The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1918-08-15

Bureau Of Industrial Housing whose I
duty II has been 10 put the system into /
force. In fact by establishing g head +
quarters IN Washington soon after the (
housing problem was taken UP the Ma (
tional Association Of Real Estate brok- /
ers has been able to render distinct /
service to the government. and il is one /
OF the rules OF the association that /
should member be found guilty Of any
violation Of ethics in dealing with the |
Government. he shall be instantly ex-
PEELED
Protecting Uncle Sam.
When he was made chairman Of the
real estate section of the Bureau Of IN
dustrial housing and Transportation OF
the department Of labor-to give It its
full due-Nilliam L. Shannon, Of the
locally celebrated firm of Niddaush &
Shannon, determined that IN the buying
Of land for Government housing struc-
lures no one should put anything over
on Uncle Sam. Mr.. shannon. like most
Of his associates in the bureau. had left
a prosperous business TO work himself
10 a shadow to provide homes for Gov
eminent workers. The bureau faced an
acute situation IN Washington alone
every hotel and boarding house and
! ~
| dences were occupied and $1,000 more
men and women than, IT seemed then.
| could be accommodated were expected
to arrive in Washington before Christ
mas Of 1918
Conditions In Hammond Same.
In Quinck. Mass. Hammond, IND,
/ Bridgeport. Conn. and dozen other
places where shipyards and mills were
turning out their grist OF war material
/ conditions were much the same The
government and the industries demand
cd ten times more labor than ever had
been employed before and some means
must be provided TO install the workers
| in comfortable homes. The emergency
was one of 100 others confronting Is
many different bureau-to create
working organization out Of nothing. to
teach it how 10 function and TO spend
billions Of dollars TO prepare American
soldiers and sailors TO cross the water
and make the world safe for freedom
and decent government.
Uncle Sam IS not now buying land by
the old process or having a group OF
politicians in town pick site they
want to sell. put a fancy price on it. /
and then hound the life out of one or
both of their senators until the lot was /
finelly unleaded More or less. that al !
ways has been the good old custom In
the selection Of postonice sites; al /
thouEh 1t viii be recalled that Byron r. I
New. zion. new collector of the port OF I
New York. when an assistant secretary /
of the treasury made enemies of about (
half Of Congress by refusing to pay
fancy prices and by further declining 4
10 authorize the construction Of Federal
buildings in towns where the postal re
celpts would not be sufficient to pay
the salary Of the janitor
Two Scouts GO Out.
When word comes to the Housing Bu-
reau now that homes are needed ror
war workers in any community outside
OF Washington. the first action Is to
send out two scouts to look over the
ground wherein to build. These men
examine not only the site suggested
near tho plant. but pick out for them
selves another available site al some
other convenient point in the city or
town. They ascertain the assessed and
asking value of the first site. and the
value OF their own site. and the values
obtaining in adjacent properties. to
learn whether tho government is likely II
to be charged more than the prevailing Il
values for land. They then prepare
detailed reports of their discoveries and
send them to Washington. and their
work is done.
But the real investigation has only
begun Following the two scouts. a
third man is sent out who makes pre-
liminary investigation of whether It
will be necessary to build homes in that
particular community. lie ascertains
how many unoccupied houses and rooms
there are in the place. whether the in
dustrial workers can be cared for by an
extension or better use Of electric car
lines. how long the demand for addi- !
tional houses or dormitories or can get
along by means Of larger use Of exist
ing facilities. If he reports that no
more houses are needed-and this oc-
ours frequentIy-the Housing Bureau
drops the project and nothing more IS
done in that direction.
Should this special investigator re-
port that housing is an imperative ne
cessity the Housing Bureau proceeds to
get busy.
Ask Five for Prices.
Meantime maps have been prepares
to accompany the reports made by the )
scouts and The special iuvestfgs+or ard 4 i