shelter In your back yard" Mr..
Peterson declared.
A shelter with three feet of
earth above it would protect
against radioactivity, he said.
Such shelters. he said. can be
built at not too much expense.
If constructed of concrete, they
would also provide some protec-
ton against the blast itself. he
explained.
Would Peril Baltimore.
If a bomb went of over Wash
ington, he said, the high winds
at 10000 to $4,000 feet, prevail
ing from west to east, would
carry radioactive material as
far as Baltimore and other
communities, Mr.. Peterson as
serted.
Thus, he said, rural areas
would find themselves in the
front line of radioactivity.
He advocated a return to the
old-fashioned farm cellar, where
vegetables were preserved in
winter and milk and cream kept
sweet in the summer. Such
earth-covered caves, he said,
might well be used by rural
inhabitants to guard against
radioactive dust.
The Department of Health,
Education and Welfare is re-
sponsible for the medical side
of civil defense generally, in
Guiding protection against bio
logical warfare. The Agriculture
Department, he explained, is
responsible for combattilag any
plant and agricultural diseases
that might be spread by an
enemy.
"You are faced with a crisis
Of leadership. if we and our
democracy are to survive" he
bluntly told the Mayors.
Problem Of Zoning.
One speaker raised the prob
lem of coming in connection with
backyard shelters. Mr.. Peterson
replied that, as the American
people became educated to the
problem, this barrier would be
removed.
Mr.. Peterson declared he is
convinced that cities, If given
sufficient warning, can success
fully evacuate large sections of
their population. But he con-
coded there are grave psyche
logical, political and other prob
lens involved.
eve are dealing with the
toughest problem in the history
of the world" said Mr.. Peterson
He told the mayors that, on his
recent visit to Europe, he found
the Scandinavian countries far
ahead in civil defense, with great
underground shelters, also used
as parking garages.
Mayor Frank Zeidler OF Mil
waukae told the meeting about
the evacuation drill his COM
munity went through. Because
of the tremendous power of
bombs, he said, residents must
be taken to points at least. 20
miles out of the city, with rail-
roads and private automobiles
participating at the movement.
He told the mayors what they
do In the future, in the way of
new ZOOS, museums and other
civic improvements must be
weighed against the possibility
of atomic attack. AndJ he said.
cities must look forward to get
ting their people far out into the
suburbs, with superhighways
linking them to the cities.
Effect of Radioactivity.
DR.. willard F. Libby. the new
commissioner of the Atomic En-
ergy Commission. also empha-
sized the effects of the radio
activity Of atomic weapons.
Following the cooling period,
the populace could stay behind
shelters as much as possible, y
he explained. Certain meas
ures could be taken to remove
radioactive material and reduce
the general hazard. according to
directions of the Federal Civil
Defense Administration. It
would seem that simple meas
lares are likely to be effective,
Sufiicient radioactivity of long
lifetime is contained in the fis-
sion products so that the watt
ing process would not be effec-
tive for more than the first day
or so.
1.-THE longer-lived material
must either be removed or COW