The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-17

way 66 because someone to California.
 Someone had had misled the HOakie" and soon he came to per- Vonify anyone who was down on his luck in Southern California. The woods were full of "Oakies." Hol- lywood even made a movie about their sorry plight.
 Now all that is changed. The "Oakie' has found job. All South ern California is gripped in a big war boom; and the "Oakie" is get- ting his share.
 Many of the "Oakies" lack the skill necessary to hold key spots in the aviation industry of Southern California. But the unskilled have replaced workers who could qualify for the better-paying defense jobs. Others found work on the farms and ranches. Still others worked on pri- vate and government construction projects.
 No "Oakle" Problem
 Some of the younger "Oakies" were drafted and eventually there was no "Oakie' problem in Southern California.
 But authorities from San Diego on the south to San Luis Obispo up the coast admit other headaches have succeeded the "Oakie" worry.
 San Diego, for instance, is saying fortunately the fleet isn't in" There was time when that state- ment would have been heresy--a time when every merchant and many young woman anxiously scanned the Pacific for the first sign of the fleet. The fleet in port meant spending money and good time for everyone.
 Now San Diego has her hands full without the fleet and hopes 1t will stay in Hawaiian waters indefinitely. Tn the last year, 8563 new homes, or nearly tWo-thirds as many as were built in the 1o-year period pre- vious, were constructed in San Diego. City officials have asked the gov- ernment to stop permanent housing projects in favor of the demount- able.type house or trailers. San Diego already Is a little apprehen- sive that the pretty bubble may bursS. She does not want to become q ghost town.
 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, with assembly and manufacturing plants in San Diego, employees 27,000 persons. From 500 to 1000 persons are hired each week. The company attempts to persuade middle-west- ernms not to come to San Diego for jobs unless they are skilled labor.
 Another Huge Plant
 Another huge San Diego airplane plant Is the Ryan Aeronautical Company, which employs 30,000 workers and expects to employ 50,- 900 by next spring.
 Thousands of service men flock into San Diego from Camp Callan, Camp Elliott, the marine base, and various nearby naval and air train ing stations. Dance halls, cocktail parlors, bowling alleys and theaters have more than doubled in number. The army has installed 45 experi- enced military police to aid San Diego police in keeping order.
 San Diego's major troubles, to off, set her great prosperity, are lack of housing, schooling facilities, sewage disposal, adequate water supply, and the fact that the traffic death roll by October Il was greater than for the entire year of 1940.
 Inglewood, Cal, home of the North American Aviation Plant, claims to have beaten the housing problem by advanced planning. The towns population increased 5000 during the last year.
 Inglewood is flooded, as are other plane building centers, with youths from the midwest farm country. Most of them have contracted through agents for courses in South ern California aviation schools. Some of them land here with just about enough money to- pay for their schooling. J
 Six Weeks Training
 Most schools give a six weeks train ing course for $150, after which the graduate is supposed to get a job in some large plane factory. Most of them do.
 Inglewood authorities also have discovered that youths from other states hurry there as soon as their local draft board gives them rat ing. They grab off jobs-if lucky in some plane plant and when their draft number comes up, they notify their board that they are working in defense industry.
 Burbank, Cal, because of the great expansion of the Lockheed and Vega plants, sprang from a po- pulation of 34,9O0 in 1940 to 44,000 and still is growing. The big prob- lens in Burbank are housing and traffic.
 At Santa Monica, a beach city and the home of Douglas Aircraft, and other plants, even the golfers have suffered in the interest of defense W1N. .R i.