Show solves olves clousin llo housing problem cooperative action builds homes for yakima vets by BAUKHAGE nw analyst Andly stand and commentator service 1816 eye street N W washington D C editors note this Is the first of describing how veterans in different parts of the country managed to put roofs over their heads the first deals with cakl ma wa wash ji washington there Is one q quality that Is as thoroughly indigenous t to 0 america as potatoes hot dogs b baseball ban or apple pie that Is ingenuity it often Is alluded to as yankee ingenuity but it blossoms arm the florida keys to puget sound and from the purview of san diegas farthest floating pelican to the northernmost quirk of S st t johns river ingenuity ingenuity is something that achieves the impossible there has come to my attention a number of stories on how certain communities have solved with their american ingenuity that seemingly 4 unsolvable housing problem I 1 think some of the stories are worth repeating to you md and im begin beginning nin g with yakima wash a town of baukhage people which I 1 visited for 13 years but which I 1 can visualize clearly resting contentedly in the heart of yakima valley that vicinity furnishes many things from apples to polo ponies but like many other communities in america it until t this his spring furnish enough homes tor for veterans formal dedication of a white green roofed five room house was the end of the first story I 1 want to tell a story with many a sequel last f fall a 11 there were houses standing unfinished in yakima for lack of plaster many of the houses I 1 were unlovable but with winter weather coming on and the housing shortage shorts ae getting worse every day some come people tried to move into their uncompleted homes mayor al K buck knew that low cost homes under were needed tor for veterans es as well as 1000 higher priced houses he con consulted s bulted contra contractors c tors plaster sub contractors the plasterers union veterans organizations and press and radio gave them the facts asked their help sub contractors agreed to move crews from commercial construction to the unfinished homes they a also 0 agreed to transfer stocks ot of is plaster alster being held for or commercial building to veterans housing the plasterers union agreed to wor work orly on veterans housing when plaster wa was s a available v ai lable materials dealers agree agreed d to sell rock lath and sheet rock for or veterans homes only the plan went into high gear when a carload of 0 plaster the first to reach yakima in a year came in one october night consigned to a local lumber company when the company manager arrived early in the morning he found a crowd of 0 veterans waiting for or him the local commander of 0 the disabled american veterans checked the nee needs ads of 0 each purchaser the en tire coar coari oad load was apportioned on the spot to the place where it would do the most good within a short time so CO homes were completed but 50 were not en enough ough so the mayor organized an emergency housing commit tee with a retired baptist minister as chairman veterans organization representatives a lawyer a labor chief and three persons from local savings aud and loan associations the committee asked local builders and architects to design a house which would meet standards and still be sold for less than A large order in these days of high prices but the committee commit tei turned up a practical plan four local contractors on were interested and construction st got underway the tha local government housing expediter helped by organizing a swap shop where builders could find out who had some extra hardwood flooring plaster or plumbing fixtures the yakima contractor who completed the first of these new low cost houses says he have built the house tor for the price if he had plenty of cooperation fr from m everybody in the building industry he saved money by using straight walls instead of offsets and he simplified the cabinet work but the most important thing was the cooperation he got from the unions who taw saw that he had the right men at the right time to do the jobs job when they needed to be done the contractor paid union wages to Us his workmen bought his materials from 0 Z 10 j ex sergeant colgan finds KP HP duty in his new house a pleasure ex WAC wife mildred says the kitchen Is everything a kitchen should be cross ventilation and plenty of built in cupboards regular dealers made a fair profit for himself and was still able to sell the house for the veteran who moved into the first house was walter colgan a former firmy army sergeant and his wife mildred who served in the WAC very proud of their ne new w five room two bedro bedroom product c t of american ingenuity y and co cooperation 0 berof next week des moines iowa |