The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-10

Handicapped as they are by lack of office equipment and clerical help Connecticut's 169 local OPA War Price and Rationing Boards still aren't candidates for the "too little, too late" school of thought.
 The little they have is being made to serve the purpose and then some, according to Chester Bowles, State OPA Director.
 In an interview today, Bowles said he couldn't exaggerate the unselfish roles being played by the men and women who are members of our local boards"
 'They are showing Yankee pa tience and ingenuity in surmount- ing obstacles which would dispirit a less resourceful group"
 The OPA chief explained that the shortages of equipment and help are natural in the rapidly growing state organization particularly since 1t has been the policy of Congress to rely on volunteer workers to pro- mote the expanding program.
 Some boards aren't only short of help and office equipment = they are even shy regular office space, Bowles revealed. In more than one case, the board chairman has solved this problem by dedicating room or two in his home to OPA work, thus ditching that most precious man's-home- -is- -his-castle ideal.
 One of the minor handicaps con- fronting many volunteer OPA groups is the nationwide scarcity of typewriters, Bowles pointed out.
 "You can imagine the technical problems of the board unfortunate enough to have acquired a type writer that types capital letters only or typewriter whose Keyboard Is innocent of symbols. Yet, this is the sort of thing the board mem bers have had to cope with, besides handling the numerous applica- for gas, sugar and tires.
 Filling these applications is job in itself. But speaking of files brings to mind the fact that many of the boards - the majority of them-haven't been able to buy fil- ing cabinets as yet. Some of them have found a temporary solution in the use of shoe boxes and packing cases, and one board, situated in 8 has converted a couple of cases to meet filing cabinet needs"
 Bowles related how one local OPA group met shortage of ap- plication forms not by setting | around and waiting for batch to be sent from the Hartford OPA Headquarters but by typing Up a stack of the long carefully worded sheets.
 Another board finding itself with put any chairs borrowed 8 half dozen from funeral parlor.
 When the eight county boards apprised the local boards under their jurisdiction that the stock of big manila envelopes was exhaust ed and probably wouldn't be re- olenished for several weeks, Yankee thrift was unabashed. The board clerks simply rounded up all the ranked envelopes that had been carrying memoranda and booklets from the county and state offices turing the last few weeks, and packed them back to the county chairmen.
 "Even now, when the envelope shortage is not quite so acute, many of the board clerks carefully save any likely looking envelope for future use," Bowles continued.
 "When the papers carry stories of soldiers devising antitank bombs rom bottles of gasoline or incen- iiary bombs from a broken gun bar- .el and a pound of explosives, I'm not surprised" Bowles said. T think hose soldiers must either come from Connecticut or have Connecticut 
 BowleS sees the situation easing