PREMATURE ALARM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 30 April 1942, Page 4

PREMATURE ALARM

WELLINGTON E.P.S. REHEARSAL l TTER CONFUSION CAUSED Wellington, This Day. Consternation, which developed into utter confusion till the position was rectified after the lapse of about an hour, was caused to the chief administrative officials of the Wellington E.P.S. organisation, the personnel and the general public by a mistake which occurred in the sounding of the alarm in the city area last night for the full-scale E.P.S. rehearsal which had been planned. Action taken by the mayor, Mr HLlop. as chairman of the Wellington E.P.S. Central Committee, finally cleared up the position to some extent. He had planned the sounding of the alarm for 8.8 p.m., and was just as mystified as other executive officials when he heard it at 6.39 p.m. After giving instructions for the all-clear to be sounded at 7.42 p.m. he had the alarm sounded as originally arranged, at 8.8 p.m., but there had been serious disorganisation in the meantime. The premature alarm had interfered with public and private transport arrangements, upse‘ working schedules, called E.P.S. personnel away from the dinner table, prevented people from reaching places of entertainment, and generally proved disconcerting in every way. “Never again will I rely on the National Service Department,” said Mr Hislop in a subsequent statement. “We will run the alarm ourselves, in order to get efficiency without bungling." P.A. ( lIUISTCHURCH E.P.S. TEST Christchurch, April 29. An E.P.S. trial under blackout conditions. the date of which had not been announced, gave the personnel of all sections a real test to-night. The alarm was sounded at the unexpectedly early time of 6.32, but most of the workers were at their posts in n quarter of an hour. The trial showed up some weaknesses in the organisation, one of which resulted in the alarm at Brighton sounding almost an hour late, but the first impression of the officials was that in general the service had functioned well.—P.A.