CIVILIAN DEFENSE: The Eve of Maxwell Anderson

In a row of remodeled chicken houses on the country estate of Cinemagnate Adolph Zukor, the North Clarkstown (N.Y.) artists and writers colony has operated the most deluxe civilian-defense "depot" in rural America. There, one recent night, lofty Playwright Maxwell Anderson dutifully watched for enemy planes, patiently waited for alarms, idly surveyed stocks of tools, food and medicine.

Playwright Anderson had just returned from watching the progress of U.S. soldiers in North Africa. At night's end he wrote in the logbook: "There is no longer the slightest danger of bombing or invasion. . . . Let us get rid of...

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