The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-29


 evening by attendants in charge of gasoline service stations which are serving as depots for contributions,
 Small Army at Work
 Today in various parts Of the city a small army of youngsters, mostly Boy Scouts, were making a very thorough Cearch of homes, yards and even puEl'c dumps in quest of the sorely needed material to enable the United States to provide rub- Der for it's armed forces and for its vast equipment.
 Tn addition to the amount cred- tied by gasoline stations about ten tons additionally were collected by members of the Rotary Club with the aid of members of the truckers union and volunteers.
 It Is understood that several tons have been shipped by local firms to the rubber regenerating plant in Naugatuck and this amount will eventually be credited to Waterbury. The aim of the local committee however Is to obtain 75 tons from the general public. Such contribu- ton will be officially recorded when obtained through the gasoline sta- tions.
 It is now up to every Waterburian anxious for speedy victory to make a last-minute search for scrap rub Der and turn 1t in by tomorrow night.
 Time Extended
 Washington, June 29-(UP)-Pres- ident Roosevelt today extended u1- til midnight July 10 the scrap run- Der collection campaign, which mas disappointed him with a total yield of only 2l9,O00 tons up to June 2T.
 MT. Roosevelt acted on recommer1- dation of Secretary of Interior liar old L. Ickes and William Boyd chairman of the petroleum indus try war council.
 Ickes blamed the disappointing scrap rubber yield on "hoarding" by certain people, including some goV- ernment officials.
 The collection figure of 219'OOO tons excluded scrap rubber turned in to filling stations since June 27 and also excluded rubber now m the hands of approximately 2O'OVO junk dealers.
 While Ickes was talking to White House reporters, he spotted 8 huge rubber mat at the entrance to the Presidents wing of executive of- fees.
 By God, there's a big one," he exploded.
 Whereupon Ickes walked over, laboriously rolled up the heavy mat and had his driver place 1t in the rear of hts car for immediate de- livery to the nearest filling station scrap collection depot.
 White House Secretary stephen T. Early, told of Ickes' action, said NO one from the White House will try to reclaim it-there's no reason why it shouldn't go."
 Early said that the President felt that 'in the face of the various serious needs for rubber, the total collections as reported today are disappointing"
 Hence the continuance o1 the drive" he added.
 Pending release later today of state-by -state figures, Boyd told newspapermen New York state had turned in the lowest per capita amount of rubber of any state in Union n n,adtoxetNewYoru orukldhsr the Union and, next to New York were New Jersey, then Pennsyl- varlia, then Alabama and the Disc trict of Columbia.
 Nevada has made the highest per capita yield, followed by Montana, Idaho, Oregon and North Dakota.
 Ickes said that aside from hoard ing by certain members of the gen. eral public, he suspected "a good deal of rubber could be dug up in government buildings-federal, state and local"
 At the end of the first six days of the campaign the collection total stood at slightly more than 100000 tons. The following six days show ed some slight increase in the rate of collection but the rise was insuf- ficient to diminish the disappoint- ment of the officials heading up the campaign.