Evening star., 1942-10-25

oue soluClOn Wnlcn, II not entirely
The elderly woman was due I
she went to bed early and slept unit
so he occupied the berth from 3
Then it was the USO workers
her destination until early afternot
and noon. The porter, of course, {
of linen.
USO Traveller Must
Exercise Ingenuity.
Turning night into day, howey
the USO worker-especially when
she's on the road. according to Miss
Anne Sarachon Hooley, assistant di-
rector of the National Catholic
Community Service, which is one OF
the six agencies in the USO pro-
gram. And as areas where there
are USO clubs are always over
crowded boom town" communities,
ingenuity is often required If the
USO traveller Is to find a place to
sleep.
In one Southern "boom town, "
Miss Hooley said, one of her staff
members was offered half of a bed
with an occupant she had never
seen at $14 week.
In another instance she was forced
to take a room 60 miles from the
club she was visiting, with her only
means of transportation provided
by bus with highly erratic sched-
ule. Her daily routine for the
length of her visit was to get up
In time to take a bus at Sis am.
and, theoretically, to return home"
on the 11:15 pm. bus.
But all transportation schedules
are apt to go awry in such areas,
and more often than not the last
bus left at midnight or later. On
one occasion, when the bus broke
down, the worker reached her lodg-
ings by 4:3O am. and left again at
6:l5 am.
It is the wives, mothers and sweet
hearts visiting servicemen in the
various camps who have the most
trouble, however, as they are usu-
ally unaccustomed to dealing with
such situations and often fail to
make necessary arrangements in
advance.
Crowded conditions in Washing
ton have been we'll advertised, Miss
Hooley pointed out, but many peo-
Pile fail to realize that housing in
most defense areas is almost as bad
If not much worse.
Visitors to Camps Find
Severe Housing Problem.
A wife will come into USO Club
at one of the camps and say that
she would like nice room, as she
doesn't know when she be able to
see her soldier husband again. And
the USO Club is lucky If it can find
her any room at all.
Then there was the case Of the
mother whose son became i'll. She
hastened to his training center but
made poor connections and arrived
about am. at one of the USO
Clubs operated by the Women'S
Division of the National Catholic
Community Service. Noting an au-
tomobile outside, she found its door
unlocked and crawled in to spend
the rest of the night there.
She had only S6 in her pocket
book. because she had left in such
hurry, but the USO Club managed
to find a place for her during her
stay.
While visitors to camps and other
defense areas are confronted with
a severe housing problem, their
plight is temporary and, therefore,
much less difficult than that OF
construction workers and others
who must make boom towns" their
home.
In one town near a bomber plant
every garage in the community has
been turned into a dormitory, with
a stove in the middle, Miss Hooley
said.
In such areas, USO workers point
out, a recreation center has vast
Importance.
Finding living quarters for girls
working in war industry areas is
especially difficult, because so many
people with rooms to rent specify
men only"
For women war workers the Wom-
ems Division of the National Catho-
lie Community Service provides
more than 80 clubs.
USO Club Entertained
1000 in One Week End.
The USO Club here at 1914 N
street NV, although slanted for
the Government girl" is typical OF
the general program carried out
through the Catholic agency.
Opened the latter part of June
with a regular attendance OF about
$50, 1t entertained approximately
1000 persons last week end.
Attendance is not limited to girls
and women, and number Of serv-
icemen find 1t a popular place. AS
one staff member put it: THE men
like to come because the girls are
there"
In addition to its varied recrea-
tional and utility facilities-pianos,
game tables, a sewing room, a kitch-
en-, reading and writing rooms, and
the like-the club also has living
accommodations available to new
arrivals for periods Of about 10
days or two weeks. While the girls
become adjusted to their new jobs
here the USO helps them find
permanent living quarters which
are on the approved list.