davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1938-04-10

knew about the denuded stretches of
forest land, of floods. of tree disease.
He talked about them at length and
the others listened. And he talked
about his plan-the Civilian Conserva-
ton Corps. What did they think of it?
The answer lies in the fact that by
April 6, 1888, the Labor Department
was ready to turn over men to the
Army for enrolment. Enrollees were
selected by welfare and relief agencies,
relief rolls were given preference, but
boys whose families we're not on relief
but in need of immediate financial as
sistance were also enrolled.
THE march into the woods began.
Thousands of khaki-clad youths
found themselves travelling across the
country. Boys from New Yorks East
Side woke up one morning in the
Glacier National Park and stared at
snow-capped mountains for the first
time. Boys from New Jersey and
Rhode Island landed in Oregon. never
realizing that trees grew bigger than
the poplars they had seen in city
streets. Arkansas and Texas farm boys
saw their first MOUNTAINS in Idaho
and Montana.
Here was real adventure!
inexperienced city boys who had
never held a job, and boys who had
performed prosaic tasks in factories
until the depression caused manufac-
turers to lay them off, found real life
in the woods. They became strong and
straight. They worked hard, played
hard and ate good food. They learned
to drive trucks and tractors. fight
forest fires, build bridges and stone
Evening star., 1938-04-10

may not track up her fine carpets and
glistening marble. At the first sign
of slipping conditions underfoot she
sends out porters to clear the sidewalks
OF ice or snow.
Mrs. Department Store has the same
bad moments you have when Anna
serves dinner without changing to her
frilly apron. Daily. scores of maids
and elevator operators are inspected
before they leave the locker rooms to
mingle with the public. No nail pol
ish-no perfume-no jewelry-no dra-
matte coiffureS AS a matter of fact
they are called together now and then
to hear a description of the stores
standards of voice, conduct and ap-
pearance. A woman is never lady"
She Is madame" or miss"
That nice problem of how high to
turn up the thermostat confronts Mrs.
Department Store. too The average
housewife knows it from the evening
angle-whether to suit the living room
to father and men guests in stiff
bosomed shirts, a young son who has
been playing run-sheep-run or herself
and women guests in backless and
sleeveless gowns.
You will be happy to know that she
hasn't solved it, either.
Let the assistant service director of
local department store tell you
about it.
We must attempt" he says, "to
make scantily clad women clerks COM
Portable without suffocating shoppers
who remain in the store for hours,
perhaps, in fur coats"
Many department stores maintain
checking accommodations and try to
encourage customers to leave their
wraps there. But, as one executive
puts it, try and get them to do it
All of us shoppers think that what
we have to buy is going to take only
a moment and at the end Of an hour
are exhausted from the heat.
A NYWAY, department stores are
usually kept between 70 and rs
degrees in temperature during shop
ping hours, with the exception of
beauty salons, which must be around
80 degrees. Universal thermostatic
control is not practical. In the base
ment of department store are boiler
rooms reminiscent of battle cruisers,
in which engineers and firemen work
all day long maintaining an even
ha
heat is reduced and flremen go off
duty gradually until, after midnight,
a skeleton crew remains on duty until
Evening star., 1938-04-10
STORES ARE BEEHIVES AT NIGHT
Housekeeping Duties Elaborate Scale REQUIRED Polish and
Renew, in Preparation for Public Be Received When
Morning Comes-Service for "a Hours

in quiet seasons in a store with a total
of about 5000 employees. In rush sea-
sons. particularly Christmas, hundreds
more are taken on. Each of them has
scheduled routine to follow under her
supervision, supplemented by special
orders from floor managers about re-
pair work of all sorts-painting and
vanishing and replacing worn carpet
ing. Daily they polish acres of interior
and window display case glass, down
to the last finger print. They dust
and straighten thousand pictures,
countless square feet of counters and
shelves They shampoo nailed-dow
carpeting. They polish metal. In the
glassware department alone. several
maids do nothing all day long but
keep exhibited crystal and china
glistening.
ONE of Mrs. Department Stores
most valuable employees is her
CHECKER woman with a cultivated
eye for dust and damage. 1t is her
duty to go about the building year in
and year out, looking for trash in
corners. shabby display cases. burned
out lamp bulbs, scratched paint,
squeaky doors and frayed carpeting.
In the store this reporter examined
from basement to attic, the checker is
Mrs. Mabel Kennings, who declared
that keeping house in a department
store takes only the traditional per-
sistence required to run home
properly
The only thing miss" she d.
clares, lis real spring house cleaning.
We must 90 even the most drastic
cleaning and redecorating without dis
turbing customers. whereas housewives
are free to inconvenience their families
for few days"
This store housekeeper says that
she has two methods of checking her
store. Some days she goes all over
the building examining only one kind
of equipment. such as electric light
bulbs, to see if any are burned out or
dusty. Other times she investigates
one department from top to bottom.
without missing single drawer that
will not pull out readily and quietly
Evening star., 1938-04-10

