By Joseph A. O'Malley, Vice-President, Marine Engine Division, Chrysler Corporation

IT is axiomatic that "Self-preservation is the first law of Nature." Thus anything that has to do with the general welfare of the community must be of vital concern to every individual living in that community.

This being true, every man identified with the Chrysler Division in any capacity should be glad to do his part towards helping to secure widespread and immediate distribution for the air-raid siren now in production by this company. The more of these sirens that are installed, the more secure the country at large will be against the consequences of enemy air raids. In terms of your own community, the sooner it is able to get complete coverage by an adequate alarm, the sooner your own relative safety will be advanced.

The Government is anxious that Chrysler secure the best possible distribution of these sirens at the earliest possible moment by making them available direct to municipalities, factories and other possible users. OCD officials believe that a reliable and all-pervading alarm system is the first step in defense against air raids because, with due warning, citizens can seek places of safety and a blackout reduces the visibility of the targets for enemy bombing.

The Chrysler Victory-Bell siren, now in production, is by all standards of appraisal the best siren on the market for general coverage. In fact, it is now the only one that is capable of producing the volume required to blanket a large area.

Exhaustive tests conducted by the United States Office of Civilian Defense have established that it requires a volume of at least 135 decibels of sound to secure a safe coverage over a large area without a prohibitive investment in many smaller units. A chart prepared by the OCD (reproduced on page 12 of this issue) shows that one siren of this power will cover an area of nine square miles, while it would require 128 low-powered sirens (100 decibels) to do the same job.

Obviously the OCD is interested solely in securing the best possible results and is not tile proponent Of our own or any other company's products. In committing itself to the high-powered siren, therefore, it is strictly impartial and is governed by the results of its own experiments and tests. It so happens that only the Chrysler-Bell Victory siren comes up to the specifications as evolved by this Government agency.

Chrysler has been assigned to the task of developing and manufacturing this siren as a necessary- part of the civilian defense program and has accepted the assignment in the spirit of service. We are proud that we are able to make this contribution towards the security of our citizens against air-raid dangers and we are using all possible zeal in making it available to as many communities as possible. To that end, we have directed our regional managers to make a through canvass of their respective territories in order to acquaint local civilian defense officials with the merits of our Siren.

Count On Cooperation

I feel sure that we can count on you to cooperate fully with our regional manager when he visits your territory. But do not wait until that time to contact the proper civilian defense officials and prepare the ground. You can put all your enthusiasm and resourcefulness to work on this project because it is something of the utmost importance to you. Your zeal may be the means of saving many lives, including those of persons very close to you. You can conscientiously put your whole heart into this work, because the Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren is not only the best available, but is, as of today, the only one that in the opinion of OCD officials is capable of doing the job.

The consensus of expert opinion is that the danger of enemy air raids is present in almost every American community. The constantly-increasing scope of the United Nations' bombers lends weight to this opinion, for we may be sure that the enemy will not lag far- behind us in turning out airplanes of longer range and greater bomb-carrying capacity. It would be the worst kind of short-sighted neglect not to make intelligent provision for defense against these raids.

The prime consideration in air raid defense is the speed of our preparations With bombers traveling more than 300 miles an hour, every second counts in effecting a complete blackout and in getting the population to safe places. Thus an adequate alarm system is of paramount importance. We have in the Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren the most efficient alarm in the world and we want every city to have enough of these units to cover its whole territory. This is not merely a matter of selling a Chrysler product; we regard it as a public service. I feel sure that you will feel the same way about it.

Self-Contained Unit

Among the advantages of the Chrysler siren is that it is a completely self-contained unit, independent of electric power plants, water systems or any other form of public utility. Obviously these utilities would be among the principal targets of enemy raiders and the destruction of the electric plant would mean the complete disablement of the ordinary type of small siren operated by electric power. On the other hand, each Chrysler siren would continue to function unless destroyed by a direct hit.

In addition to the large air siren which produces upwards of 135 decibels of sound, Chrysler is making a smaller unit operated by engine exhaust gases. This unit has a coverage of about one-quarter the area of the larger model.

Using either one of these sirens or a combination of both, any community is sure of an instantaneous, all-pervading alarm should an air raid occur. No siren can actually prevent a raid nor lessen the destructive effects of bombing. But a quick and complete blackout can greatly hamper the enemy's aim and a timely warning can give citizens a chance to seek places of safety, thus greatly reducing loss of life.

Full information regarding the Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren can be obtained from any of the following Chrysler representatives: