Evening journal., 1915-04-26


Pennsgrove. the little New Jersey vil'
lago that has awakened from a sleep
OF generations to find itself filled with
"a mad. sad glad. bad" thrush OF men,
as eager and rough as those who
drifted into the Poker Flat. in Cali
fornia. in the bonanza days of A9.
n pennsgrovo Is To have ITS Bret
/ Harte he must come quickly For
the boom" AZ Peunsgrove may settle
down soon from its present pulsation
of crude and eager life into a steady,
settled prosperity that will have few
thrills for the spinner of romance.
But today the little town Is as
throbbing with strange. new life as
ever mining town in the olden. gol-
den days of Calaveras county was.
The miracle of a frontier boom fell
upon il from the skies. and 10 discov-
crer OF yellow gold under It's dusty
fields was responsible. Yet its once
sleepy streets are filled with thous-
ands of alien men. lbs suddenly crowd
ed shops echo the iargon of a dozen
dialects. it's lodging houses are fll-
ed with men who hail from every
state in the Union. Eight months ago
Pennsgroye had population OF $500.
N
streets. steady stream OF restless
seekers after the opportunities that
sprang up in the little village over
night Where did the boom come
lrOm9
Trace Room TO Source.
To trace 10 back TO its source, 10
came Wilson calls 5000 miles Of
cool and silent ocean" IL came from
az IA -.
numbered millions of men are con-
yertiug numberless millions of pow
der into sudden. crimson rivers.
Pennsgrove is filled with an army
OF peaceful wOrkingmen today be-
cause the Powers at war are order
ing powder from the DUPONT Powder
Company in contracts that exceed
S2O.0O0,O0O The ironic war gods
ilicked the boom TO a village named
after Penn. the peaceful.
One OF the oompany's powder plants
had lain for years at CarnCy's Point
a mile across the river from Will
mington. on the Delaware side. Less
than 500 men served 10 operate It..
The war orders came The company,
as an immediate resclt-although IL
hopes that future peaceful business
will justify the investment after the
war is over-began to double the size
OF the plant II is advertised from
Maine TO California for artisans and
laborers 10 erect the new buildings.
They came; and Pennsgrove. the
nearest village a mile from Carney's
Point. found itself overwhelmed by the
thrush.
Business men of Pennsgrove say
the companys impOrtations of work
men for its construction work num-
her 1000 skilled mechanics and 5000
laborers. an conservative estimate.
This population changes almost week
ly in iis personnel as incompetent
workmen are discharged and new men
hired In their places But the NUM-
ber 1000. remains about the same.
Much Work for Merchants.
They hcgan 10 stream in last fall
, in the early days of the war. BY
, January they were intrcnched I'm the
village. Pennserove's butchers. bals.
ers and candlestick makers. who for
years had lived Sleepy Hollow exis-
tence. found their shops bombarded
, by this strange regiment OF men de-
manding 20 be fed 10 be clothed. to
Dc housed. Tho tOwnspeODlc worked
, night and DAY when the taf cred troops
FIRST entered their gates Even now
, with the new business fallen into
much more or less routine. they don't
sleep as much as they used TO.
, For tho one river pier which penns.
grove boasts takes on the appearance
Of Ellis Islands immigrant station
a half dozen times a day even now
whenever the little ferryboat that
plies from Wilmington makes il.
landing there. The ferry gates open
; a stream Of hundreds OF men presses
on shore, pushing. jostling. Nearll
s every one of them carries on his shoul
e der a chest of workingman's tools
Z Behind them came the laborers
r sWart-faced, aliens most OF them. lug
= ging their bundles of personal be
= longings. Behind these creaks tn
o train OF wagons, loaded high Will
b. lumber. iron and steel frameworks
# boxes, machinery all the impcdimen
s Ia OF building work The mcomini
# troop plOds down the road 20 tn
S new powder plant. A train OF ompt
wagons and trucks. another littl
d army Of workmen going to their lodg
Is ings across the river embarks on IN
o ferry. Pennsgrove sits on its from
e steps and watches the never-endin
II procession and gives thanks -secretl,
It Publicly, Pennsgroye is inclined {
" say that the boom" doesn't amour
s. TO much. II prefers 10 keep coo
G. Il has its mind fixed on the fac; tina
Is its new population will fade ava,
e just as soon as the new cOnstruc;io
d, work is finished as suddenly as
he came. That will be only a mont
he or two more, pennsgrove gloomil
.y predicts. And then in place OF 400
I'd there will be little moro than Lot
a workers az the powder plant.
ID Six Months OF Bonanza Days.
n In the meantime. pennsgrove ina
s. had six months of bonanza days. ~
h payroll at the Carney Point powd,
II works has reached $4,000 weekly.
ar IL said. since the army of worker
)d was imported. Half OF the 4.3Ot On
I'm ployes make their homes i'm Wnmin,
n ton across the river. but the remainir
ke 1000 spent most of their $4,000
Pennsgrove each week. This has gor
sc on for nearly 20 weeks. So. after al
IL PennsgrOve has struck gold" TO "A
~, amount Of nearly 100000.
ms Who gets the money! Principal
d. the lodging houses. the boardiI
ne houses. the eight grocery stores al
he The butcher shops. the three lone DC
he rooms and the one lone saloon.
II How many lodging and hoardh
TO houses are there in Pennsgrovo? We
es, before the inrush started there we
10 about a dozen. But there were abo