BLACKOUT TRIALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24103, 23 October 1941, Page 8

BLACKOUT TRIALS

! Another trial blackout is to be held in Auckland, presumably before very long. People who were found to be offending against the regulations during the last are being warned, and, no doubt, it is hoped to have the whole area under more complete control when next the sirens sound. It is also stated that technical groups of the E.P.S.O. will be brought into operation, to observe the full working of the emergency scheme. All these things are useful. The only way to be sure that the blackout and attendant emergency measures would be effective if required in grim reality is by careful rehearsal, with subsequent action to remove such weaknesses as the tests reveal. If an actual state of emergency fell upon the community, and means of dealing with it had to be improvised, the results might be disastrous. That is why the authorities are entitled to full co-operation from the public. So far official attention seems to be directed to lights and to the organisation of the scheme. Both are important, but presently it may be necessary to instruct the public in behaviour during a blackout. It was quite evident that during the last numbers were abroad to satisfy their curiosity about the working of the scheme. This is entirely against the spirit of the occasion. People with no real business to occupy them should keep off the streets and out of public places. A blackout, even as a mere trial run, is nobody's holiday, and the work the authorities are trying to do deserves to be taken more seriously than it was last time by some thoughtless people.