Evening star., 1955-06-16
SO 11th and F Was Hit
BY an H-Bomb: Ho, Hum
BY RICHARD RODGERS


At Eleventh and r streets
NV. where the big eraser was
supposed to hit and make q
make believe deletion Of us In
yesterdays Operation Alert
apathy was rife.
It was the intersection chosen
for ground zero, pretended land
ing field for the awful Thing
that might some day arrive.
Newspapers and broadcasters
have been telling about it for
some time. E. c. Silvers, 8623
Piney Branch road. Silver
Spring. Md. was moved to come
around to see what would
happen.
Bent on Their Shopping
"Pm just standing around here
looking to see what effect the
drill would have on the people. ~
he said. II used to be an air
raid warden in Philadelphia.
don't think these people think
anything about it."
If they were thinking about 1t
it didn't show. Bent on rifflins
through the counter displays
shoppers pursued q steady course
distracted only momentarily. il
at all, by the gates-of-hell wall.
ing from sirens and horns.
They ought to stop these
Mr.. Silvers said. "They
ought to let the people know
that the next time they hear the
sirens 1t will mean the real
thing"
Pvt. Robert, Seymore, 30, OF
Pill Van Buren street, Hyatts-
vile, Md, the corners traffic
policeman, said he couldn't see
any difference in the size of the
crowds, even though the inter-
section had been designated fol-
the day as the end of it all.
What's. 1T All About?
B. H. Rigg, retired Coast and
1eodetic Survey captain. and
Mrs. Rigg were downtown sur
veying department stores when
the banshees began hollering
Here it comes" Formerly
Washingtonians. they live in
Jupiter, Fla. and are here visit
ing. They didn't know what the
sirens were all about.
Clean-scrubbed kids in green
and white uniforms, here for a
All assembly, flocked past pratt
tling cheerfully about perhaps
anything except Civil Defense
drills.
c. M. Thompson. 1928 Hobart
street NV, who retired two
weeks ago from the General
Services Administration. said he
had read about the drill. He
didn't know Eleventh and F was
the pretended tee for the mush-
room cloud, however. I'm just
loafing around" he said.
Mrs. G. H. Chappelear, 1871
Peabody street NV, young
pretty and not giving a hoot
about the ersatz air raid, hac
her daughter Patty. II, out
shopping. Mrs. Chappelear sale
she knew about the drill, bu
didn't know about Eleventh anc
F being ground zero. She walked
on, maybe just a little faster.
Traffic as Usual
The streetcars and taxis anc
trucks ratified across the quote
doomed unquote crossing, the
drivers no grumpier than usual
Mrs. r. E. Holmes, 1912 Burn.
place Sc, knew about the rait
drill. She also knew it was onl!
a play. And her eyeglass prob
lem was very real. So she trav
eled downtown and happened t,
arrive at ground zero when tn,
horns and sirens began pro
claiming they might have beer
wrong earlier but this tim,
everybody should scram.
Mrs. Holmes spectacles wer'
cracked and yesterday was whel
she had a date to have then
fixed. With her was MI
Holmes. carrying their bo,
Bruce. 8 months old, whose un
concern over the entire thini
was matched by the grown-up
around him.
Henry Salcedo. 728 Nortl
Iverson street, Alexandria, Va.
Ia clothing store salesman
emerged from the store to in
quire why the stranger out from
was stopping all those people
The stranger explained.
"Out here? This is where it !.
supposed to explode?" Mr.. Sal
cedo clapped a hand to fore
head in mock horror and made
as If to depart on a dead run.
II knew there was some sort
of business about an air raid
But I didn't know a thing abou
an actual enemy H-bomb attack
Evacuation has become