Duck and cover—Amsterdam and the atomic bomb

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

          In 1950 Edward F. Cushman, then Amsterdam’s school superintendent, issued instructions for surviving an atomic bomb attack.

          As I recall it, atomic bomb drills sometimes involved getting under our desks and other times meant lining up against a basement wall at Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue School. 

          Amsterdam native Richard Sidlauscus, who now lives in Wallingford, Connecticut, found Cushman’s memo while preparing for a recent move.

          “I was six years old and in first grade in Irene Balz’s class in the old Arnold Avenue School,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “Why I have this I can't recall.  I think we found it among my mothers stuff after she passed away.”

          Cushman warned in his 1950 memo, “At the suggestion of the State Education Department of Albany, we are handing out directions for pupils in case of an unexpected atomic bomb attack.  While there seems to be no probability at the present time of such an attack, these atomic bomb attacks might come without warning and the State Education Department feels that parents should have some information immediately regarding possible safeguards and treatments.  Further information undoubtedly will be supplied by the local Civilian Defense Authorities.”

          Students were advised to get to cover if an air raid warning was given before the attack—a public shelter, the nearest building, your own cellar, even a tree “to shield you from burns” or a thick wall that was to protect you against gamma rays.

          If there was no warning and just a blinding glare in the sky, the superintendent advised pupils to turn their backs on the blast “and drop to ground with face on arm, eyes closed” for a full minute.

          If indoors, the memo advised students to drop to the floor or under desks, tables or beds with their backs to windows, “because of breaking glass.”  If there was time, the advice was to run to the basement.  In any event, the memo said to stay down for at least one minute.

          There were an equal number of points to remember after the attack, which was probably the encouraging news of the memo—the idea that boys and girls would survive the atomic bomb!

          “Wash yourself hard, all over,” Superintendent Cushman wrote.  “Lacking soap and water, rub with paper or cloth.  This cuts radioactive contamination (most likely after an underwater burst or if wind or rain spread air-burst radiation).

          “Eat and drink nothing that has been exposed to radioactivity.  Tight containers—probably cans—are the one sure protection.  A Geiger counter will spot radioactivity in food or clothing.

          “Obey the directions of proper authorities.  They must aid wounded, put out fires, clear streets, repair communications and so on.  In the first hours of a burst, you can help by doing just as you are told.” 

MORE POOL

          The first name of the expert pool player from Amsterdam who died in an auto accident around 1970 was incorrect in a recent column.  The correct name is Jimmy Corrigan, a protégé of Louis Allen who ran a pool hall on Market Street.

          Joe Inglese of the town of Florida has more memories of Dee's Billiard Lounge on Route 30 at Maple Avenue Extension in the town of Amsterdam, currently the site of a First Niagara Bank.

Inglese said, “My good friend the late Tony DaBiere of Tribes Hill owned that establishment. In earlier years, he had a small grocery store there. Tony knew the benefits of promoting billiards as a family activity.

“Tony had Peter Pan tables. I sat with him on many a Friday night while folks brought their youngsters in to enjoy a session of pool in the well-lit establishment.”

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, September 22, 2022

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