too. Uniforms for maids and elevator
and tearoom employees are made in the
alteration department, while the in
terror decorating and upholstery de-
partments keep slip covers, curtains
and drapes all over the building smart
and attractive.
On her staff she must employ full
time painters and carpenters who mend
and manufacture screens, doors and
cabinets. Mechanics are eternally at
work keeping cash registers and vend-
ing machines in order. A full time
plumber sees that not a faucet drips.
One man spends his life washing WIN
doWs, all day long. although most
large emporiums have this job done
under contract by companies.
You might think that at least Mrs
Department Store has no child PROB
lem. But its far from the truth
Small boys, it seems. and an occasional
tomboylsh miss, dote on riding the
escalators backward. Or going up on
the down eScalators. Or vice versa
An emergency button at the top OF
each stairway stops the motion when
ever it may be necessary.
THAT familiar figure, the wailing in
FAINT who has lost his mother, is
the responsibility of the service desk on
each floor.
Mrs. Department store wages ar
eternal war on ants, cockroaches and
insects of all descriptions. although
she hires professional exterminatol
firm to do the work.
She must always be on the alert te
keep her floors looking nice. You car
make your children and husband come
in the back door and wipe off theil
shoes in sloppy weather. But when il
starts to rain or snow, Mrs. Depart.
ment Store must have mats hastily
placed at the doors and runners inside
main-f1oor entrances, so that shoppers
Evening star., 1938-04-10
the boilers are fired for the shop

the boilers are fired for the shop
ping day.
Responsible for keeping the build
ing spotless and comfortable is the
service department, sometimes known
as the superintendent's office. This
Office is in direct control of most
functions not related to buying and
selling Routine work is scheduled
for each section of the building and
special repair or cleaning work is
ordered by floor managers. In the
store we examined more than 40
floor managers are employed, with
one floor superintendent in charge
of each floor
Turning out lights when the sales
day is over is one duty Of these floor
managers. They personally pull the
switches to leave the selling depart
ments in darkness except for few
lights that burn all the time. But
before they do so they examine every
Granny of the sections for which they
are responsible to ascertain whether
everything is shipshape.
One department that took this be-
hind -the-scenes visitor by surprise
was the spensary-reminiscen Of
chemist laboratory-that operates un-
seen behind the shampoo booths and
manuicuring tables. There strange
smelling and weirdly colored lotions
and hair dyes are bubbling away on
stove at any hour of the working day
The department store beauty shop
makes as many of its supplies as pos
sible right on the premises.
Mrs. Department Store even needs
a veterinarian now and then. For
her live stock problem-canaries. The
songsters whose trills enliven the
children's fountain room are given
their cod liver Oil. seeds and daily
baths by maids assigned to duty there.
1t is a duty of maids. too, to water
growing plants, and to place cut flow-
ers used for display purposes and
pounds OF candy in refrigerators in
stalled for those needs on proper
floors.
THE sun sets on the selling day.
But still there IS no rest.
Immediately after the closing bell
sounds an employe arrives whose duty
it is to unlock, read and change dates
on about l30 cash registers, a full
time job that takes more than Z
hours every night. His figures are
checked the next morning against the
reports of salespeople, totaled at the
end of each working day.
But he is only one of many per-
sons who work in department stores
Evening star., 1938-04-10
By TeSta Cum ulines.

