Show ay eleanor rooseve f FARM AND HOME WEEK I 1 am always interested in the exhibits at the cornell cornel farm and rome home week in ithaca N Y and found as usual ingenuity and initiative displayed in various ways the blackout room for or the arm home was very well arranged but that Is one thing the farmers can feel fairly sure will not often be used by them tor for it is too costly to waste a bomb on isolated farms the thing which appealed to me was the tha converted truck equipped in a way tor for which any farm family could provide they ha had d large milk cans placed in barrels one surrounded by excelsior and the other surrounded roun ded by newspapers I 1 was told they could keep food hot in the can surrounded by newspapers for 17 hours in zero weather they had also arranged compartments on the fireless cooker principle in which they could put large cans drawers which could pull out and hold bold supplies cooking and eating utensils and a portable canned gas stove stave which could heat a large quantity of food this truck could fe feed d people at an emergency meal meal in a very short time the book fair theart the art exhibit by ithaca artists and the craft work done primarily by women were all interesting exhibits I 1 could have spent much more time seeing them than I 1 was able to give to any one thing CIVILIAN DEFENSE while in ithaca I 1 spent an hour and a half at a regional meeting for civilian defense called by mrs osweld oswald lord the regional director federal staff members and regional staff members met with representatives of oti the different states in this region it was a very interesting meeting and I 1 think some good suggestions gest ions came out of it I 1 was particularly ticul arly happy to see some of the new 61 taff staff of the office of civilian defense in action and to reel feel how well they are all carrying out their jobs mr james landis has issued a liay statement in which he says w what t I 1 have known to be true tor for a long while that it has never been completely decided where physical fitness as a division should be placed many of the things which mr john kelly is so ably doing are things which should be done year in an and d year out perhaps therefore a permanent government agency is where his organization would function best he has done a very good job and enlisted people who can interest both old and young in keeping themselves in good condition I 1 think no one will question the necessity tor for young and old rich and poor in this country to be physically fit TO SYRACUSE we drove to syracuse in the afternoon a and nd were grateful for the clear weather in spite of the cold there was comparatively little snow and ice on the road we met with the defense council in the morning and saw the volunteer bureau established under the local defense council they are getting on very well with their work and mrs pennock Penno ek who heads the voluntary participation part of the civilian defense program tor for the state has done a very fine job the same difficulties arise in every community of course some volunteers do not take their duties seriously enough and fail ail in meeting professional standards some agencies are hesitant about taking on the training and placing of volunteers un by and large it seemed to me that it if syracuse and schenectady which I 1 visited in the afternoon are good examples of what is happening in the state then we can be proud of the organization here The youth council in schenectady is composed of a group of young people who are anxious to play their parts in the life of their city they held a most successful meeting unemployment in reading the papers this morning I 1 could not help wondering how the displaced men feel in industries all over the country they are anxious to get to work but tor for the time being must wait for industries to be converted to new uses members I 1 of congress and governors of states talk about increasing the unemployment compensation to a possible 24 people seem to forget that this unemployment e compensation usually must cover the needs of fa families milles ranging from four to six members rent food heat light clothing recreation rea tion education medical care must all come out of this sum could the congressmen do it on any less could the governors do it on any less delight we had a delightful luncheon at chapel hiu with president and mrs frank graham and their guests heard miss harriet elliott dean of the womans comans college at greensboro make an excellent talk before the delegates of the 32 colleges who had gathered at chapel hiu hill under the auspices of the carolina political union and the international student service tor for a conference it was nice to td find there both miss louise morley conference secretary of the ISS and miss jane seaver of OCD |