Evening star., 1941-10-29
Defense Activities
Turn Norfolk Into
1eeming Boom Town
Population Jumps IS, 900
In Year and Housing
Is Big Problem
BY DON WHITEHEAD.

! NiiooS wiz navy tiiS Gil
swers" haven't had time to get their
bearings.
Nobody knows Norfolk's actual
population. Nobody knows how
many millions of dollars are being
paid in wages to a mushroom army
of defense workers.
Nobody knows how much larger
the great shipyards and naval
bases may grow, or how many more
millions of dollars will be poured
into military construction.
Statistics are obsolete before they
can be compiled. The phrase "as
of month ago. means the in
formation Is as cold as yesterdays
! potatoes.
Key Base of Navy.
/ Norfolk has felt the full force of
/ the Governments vast program to
build the mightiest fleet in the
world. 1t is not only one of the
great Shipbuilding centers, but also
is in the middle of one of the
Navys largest and most strategic
/ operating bases.
! If war should come, the fleet
/ would be in the first line of battle
/ and the Norfolk area would be a
vital factor in the fleets opera
tons. supplying ships with food,
fuel and men.
| Battleships and carriers, destroy
! erS, cruisers. minelayers and mine-
sweepers steal in and out of Hamp-
/ ton Roads, one of the most heavily
fortified and closely guarded spots
along the coast.
Big flying boats such as the
Catalina-the type of ship that
| hunted down the German battleship
Bismarck and sent the British fleet
in for the kill-circle the waters and
head out to sea on patrol missions
while pursuit planes streaG across
the skies.
When the naval expansion pro-
/ gram was inaugurated two years
/ ago, Norfolk felt the first effects.
/ The Navy Shipyard acros5 the Liza
| beth River at Portsmouth and the
! Newport News Shipyar0 swung ito
an unprecedented program of con-
| StructiOn.
Teens With Activity.
/ Now they've reached new pro-
duction peak. The naval oDerating
base teens with activity and thou
sands of enlisted men pour in for
their naval training. The Nays
air station sWarms with men and
machines.
Soldiers in growing numbers
march into camps at Fort Story,
Fort Monroe and Camp Pendleton,
and the aviation center at Langley
Field.
The influx of sailors. soldiers and
civilian workers sent retaiI trade
rocketing upward along with the
cost of living Housing is such a
problem that many NAVY men and
defense workers are turning to
trailer camps as last resort.
There's no class distinction in the
trailer communities. A rear admi-
rails nephew is the neighbor of ship
ward workers in one of them. He IS
Ensign H. L. Kelley, jr.. nephew
of Rear Admiral Manley H. Simons,
who is in charge of the naval oper-
ating base at Norfolk.
Ensign Kelley is an aviator at
tached to the airplane carrier
Ranger. After graduation from the
training school at Pensacola Ensign
Kelley brought his pretty young
bride here and they walked the
streets looking for a suitable house
or apartment
Enjoys Trailer Home.
"We couldn't find anything at a
reasonable price Mrs. Kelley said,
80 We bought a trailer. The pay
ments and utilities aren't any llore
than rent, and pretty soon we'll
own it."
The biggest problem in their COM
pact little home is to find space for
the naval uniforms an ensign must
have-but they manage.
I'm crazy about our nome" Mrs.
Kelley laughed.
And then she pointed al another
| trailer
Those people own a nice home
in Norfolk she explained. When
the boom came. they moved into a
trailer and rented their house.
New homes. apartment houses and
Government housing units are being
| built. but the supply can't satisfy
the demand. Workers are arriving
faster than houses can be built.
More than $4,000 900 in new con-
struction has been completed since
January l and there is still a short
age.
Il know of one builder" a busi-
nessman said, who is selling houses
as fast as he can build them. AS
soon as house is started. people
are begging to buy. They move in
before the plaster is dry"
Outside Capital Used.
Most of the capital comes from
outside sources. Norfolk people say
local capital hasn't forgotten the
| depression days and is fearful of an
other postwar dehation in property
values.
This situation irks many of the
Navy people. There aren't enough
houses at the naval base to provide
for all the officers. and most of them
are forced to find homes in Norfolk.
Rear Admiral Felix x. Gygax,
commandant of the Norfolk Navy
Yard, conducted survey recently
which showed that in Portsmouth
alone more than 5000 defense work.
ers need housing He estimated an
additional 1000 would require hous-
ing within another year since the
yard is employing men at the rate of
1000 month
Norfolk's population in the 1910
census was 144,30O persons, but latest
estimates are that it has climbed to
more than 100000 and still is going
up. Nobody knows how much or
how fast