JHEN you wonder where all
NN/ the Gust has come from as
v v you survey your four-room
apartment in the morning,
and Why the laundry man didn't re-
turn the sheets. and why the Sunday
chickens are tough again, console
yourself by thinking of the job con-
, fronting another housekeeper, Mrs.
Department Store.
With activities that keep her on her
feet "a hours daily, she is the chate-
lalne for the retail palaces in which
every woman adores to browse and
buy endlessly. And her vast estab-
hshment must be kept at all times
Just as you have your home when eX-
pecting your husbands relatives.
Mrs. Department Store cannot sit
herself down to listen to the radio
after members of the sales force have
shrouded display goods for the night
and the last belated customer has left
the building.
1t is then Tat she must. so to speak,
pet out thl cat and lock the doors,
chores tht takes her all night Those
darkenrd thresholds you pass when
you sAunter by window displays, after
the moves, are deceptive They con-
ceal veritable beehive of activity.
But let us follow Mrs. Department
Store through typical day, beginning
quite properly with 7 am. At that
hour, IN one of the largest emporiums
IN Washington. porters begin arriving
TO sweep and vacuum clean unmeas-
ured feet of floor space and carpeting.
BY the time the store opens for trade
about so are on duty.
T TAKES eight men, working from
three to four hours each on Sat-
urday night, to mop the main floor
marble alone
Daily, before they start rolling.
escalators are checked by an electri-
clan.
During the early hours of the morn
Ing the mllkman has called and left
scores Of l0-gallon containers of milk
and cream. Pastry cooks and bakers
arrive as early as 80 am, don their
white coats and start making bread
rolls, pies, cakes and pastries. Trucks
Of fresh vegetables and butcher wagons
are rolling UP to the back door" be-
fore the alarm clocks of the sales
people have sounded.
Perhaps you have been thinking of
your department store as a purveyor
OF dry" goods. And so it is, pri-
marily But in addition, it shelters
perlshable hamburger and celery,
growing plants that must be watered.
gold fish that should be kept SWIM
ming and canaries intent upon baths
and fresh lettuce-much like your
house and mine
On the customer scene are tea
rooms, soda fountains and bakery
co.lnters, while behind the scenes are
emplcye cafeterias and the kitchens
that supply all of these with goods not
dry
Mrs. Department Store copes with
really staggering servant problem.
For upstairs" work alone, she en-
ploys around 40 maids and 100 porters
Evening star., 1938-04-10
Camps From Ocean to Ocean Are Hosts to
Visitors Who Come to View Results
in Reclamation Achieved.

this opportunity to view frsthand the
manding officers. works superintend-
ents and enrollees have prepared elab-
crate programs to entertain the visitors
and to show them what the C. c. c..
has been and is doing.s
Along lines of work. the main OBJ
jective of the c. c. c. is conservation
of natural resources. It has performed
that work effectively. According to
leading conservationists, the conserva-
ton program has been advanced by
the c. &C. is to rs years. But the
corps has done more than that.
IN 1888. when the depression spread
like an epidemic throughout the
land. devastating the hopes and ambi-
tions Of thousands of our American
youth. millions of young men were
idle Unemployed because the depres-
sion had virtually brought business to
q standstill. and nowhere could these
young people find jobs. But President
Roosevelt had panacea-the Civilian
Conservation Corps. He would put the
youth of the Nation into the woods to
perform useful tasks, for which they
would be paid $50 month. in addi-
ton to their shelter, clothing and food.
The President knew that the coun-
try's natural resources were in need
of reclamation, and he knew that there
were 100000 or more young men who
needed break. They were ready and
willing to work if given a chance.
That's why the President, five days
after his Inauguration In March, 1888,
called in the heads of the Departments
Of War, Agriculture. Interior and
Labor for a meeting at the White
House.
He talked about conservation-con-
servation of men and resources. He
Evening star., 1938-04-10
Star Staff Photo.

