WELL SATISFIED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 57, 9 March 1942, Page 6

WELL SATISFIED

MR. SEMPLE'S REVIEW

TO-DAY'S AIR RAID TRIAL

Complete satisfaction in the air raid demonstration was expressed by the Hon. R. Semple, Minister of National Service, when interviewed this morning. Mr. Semple. who is paying a visit to Auckland, witnessed the demonstration from several points. He stated that he was very favourably impressed with the trial which, being staged in the busy hours of city activity, was a proper test.

As a result of the demonstration minor deficiencies which were only to he expected would he discovered and would not occur again. The most pleasing feature of the demonstration was the manner in which the general public responded.

In the course of his visit Mr. Semple has inspected a number of the air raid shelters and slit trenches. He stated that these were quite up to standard. He had also had a look at the tunnel approaches and was of f he opinion that the method adopted by the engineer :n making as many exits as possible was a good one. This also applied to exits from public shelters and buildings. "It seems to me." added Mr. Semple. "that the plan has been well thought out and the method of timbering in the Town HaJ shelter is the design tha T know and I can speak from experience because I know how timber should be placeti when intended to carry heavy loads."

The Citv Council and those associated with it. Mr. Semple said, were to be congratulated upon the amount of work thev had done in a very short time. They were far in advance of any part of New Zealand. The Chief Warden, Mr. J. A. C. Allum. had demonstrated that he had some push. Maximum Of Efficiency What were wanted, Mr. Semple continued, were more demonstrations such as this morning's so that people will realise how to act in time of danger. It was no use having an organisation unless it could function with the maximum degree of efficiency. It was compulsory for all citizens other than those engaged in military work to join the E.P.S. work.

"I want to emphasise," said Mr. Semple, "that it is no use people merely saying that they are members of the E.P.S. They have to know what their job is in an emergency. Before compulsion there were 100,000 workers; to-day there are 200,000. But those 200,000 may be a danger rather than a means of safety unless they are trained and thoroughly organised."

Stressing the importance of the E.P.S. organisation, Mr. Semple said that while it was of a civil nature it was in a real sense an integral part of our defence system. He desired members of the E.P.S. to take their job seriously and realise that they had a mighty responsibility to thei r fellow citizens. He himself had been working night and day for months past to get the organisation up to standard, and his gratitude and that of the Government went out to those "honest to God" people of this country who were giving of their best with no other object than to protect this country and the lives of the people.