Evening star., 1942-09-15
Pleads for Quiet for Workers
Who Sleep in Daytime.

VINO Sieep IN Daytime.
To the Editor of The Star:
Have you ever worked from midnight
to 8 am, seven days a week? Do you
realize that there are thousands of men
in Washington and vicinity on this
graveyard" shift in defense plants
which are on 24-hour basis? Have you
ever stopped to wonder how these up
SIDE down" workers live?
These men are the unseen workers on
the production lines of our war ma
chine, unsung heroes working and living
under great hardships. They are not
asking for your sympathy, for your ac-
claim-their only desire is to be able to
serve In this emergency. Many of these
men are your neighbors, and your CO.
operation in the solution OF their prob
lem Is needed in order that they may
continue to work for our mutual defense,
to turn out the weapons so sorely needed
by our fighting forces. These men, like
their fellow Americans, are buying bonds,
collecting scrap, doing everything they
can, but in addition they virtually are
turning their lives, and the lives OF their
families. upside down to do the needed
work for which they are trained during
the shift allotted to them by their super
visors. Won't you help them to help us?
All they ask is the opportunity to get
their eight hours of sleep a day.
My husband chat peculiar pale faced
man next door you see occasionally ar
rives home about 9 am. tired, sleepy,
sallow from lack of sunlight, eyes blood
shot from working under strong lights
all night. He cannot eat much, although
he is hungry, for he is sleepy as well
and cannot go to sleep after eating
heavy meal. He gets to bed about 10
am, desperately in need of rest, both of
us prayerfully hoping that you - our
neighbors-will be kind enough to let
him get that sleep which you so eagerly
sought and enjoyed last night in your
cool, dark, quiet chambers. His room is
not very dark, as he must have fresh air
and it gets pretty hot during the day, but
he is SO tired he could sleep anyway, but
you - our neighbors - are screaming at
your children; Mr.. Brown racing the
motor of his car and honking the horn
furiously as he backs out Of the ga
rage, Mrs. Brown screaming from the
upstairs window not to forget that er-
rand; the doorbell, the telephone bell, the
trash and garbage men tossing the cans
around on the alley pavings, dogs bark
ing, roller skates and scooters up and
down. up and down; the radios turned
on loud so you can hear them anywhere
in ha oil nh
the lady next door practicing scales on
the piano by the hour, the boy prac-
ticing the sax, the violin-all windows
open for the edification of the neighbor-
hood; trucks, sirens, screeching brakes,
horns-bedlam! But all of these noises
are just background lullaby for the
noises made by the children-the chill
dren-playing gangsters, initiating ma
chine guns and zooming airplanes, the
Lone Ranger and Tarzan, shrieking,
fighting, crying, interspersed with just
plain and fancy screaming.
!, Meanwhile, the poor night worker
tosses turns, unable to sleep. BY evening
hunger will force him to get up, can't
sleep anyway, but almost too tired to
eat. Too tired to get out, too, and
wouldn't have time anyway for the trip
downtown and back and time to see
show, as he must be of again by II pm.
Maybe 1t would be better to 60 to bed
later. OF course, you can't have any
recreation then, but he doesn't get any
anyway But, no. the same noises per-
sist. even growing louder later in the
evening. Husbands arrive home-all the
radios on now, news commentators on