FIRST BLACKOUT TEST

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 297, 17 December 1941, Page 6

FIRST BLACKOUT TEST

COMMENT BY CONTROLLER ALARM SYSTEM INADEQUATE A new and improved emergency alarm sy stem will be one of the questions discussed at the special meeting to-morrow night of the Wanganui E.P.S. Executive Committee, said the district lighting controller, Mr. H. Webb, when commenting yesterday on the first blackout trial held in Wanganui last Sunday. One of the main lessons learnt from the test was that the present alarm system was inadequate, said Mr. Webb. The reason that the alarm had been I heard by most Wanganui people on Sunday night was that they were expecting it and, in many cases, were out of doors when it was sounded. The story would have been different when it was not expected and when people were inside their homes, he added. "Apart from a lew unscreened windows the trial alarm was excellently observed,’’ Mr. Webb continued. "Many reports of wardens remain to be examined, but the picture given so far is satisfactory. However, some people avoided the object of the test by putting out their lights and going to bed. If ever a raid came they would find a bit of light inside a comfort. AJr. Webb said regular patrols of wardens had not yet been established in Wanganui. This would be one or the subjects discussed al the E.P.S. executive meeting. It was hoped to have patrols carried out al least once a week. There was some confusion as to the extent and application of the blackout now in force, he added. In Wanganui it fell into two divisions. In the first were buildings visible from the sea. These must be strictly blacked-out, so that no light of any kind, direct or indirect, showed. In the second division were buildings in the sky-glow area; in Wanganui's case areas not visible fxom the sea. The requirements in this case were that windows should be screened, though not necessarily fully blacked-out. The object was to prevent the showing of direct light -for instance porch or room lights which shone down a street.