On March 15th, officials of the City of Winchester occupied their quarters in the new municipal building. Official dedication of the hall has not been set.

In January, 1954, a flash fire of undetermined origin destroyed the old City Hall, including its records, equipment and both fire engines. In July, 1955, a $42,500 general obligation bond issue was approved by the voters and construction on the present building started in September, 1955.

The yellow brick structure is trimmed in concrete and wood. Ample space has been allowed for future growth. The one-story structure has a large general administration area, connecting the council chamber. Other areas include a four-engine fire department, a two-cell police department, and a street department garage and maintenance area.

Members of the municipal administration who have worked diligently to obtain this improvement are; Mayor Horace Walmsley; City Clerk L. H. Dieterle; Attorney Richard Mann, and Aldermen B. F. Walker, William Moss, William Lashmett, Edward Closs, Edward Lumsden, Edwin Evans.

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Qualified Illinois municipalities are now eligible to receive one or more $1000.00 sets of radiological detection equipment without cost.

This equipment, used to detect deadly radioactive "fall-out" from atomic explosions, is being granted to certain cities by the Federal Civil Defense Agency through the office of Vernon L. Nickell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

To be eligible to receive the detection equipment a municipality must have an accredited civil defense agency and present a standardized radiological defense course taught by a qualified instructor to twenty or more persons.

A set of training equipment includes geiger counters, ion chambers, dosimeters and chargers. Distribution of these sets is a part of the Illinois Radiological Defense Program's project to blanket Illinois with trained and equipped monitoring teams to detect radioactive rays from enemy atomic attack or industrial accidents.

A typical city radiological defense course would be taught by a high school science teacher, a state policeman, a county sheriff or any other person who has qualified as an instructor. Students would include policemen, firemen, Red Cross workers or other persons active in Civil Defense. Title to the equipment would be given outright to the local Civil Defense Director.

Information on how to organize municipal civil defense agencies and on how to qualify for a grant of radiological defense equipment is available from the Illinois Civil Defense Agency, 57th Street and South Shore Drive, Chicago 37, Illinois.

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All U. S. cities over 10,000 population have an average of 1.46 policemen for each 1,000 persons—a slight increase in every population group over the past five years.

Statistics gathered for the 1955 Municipal Year Book of the International City Managers' Association show that the number of policemen for each 1,000 population ranges from 1.39 in cities of 10,000 to 25,000 to 2.38 for cities over 500,000.

The number of police on traffic duty in U. S. cities over 10,000 ranges from the 2,253 traffic policemen in New York city to the one traffic patrolman reported by nine cities.