while most Of us are sleeping. Night
Watchmen begin their rounds. And
although their jobs are far more intri-
cate than merely prowling about with
flashlights, the fascinating details are
not for publication
Throughout the sore at night
counter and display case exhibits are
changed by decorators At holiday
time bright lights are likely to remain
on far into the morning. Escalators
are halted as soon as the store closes.
One elevator runs for an hour or
so and then buyers, inventory takers
or decorators-all of the scores Of
persons likely to remain after hours
are moved from floor to floor by
night Watchmen, pinch-hitting as
elevator operators.
You might think that Mrs. Depart
ment Store was a lucky woman with
all the funds Of big corporation
at her disposal, just as long as she
kept things looking nice. But she
has the same problem as many house,
wives. She operates on budget,
like every department of modern
store. Each section must justify its
existence and therefore expenses in
CURED from the service department.
are charged to its account. Salaries
and laundry expenses of maids and
porters assigned there are charged
to that department, just as are the
salaries of clerks and the wholesale
prices of the goods they market.
THE housekeeping department IS
not even without its responsible.
tiles concerning the goods that enters
the store. Behind the shopping scene
great trucks discharge packages from
all over the world at the department.
store back door. Porters, under the
supervision of the service department..
hustle them into mammoth elevators
and deliver them to vast receiving
rooms, usually on an upper floor Of the
building
There the goods are unpacked and
placed on long tables. numbered and
assigned to each department. Receiv-
ing clerks check the invoices Of the
wholesalers against the goods received.
1t is stirring sight, watching buy
ers examine what they have ordered
after its receipt in the store. Frantic
buyers ring up the receiving room to
find out if the new spring dresses from
New York have arrived. Porters pound
at crates and nails and cope with car.
tons, excelsior. cords and stout papers.
| Maids handle delicate merchandise
| plete.
One box. perhaps, yields the new
spring dresses. The buyer is tele-
phoned and arrives to examine and
| pass upon the goods. That being COM
pleted they are tagged with the price
and information tickets. A maid wheels
up the covered wagon" literally a
wagon topped with hangers on metal
structure covered with cloth. In this
are placed the new gowns, and they are
wheeled to the service elevators and
| delivered to the proper department.
Better gowns usually come packed so
that they need no pressing, and these
the maids hang up. Cheaper dresses
go to the alteration rooms to be
pressed
Purchases roll into the delivery de-
partment on a revolving belt and are
packed. Delivery trucks speed them
to all parts of the city. Last-minute
purchasers keep the wrappers busy
after the store closes. Finally. the
customers are gone, the trucks are
quiet in the garages.
And then Mrs. Department Stores
evening chores begin.
Evening star., 1938-04-10

trio fan on torrid July day. plugged
in an electric curling iron she had in
her shopping bag and set about curl
ing her hair.
Sometimes women come in, stretch
themselves out on a davenport and go
to sleep. Mrs. Department Store can't
permit this. 1t offends the more in
hibited customers and takes up too
much resting room. These women
must be awakened and Informed that
if they aren't feeling well they may
retire temporarily to the clinical
though the clinics primary function
is to care for i'll employees.
Washing bathtubs is job Mrs De-
partment Store doesn't miss, even
though no one sleeps or bathes in her
house. Those model rooms in the fur
nlture department-the bathtubs in
these unused and elegant apartments
must be scrubbed daily. Imagine a
woman being inspired to purchase
seagreen bath accessories in the
presence of dusty tub, whatever its
color!
Bed and table linen and towels on
exhibit in these rooms are laundered
regularly, just as if they were in use
Carpets are vacuumed, woodwork
polished and drapes and pictures dust
ed and adjusted.
IVOU wouldn't think that the wash
day problem would be any concern
of Mrs. Department Store, But 1t is to
the extent that department stores
often operate their own laundries. To
them go the linens used in tearooms
and kitchens, slip covers, curtains,
drapes and the uniforms of maids and
porters, beauty salon and elevator op-
orators and tearoom mattresses. Some
times they even operate their own dry
cleaning plants.
Mrs. Department Store has lots Of
household sewing to take up her time,
Evening star., 1938-04-10

acts Of heroism are rewarded with
special certificates Of valor, which were
prepared especially for members of
the c. C. C. and hundreds of them
have been awarded.
Life in the Civilian Conservation
Corps has taught our youth to live
clean, normal, healthy lives. It has
given them some knowledge of social
discipline. of practical conservation.
America wants citizens with char
acter, determination. self-confidence,
men who can lead with the left and
it is getting them through training
and work in the c. c. c.
Evening star., 1938-04-10

