Evening star., 1928-04-22
"FLOATERS," SEEKING u. S. WORK,
FLOCK TO CROWDED D. C. FIELD
CONTINUED from First Peggy

Continued from First Pagc)
| tramped and rode over the city, indi-
Gated quite clearly that it just can't be
| done But 1t served to bring to the
mind a vivid picture OF want, privauon
meiancholia, and even starvation which
must face many of the mechanics and
| their growing families, all of whom re-
| ouire food for SuStenance. which fails
| to come each day as the father reports
home. tired and detected, reporting an
| other day of failure and the creditors
| pressing a little harder And all be-
| cause the local field is crowded by out
| SiderS.
Caused by Misunderstanding.
| The attraction to the "fioaters," who
! say they came because of their having
| read of the Government work, does
| not result from miSinformation in the
press. but a misunderstanding on the
part Of the average workman, who,
when he reads that Congress has au-
thorise6 the construction of certain
buildings, does not know the workings
of the governmental legislative ma
chinery An authorization of build
ing. in his mind means that the work
is getting under way or will follow in
short time. as most Of them are from
the industrial areas of the country.
where they have learned that when a
big manufacturing company announces
that ii has authorized big building
project, everything is ready to proceed.
and it is matter only of days before
the actual work begins.
But in the case of the building pro-
gram of the Government here. it is
different. First. there is the authorize
tion. then the appropriation of the
money, then the purchase Of the land
or its condemnation. followed oy the
drawing OF the plans and specifications.
the asking for bids. the letting of the
contract and then time for the success
full bidder 10 assemble his plant and
force. This goes into weeks, months
and then years, continuous program
which does not call for as great num-
Der Of men as would be the case If the
whole building program was being put
into effect at once,
Here Are Experiences.
But this is all a general summary OF
some of the results of the weeks efforts.
About this matter of getting a Job The
writer selected the carpenters trade.
Not because he had any experience as
q carpenter. but probably because of
the fact that he felt more experience
IN handling a hammer, saw and few
nails gave him more confidence in pro-
ceeding in this sphere.
To the carpenters union assembly
room. the reporter hied himself, For
two reasons One TO get first hand i'm
pressions of actual conditions prevailing
here and. secondly. to get good idea of
how q carpenter must appear There
The reporter found more than half
hundred men. of all ages, either stand
ing on the street outside the hall. or u
the room in the cellar used as a place
where they could wait for work. There
they wait for some one TO call for car
penter. and wnen there is a call 1t Is
written on the board. for anyone 70 Sc
out for it But no calls came during
the morning. Right on through the
lunch period they waited
In the room was big board posted
with notices from unions in various
cities asking the local 10 tell their men
TO stay away as there was not WORK
enough for the resident carpenters
There were stories of long months when
there was no work for some. not told
for public benefit. for the men there did
not know that the one in their midst
was a reporter, 1t was caught in over
heard conversations
Dinner Of Water Cress.
There was one man. not so very old,
but very much disheartened, with 4
family consisting of a wife and three
small children A brother carpenter
asked him how much time he had put
in since last January. and he said that
he had made Just six days since Sep
teu1ber /. last Last Sunday. he said.
he had 10 60 out in the woods TO get
a dinner for his family, which consisted
of water cress which he had gathered.
And If he gathers il for dinner TO-DAY
perhaps he viii not have any IRE 70
cook 1t. unless he gathers wood at the
same time he gathers the cress, Tor MS
gas bill is two months behind. and nn-
der the usual procedure IL probably VIII
be cut of.
Others. of course. had been more
fortunate. some of them having made
as much as six months actual working
tinae since Christmas. 1925. Why 40
they wait there for work instead OF
going out to get IL? Well, the re-
porter found the answer TO this after
a trying experience during the follow
ing days wnen he tramped and RODE
around the city trying TO find one OF
those elusive Jobs.
Use Star TO Get Facts.
On Monday. the writer found most
of the men had determined that there
was nothing doing for them for the
following week And they find out In
this manner: When The Star comes out
on Saturday they grab the real estate
section. wherein is printed the list OF
building permits. together with the
name os the builder and other inforna-
ton. They go over the list and visit
some Of the builders In an effort TO see
II there is an opportunity for them TO
get a fob. and II they do not flnd one,
then Of course they know that II Is
useless 70 go out and visit the lob
for an interview with the foreman.
Many Of them do find work IN this
manner. and IN other cases the fore
man for the builder has hts list of
workmen whom he knows and usually
gives them a call when he needs them.
OF course on big projects. such as the
Government building program will oe
when II gets under way, any carpenter
applying, or any other mechanic. for
that matter, viii get vacancy II there
is one open And that Is the way the
"noaters" figure.
II was disclosed while the writer was
al the union quarters Of the carpenters
that only approximately 10 per cent Of
the total membership Of 1900 carpen-
ters In this district paid their dues last
week. They can't make enough 10
feed themselves and their families. so
the dues have 10 60 by the board. In
addition 10 this number OF union car
penters. IL was estimated that there are
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