BLACK-OUT TRIAL

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23535, 13 January 1942, Page 4

BLACK-OUT TRIAL

-— — MAYOR EMPHASISES IMPORTANCE COMMUNITY’S POWER TO HELP ITSELF “The trial black-out at Christchurch on Sunday will be more than a test of lighting control; it will be a test of the community’s power to help itself in time of emergency, commented the Mayor (Mr E. H. An drews) last evening. “I appeal to an citizens to deal with the trial thinkingly; to picture their own needs m time of emergency, and to make each black-out trial a means of becoming better able to help themselves, ana their fellows, when the call comes. When Sunday’s trial came a month would have elapsed since the last, Mr Andrews said. Of much more significance was the fact that a month s war news had been received, and had delit'ered its message. To that extent Christchurch had matured in the interval. Some strange impressions were revealed by the first black-out trial, he said. When the “All clear” sounded there were householders who turned on all the lights and drew no blinds. When the wardens protested, they explained that that was what they thought the “All clear” meant. "The sequel to a sortie is not to open the city gates,” the Mayor pointed out. "Reduced lighting is a measure of protection which has been slowly, and with difficulty, built up over a period. The black-out is a further intensified effort, for a short dash as it were. The return from a charge is not an intimation to hand over the trenches. After a black-out all lighting restrictions still apply, with the need for more care than ever. "I received to-day a letter from a woman who suggested in all seriousness that all lights should be turned on in the trial, not off, and that the wardens should inspect all lights from outside. The idea is right within limits, though it credits wardens with infinite capacity. The ie not a time to turn out all lights. Those normally needed should be m use, without any light escaping to the outside. Every house must now, by law, have at least one room blacked out.’ In his own interests each householder should do more, “To verify whether such a room is provided is not a task for the lighting wardens. It is a daytime job to determine whether the law is being complied with. Compliance with the law can easily be verified. If daylight can get in, night light can get out. The duration of the trial was a perplexity, said the Mayor. Several hours would be insufficient for the wardens to cover the ground, and such a period would cause disorganisation In many ways. For the purposes of a trial a compromise would be made with a shorter period. “When it comes, however, the reason for a real blackout will have no such delicacy or consideration, in either the time of occurrence or the duration,’’ he added. Further information on the important precautionary measure would be given in talks from 3YA at 7.10 this evening and on Friday evening at the same time, the Mayor said.