OCR Text |
Show "EMIT IFAMi3 f3E MED 5fla5i$BS ??w Cs3lttlal WPA Suspends Projects For Week's Time As Oiher Business Houses Support Farmers In Drive To Secure Labor And Save Beet Crop Conditions in sugar beet fields here have almost reached a critical criti-cal stage and an urgent need for a far greater, number of workers was voiced this week by Franklin county farmers. A conference was held Tuesday evening in the Chimber of Commerce rooms at which time the situation was discussed by local merchants. Earl Burcham of PocaleMo, ais-trict ais-trict manager of WPA, announcced today that beginning Saturday, June 13, all WPA projects within Franklin county with the exception of the Nursery School and assistants assist-ants to the Civilian Defense com-taittee com-taittee will be suspended. Workers may return to their projects on Monday, June 22. During Dur-ing this week of suspended WPA labor all workers are urged to contact con-tact Mr. Boyle at the U. S. Employment Employ-ment office for placement in agricultural agri-cultural work. Seriousness of the problem, which is expected to reach a climax cli-max some time next week, was told by Chase Kearl of the Franklin Frank-lin County Sugar company. Nearly a thousand workers are needed to thin this county's 6800 acres of beets. Less than half that number are now working in the fields, and there's little possibility of getting outside help, Mr. Kearl. "There's a grave danger that many hundreds of acres will have to be abandoned unless the acreage Is thinned immediately," Mr. Kearl warned the merchants. As a result of the conference many employers offered the services" ser-vices" of several employees each to aid in the work. A survey of Preston Pres-ton has been made by Thomas Boyle of the United States Department Depart-ment of Employment and Weldon A. Nash, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, in an effort to determine deter-mine the exact number of available workers now employed in Preston Pres-ton stores. Raymond Bright, manager of Anderson Lumber company and vice president of the Chamber, offered of-fered the services of one employee and a truck to transport the workers. work-ers. Ralph Strub, manager of the J. C. Penney store, offered the services (of two or three employees. R. R. Rowell of Utah Power and Light company, pledged the ser-, ser-, Vices of ten or more employes and was immediately assigned five acres as a company project. There were many others who Joint the list of volunteers. One truck load of "white collar" col-lar" workers worked in the fields yesterday, and another truck load moved out of Preston at an early hour today. Throughout the intermountain I states the public is being aroused to the seriousness of the farm la-'bor la-'bor shortage. State, county and local government officials, school authorities and business men, as well as many women and girls, are helping to solve the problem in many sections of the west. From a number of Idaho towns comes word of the early closing of stores and business offices, and other effective ef-fective means to enable townspeople townspeo-ple "to help pull beet growers out of a bad hole." From Wejser, Idaho, comes word that stores are closing every evening eve-ning at 5:00 o'clock to thus enable business men and their employees to spend three to four hours in the beet fields Rexburg stores close half a day to permit townspeople to thin and hoe beets. Stores in Nampa are keeping closed until 1 p. ni and Caldwell stores are not opened until un-til 10:30 a. m. to enable business men and their employees to work in the beet fields. Thousands of high school students stu-dents throughout the entire region are performing beet field labor to reliee the situation, and women and girls are proving that the weaker sex are not too weak to work in sugar beet fields. Many growers are reporting that women are doing a better job of hand thinning thin-ning than some of the more experienced expe-rienced male beet thinners. |