The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-10-23
. New York
Listening Posi-
Drafting Of Children
Into Industry Harmful
Exieencies Of War Used
As Excuse by Indussrislisis
Adults Available in Many
Cases Under Examination
ny ALBERT n. ENAN


On the pretext Of q manpower
shortage Il creating . revised YER
sion Of the Slaughter % the limo
cents Although the general pub
lie IL not aware Of the situation
the current trend alarms child
welfare altruists. Horrible acct
dents occur TO theslittle folk who
are not sufficiently skilled TO avoid
danger.
A i3-year-oid helper employed
in q Manhattan butcher shop had
his hand impaled by a meat hook.
Another youngster Of Il upstate
was smashed by q tractor plow
which he was operating. One Of
the same age In Kansas delivered
groceries to an eighth floor apart
ment. stuck his head IN an elevator
shaft and was frightfully crushed.
An invalid girf Of IL In Alabama
was compelled TO do a mans job
on a farm. She was 20 weak that
often she had to lie down between
the burrows in order to pick crops.
Finally she suffered a severe heart
attack and died in hospital.
Reports arrive daily at the Ma
tional Child Labor committee IN
New York that indicate q break
down Of the laws regarding the
employment of minors. Often the
violations are committed by repu-
table persons who believe the
emergency requires the services OF
grammar school kids but more
often the cases involve raeketeers
who see chance TO secure cheap
labor behind q screen Of phoney
patriotism.
Educators are begging common
wealths 10 establish special bu-
reaus TO pass on every demand
for child labor. Investigations "a
date reveal that In most instances
adults were available. Teachers
would like to see a psrt-time work
program integrated with the cur
riculum so that tots need not be-
deprived Of their schooling before
1t is necessary.
Little ones when thoughtlessiy
dumped into industry suffer all
manner of abuses. In a midwest.
ern state 16-year-old girls were
forced to drudge IA hours a day
at soda fountains. A Connecticut
practice golf course proprietor
saved money by hiring s-year-olds
to pick up balls after the close
at midnight. Fifteen-year-old pin
boys have been discovered In q
bowling alley as late as three
o'clock In the morning because
the owner pleaded. the soldiers
need them in order to play the
game and keep up their morale. /"
In a southern cantonment neigh
borhood a 14-year-old girl was en-
ployed by a travelling photographer
to attract customers from the
camp. AS a sales inducement she
was required to pose with men.
The usual method was for her to
be Rugged and kissed by the
strangers. In order to circumvent
the age limit law many beer joints
in the Gulf area corral 15-yesr-
olds to serve without pay as bar
maids and depend on tips for COM
pensation. Some Of the dives are
on a 24-hour basis.
strategists beblieve that the A.
rican pot may boil over at any
moment. II it does. q surprise ma
neuver will probably be q flank
movement by the Fighting French
driving north across the Cyrenaica
desert to strike Rommel on his
right wing. Should this attack ma
terialize IT will be the result Of an
engineering miracle.
One Of General De Gaulle's staff
officers now In New York gives
a brief word picture Of conditions
in the French equatorial zone
where United states troops and
his own countrymen are complet-
ing final preparations for the great
winter campaign. One drawback
has been the dearth Of manpower.
The masses assume that because
the Indian and Pacific tropics
TEEN with humanity the same IL
also true Of the Congo. But ma
tive villages in that sector are
few and the tribes are unsuited
10 skilled work. The soil Of the
jungle beyond the river basin often
Ia hard. unfit for planting and for
some peculiar reason unresponsive
to ordinary fertilizer.
Free Cauls built a military high
way from the Chad region to con-
meet with the British rail terminal
in the Sudan II was a back-break-
ing task. A corduroy road was
laid through the swamps and ev-
erything was ready for traffic.
Then came the rains. Unprece-
dented floods washed away the
toll Of months. But now-thanks
10 American materials "A new
path for conquest has been opened.