PROTECTING PRESIDENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 4

PROTECTING PRESIDENT

Rec. 9 a.m. WASHINGTON, May 20. Relaxation of the censorship permits the disclosure of extraordinary precautions for the protection of Mr. Roosevelt from air attack, says the United Press. Within hours of the Pearl Harbour attack the construction had begun of huge concrete shelters under the White House, anti-aircraft positions on the roof, and heavy concrete slabs ovar the ventilators. The construction included a new east wing with a 9-foot-thick concrete and steel walls and a de luxe air raid shelter of two floors under ground level, also a heavily-protected tunnel from the White House to the Treasury building. The shelter included a private steel compartment for President Roosevelt, and also a room for his family and staff, with an independent power supply providing air conditioning, heat, and light. There wera also extensive communication facilities, and ample storage for food and water. Machine-gunners occupied the upper sections of the White House, covering the entire grounds until late last year. The President's Hyde Park home lacked an air-raid shelter, but army planes were constantly .within reach on nearby fields, and Coastguard craft patrolled the Hudson River. Elaborate scientific devices, including electric eye systems and floodlighting, were scattered over the estate.