or wad of gum under a counter
ledge.
She gives each department a
thorough going over at least once
every three months. At such times,
she says, department heads are likely
to meet her with a dare in their eyes,
TRY to find something wrong!" She
doesn't miss even the pen points with
which you write Happy birthday"
the condition of waste baskets, pic
lures hanging aslant or the freshness
of silks and papers used in showcase
displays.
Reports made after such investiga-
ton are cryptic-"dust on overhead
pipes" no soap in container," Chew
ing gum on escalator." dust on STAIR
way bannisters," Mot Responsible
signs unframed" initials written on
woodwork" telephone number writ
ten on telephone booth wall"
Nothing escapes her.
She is particularly observant during
inspection, about things that may trip
up shoppers, such as broken steps,
ripped carpets, clothes hangers on the
floor or rubber bands dropped on mar
BILE floors Mrs. Department Store
doesn't like to have her guests falling
down and hurting themselves.
ETERNAL vigilance is necessary to
- keep the rest rooms restful for
tired shoppers. There. she says, the
~ T. to treat customers like
gues| i. private home. And that's
difn. =. because women of all habits
of life apply their lipsticks before the
same mirrors. Tact worthy of dinlo-
mat whose country is engaged ira
undeclared war is often required
Every one comes in-including the
Presidents wife-and it's sometimes
necessary to prevent women from all
walks of life from getting on each
others nerves.
Restroom maids, directly under the
supervision of the housekeeper are
asked to do everything from sewing
ripped hens to administering smelling
salts
Once woman disconnected an cleo
Evening star., 1938-04-10

Built on Forest Roads and Dams
Made to Check Erosion.

live with other men. Many Of them
have found employment in private in
dustries and made good. No longer
are they shiftless, downhearted. The
life they led in camp has made them
men.
Let's take a look at the work done
Despite the tremendous amount of
work already accomplished by the
c. c. c. there still remain thousands
and thousands of square miles of
multilated and barren forests. There
also are many flood d-damaged areas
to be restored, and there are forests
and parks to be maintained and pro-
tected from fire.
DURING the five years the c. c. C..
has been in existence, enrollees
have fought fires on a thousand diff
ferent fronts. Some lost their lives
fighting. They have checked and con-
trolled blister rust in the Northwest,
Dutch elm disease in the Northeast
and pine twig blight in the Southwest.
In the Western forests they fought
bark beetles; in the east, gypsy moths.
Forest insects and tree diseases were
eradicated on more than 100000
acres.
They have planted more than a
billion young trees, built thousands
of miles Of truck trails on forest roads,
completed 100000 soil erosion check
dams. And from their pay of $50 a
month they sent home more than
$435, 100000 to some 100000 de-
pendents.
The c c. G. has always been known
to cooperate in any emergency-great
or small. Within the past five years,
enrollees have given succor to thou
sands of victims of floods. hurricanes,
tornadoes, fires. billiards and droughts.
No task is too hard or too great. Real
Evening star., 1938-04-10
By Joseph Modlens.

TIVE years-l933-l938
~ The Civilian Conservation
Corps has survived the rough
seas. proved to the public that
its tax dollars were put up for good
cause. and this week the Nation steps
out to celebrate-with the best wishes
of President Roosevelt and c. c. c.
Director Robert Fechner.
From Maine to California, Florida
to Washington, camps will open theil
doors and welcome the public to drop
in and see what's been going on for
!. five years. Millions of people will take
Evening star., 1938-04-13
AIR STATION TO GET
new CONTROL TOWER
Will Afford View of Land and
Sea Craft and Direct
Navy's Aerial Traffic.

A new air control tower will be
erected shortly at the Naval Air
Station at Anacostia to keep plane
traf1ic running smoothly, the Navy
Department announced yesterday. 1t
awarded contract for s8,947 to the
w. P. Thurston Co. of Richmond to
erect the tower. Four bidders sought
the job.
Naval officials said the new tower
will be constructed as part of the
cupola on top of the administration
building This will afford a clear
view for both land and sea planes
Under the new plans the cupola is
to be enlarged.
Under an arrangement announced
some time ago. the Army gradually
is vacating old Boiling Field and turn
ing it over to the Navy. When this
is completed. probably several years
hence. the Navy will have all Of ole
Boiling Field, plus their own Nava.
Air Station.
The Army maintains an air contro'
tower, which has been governing fol
some time the joint operations Of
naval and military planes. Naval of.
hcials said they presume the Army
will move its tower south to the new
operations field when that is com.
pleted. Then the Army and Navy
will have their own air control towers
but the program will be co-ordinatec
so as to minimize the danger OF all
accidents.