Show boom towns Struggle With labor influx war industries tax normal facilities in smaller U S cities released by western newspaper U union nion in the turbulent economic wake of conversion and war production a thousand patriotic towns and villages anxiously seek answers ans vers today to a multitude of new problems concerned with accommodating uncle sams mobile armies of war workers there anything spectacular about these problems that are keeping village presidents up nights and putting furrows in the brows of town councils and boards as commonplace as dishwater hospital beds school desks or fire engines but their solution Is very important indeed to in the nations fight to smas smash 4 the axis populations doubted doubled things arent the way they were before pearl fear harbor in these thousand towns AU all out war production has turned scores of 0 them literally overnight into 1842 1942 versions persio n a of boom areas crossroads hamlets have had their populations doubled between one sunup and the next war boom towns in illinois michigan alabama washington ohio california have had to figure and plan as they never did before to provide the most meager housing transportation health and educational a facilities for in migrants needed to man the new machines of war even large industrial centers have felt the pinch of providing decent accommodations on the home front tor for the new legions who are taking their places behind the men behind U V S guns from workers directly employed on war production as of last december 7 the number has risen to more than today and minimum requirements by the end of 1942 are expected by federal officials to exceed american towns and villages are daily demonstrating that they are more than willing to do their part in the all out effort to produce the tools tor for victory for the united nations but the doing often is beyond the means of an individual locality and the problems are complex and many serious medical problems in a michigan town medical authorities thorit ties les recently warned that an epidemic of tuberculosis was breeding in the very heart of the suburban factory district 10 miles from a huge bomber plant A report on overcrowding in the area stated that more than patients ot of them tubercular are jammed into hospital space designed for 2500 officials pointed out that added to the danger from this source is a lack of suitable sanitary facilities for the mushroom community the authorities of an illinois village suddenly awoke to the tact fact that many of their wells no longer reached the water table in that area due to the emergency drilling of numerous other wells by wa war production plants surrounding the village site on three sides a village in minnesota found that the increased number of war workers and their families moving into the community necessitated nece silta the hiring of another teacher tea chir apart time janitor and the p purchasing of faed new supplies of books and other equipment grand hotel hotels 1942 emergency model t 4 U I 1 2 T 4 13 V 11 3 M 1 w 1 4 A kw er 4 V V 1 4 W t 41 because of insufficient living accommodations these weary wow wo W in a small virginia town are forced to sleep around the stove of a general store this condition exists in many other crowded defense areas in a pennsylvania town jammed with war workers a and fire fighting equipment were required immediately to reduce the hazard of a possible general conflagration a kentucky hamlet had to arrange lor for an extension of its sewerage facilities or suffer the consequences a colorado town a wisconsin city and a texas compty were confronted with the need tor for new schools at once the patriotism and morale of these workers are high but so are their american standards of living for their families these war work 10 W baird snyder assistant administrator of the federal works agency ers ask for livable quarters good water and sanitary facilities there must be classrooms for their children recreation beds in ha hospitals tor for them when they fall all sick congress has recognized both the needs of the mobile armies engaged in war production and the problems of the localities affected through the enactment of the amended lanham act in the hands of the federal works agency the legislators have placed a great part of the job of keeping ahead of the vast community requirements of these industrial legions of joneses cohens murphys and kozlowskis title bof 2 of the amended lanham act provides that in any area or locality where an acute shortage sa i S HT VJ V J n f B m i i at afi i X r ird i rd I 1 is D 5 Z A 0 all out war production pi has brought living conditions such as these in a midwestern town to hundreds of communities from coas coast tito to coast many trailer communities lack proper sanitary facilities and a large number of them try to accommodate too many trailers for or the space of public works or equipment for public works necessary to the health safety or welfare of persons engaged in national defense exists or impends im is authorized with the approval of the president to relieve such shortage this authorization is conditioned on evidence that the necessary works or services could not otherwise be obtained when needed ar or could not be provided without the imposition of an increased excessive tax burden or an unusual or excessive increase in the debt limit of the taxing or borrowing author authority need tor for construction assistant administrator baird snyder acting tor for administrator philip B fleming has pointed out that inseparable from the lives of modern industrial workers an and d their families from transportation a education health and recreation e 1 1 are prosaic roads sewers r s schools hospitals and many ot other her types of public construction war as an industrial process says mr snyder means that community facilities have to be built not only to accommodate expanded armed forces but to take care of the mobile and increasingly numerous armies of war workers without such construction those who have studied the problem declare the efficiency of industry would be seriously impaired and Is labor would float from one town to another in fruitless search for decent living conditions in the last tour four months has quickened the pace of work in response to imperative pera tive war needs today throughout the nation this federal age agency ncy is building or ready to build all the war works that can be provided with worth of federal funds plus whatever local contributions are available A great deal of red tape has been cut in since war was declared the man with tile the shears in the great lakes region and middle west for instance is markley shaw former assistant to the director of the old defense housing division who casts as personal representative senta tive of the administrator full fall scale wartime basis public works are now being bandied on a full scale wartime basis explained mr shaw whose headquarters are in chicago my instructions are to let nothing stand in the way of prompt efficient development of war projects under new regulations no federal funds will be allotted for the construction of a permanent building under the war public works program if a temporary or semi permanent one will suffice this applies even though the applicant proposes to contribute the full amount of the difference except where a structure is an addition to an existing facility negotiations w will III be opened on the basis of simplified standard plans of the federal works agency elimination of all building material beyond absolute necessity in war pub lial lie works construction recently has been ordered throughout the nation and this step is expected materially to reduce the use of critical war materials mate te rials as well as to free man hours of labors tor other war production product io n assistant administrator snyder has hai listed the following types of pro projects directly attributable to war activities tivi tivit ties les as eligible tor for federal allotment of funds schools hoppl hospitals la 1 health centers detention hosp hospitals t a 1 s fire department buildings and certain equipment except radio equipment recreation buildings water and sewer facilities and maintenance and operation of schools and hospitals where necessary in recent months the federal works agency has built oi or contracted to build scores of community facilities in every section of the nation where production wheels turn the U S public health service in operation cooperation co with the state departments of health Is intensifying the application of general genera health plans in strategic localities operating cooperating co in the general plan to assist individual localities and provide living facilities tor for war workers Is the national housing agency which is building thousands of houses and dormitories |