Evening star., 1940-11-30
S1o,OOO,OOO Camp,
9O-Day Wonder,
booms TuIIahoma
Tennessee Town
Mushrooms as Workers
Flock In by Hundreds


"A flamboyant figure is apt: The
guns of Europe are echoing as ham,
mer blows in the woods Of Camp
Peay.
At first this sort of comparison ap-
pears justified; consideration makes
1t seem gaudy, but after driving for
three hours about this vast area
where one of the Nations Army
cantonments is being constructed
much of it at night-the figure of
speech again appears significant
and sound.
Many square miles of thick trees
and brush are cut by twisting, al
n1Host indiscernible trails, on which
camp patrolmen lose their way;
trails that suddenly end in SYM
metrical rows of concrete founda-
tion posts Zone could think them
gun emplacements) that weren't
there yesterday. Suddenly the sta
ton wagon bounds over a deep rut
rounds sharp turn, and little knots
OF men are working under food
lights, pushing wheelbarrowS, lifting
timbers.
Worn men, idle between the ar
rivals of straining trucks, warm
themselves at red bivouac fires.
One sits wearily on a dead tree.
II worked 16 hours yesterday and
last night" he says.
90-Day Wonder.
This is the impression obtained
on a night tour taken after the
word spread that "Tullahoma is q
roaring boom town. Camp Peay is
on 24-hour shift"
The facts in no way contradict
this impression. Camp Peay, as all
Tennessee knows, Is a real "90-day
wonder'-a $10,0O0,O00 project that
must be completed in 80 days-by
January l. Thousands of men are
working there-about 5000 now, au-
thorities said, 1900 within another
week.
Fourteen hundred and thirty-six
buildings must be constructed to
house a force of 250O0 soldiers-a
complete division, reinforced by
corps artillery and station hospital
The hospital unit alone will con-
sist of 68 buildings. There will be
three theaters, three fire stations.
q modern bakery, a $5OO,OOO laun-
dry, hostess houses, dance halls,
service clubs, 10 guardhouses. The
camp will be occupied after the first
of the year by National Gaurdsmen
from Tennessee, Illinois, Colorado.
The 191st Artillery will be there.
The camp is to remain as perma-
nent equipment for the country's
expanding Army. 1t is one of Is
being constructed.
Attracted by pay roll estimated
at $150,000 for the past week, work.
men are pouring in from hundreds
Of miles around. From Winchester.
Gallatin, Cleveland, Nashville, Chat
tanooga, even from Gatlinburg in
the Smokes and Chickamauga and
Louisville and Vicksburg they come,
drawn by the magnet of wages rang
Ing from As cents to $3.50 an hour.
Many Broke, Many Faint.
Many are long haired, hungry,
s1broke. They line up, 800 or 400,
Every morning. Some faint in line,
others collapse on the job, because
pay day Is not every day, and only
money talks now in Tullahoma.
The men must register at the
Tennessee Employment Offlce here
or at a similar Office in the State
and wait until they are called. The
camp is "open shop" but union men
are employed without discrimina-
ton. Men line up in front of union
Offices in the town until traffic is
blocked. Skilled workmen are re-
quired to pay a union fee of $40,
payable at the rate of So a day.
Common laborers under the juris-
diction of the Hod Carriers Union
are assessed $40, payable within two
weeks.
1--WE have more workmen in this
area than are needed" was the
crisp comment at the Office of the
constructing quartermaster. THE
only possible need would be for men
In the highly skilled trades. If such
. need should arise call would be
Issued" :
Yet worker after worker talks
some even complain-of the long
hours. The work consists of seven
days.
Don't know when I'll be of.
Been workin' since T."
~ Negro sings while tamping wet
concrete with rounded 2-by-4.
Sixteen hours yesterday. Come
on, you overtime-you time and q
half"
TullahOma Boom.
Meanwhile Tullahoma is in reality
q boom town. Every room is rent
ed, tents are filled, unpainted sheds
with canvas tops face the camp
entrance, hundreds of makeshift
restaurants and hotels have sprung
up in town. Bed and board, even
If bare and plain, is priced here,
however thick your bank roll.
Tullahomans are perhaps dazed
by the prospect of sudden wealth,
but they are not blinded. Men
who go miles-maybe hundreds of
miles-for a job at hard labor,
leaving their families, are not likely
10 be suckers. Hamburgers cost Is
cents. A solid meal can be bought
for 30 cents, some places for IS.
Space to stretch out and sleep
comes higher. Yet bed and board
can be had for $40 week.
The boss of this vast project is
Maj. Carl H. Breitwieser, whose title
Is constructing quartermaSter. He
Is the man in charge of all opera
sions.
He is a brisk, cheerful man of
about 40, who spent seven years at
Fort Oglethorpe. He occupies a
small office at the end of the long,
bare-boarded headquarters office
near the camp entrance. A round
stove stands at the other end. He
and five others were detailed by
the War Department to build Camp
Peay. About 20 stenographers and
elay4a toka aoro nf fna nf0co Ia