The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-10-22
THEY PREPARE FOR TROUBLE IN PARADISE

THEY PREPARE FOR
 TROUBLE IN PARADISE
 They're the lads wtho are turn ing 8 lot of these island Para discs" into grim war bases, from which Uncle. Sam can reach out and slap the Japs. A lot of coin jingles in their pockets, the reward of heavy, continuous work. With few ways to spend it at thei. work stations, they are flush.
 Just about typical of these iSland-base workers is 20-year- -old, part Hawaiian Vincent Brady, who recently returned from a project down South" Vincent is a sur veyor and dynamiter. He has desecrated Paradise" by blasting through its thick coral walls, cut ting ruthless swaths through jun gle-thick palm trees to lay out vast fields. He has swum through shark infested waters = and he's gained 20 pounds for all his tough work.
 Vincent arrived at his South Sea, military-secret, island post after long trip at sea on a crowded freighter. On the trip down, a. Jap across their bow, and when the sub had sent torpedo streaming islands long, green shape rose over the horizon, it looked awfully good to Vince and his plas.
 They came in over booming surf in motor launches, to be greeted by natives, some in colorful pareus, others in shorts. Pioneer carpenters hal already set up their city of tents with wooden floors, and there was mess-hal and canteen. The na, tives lived in crude huts of woven coconut fronds and spoke 8 South Sea dialect unfamiliar to Vincent, who knew only England and Ha- waiian.
 "Our days sctarted at a. m," he reports. Sometimes I'd go out surveying, other days I'd swim out to plant dynamite in the coral reef. I had to swim through plenty of sharks in the lagoon and I soon learned not to try and race them back to shore. Take your time and always watch them, and you're not badly off."
 Besides the sharks, the surround ing ocean was full of edible fish which the natives caught for them selves and for the hospital patients Thefe was plenty to eat for all. rORN cROp SPROTTTS
 IN FOUR DAYS
 The island had already been planted with corn Git sprouts in four days in that rich soiD and , there are beets, beans, carrots and even spinach. There are also dairy cattle, ducks, chickens and pigs. At mess, all workers had to wear shirts an dties and eat like gentlemen, Vincent says.
 Each of them was allotted two cans of beer a day. but no hard liquor. However, Vincent discov- cred a potent native drink made from coconut milk, that natives sold at nice profit.
 The night life-of mice and men intrigued Vincent. "The rats, sometimes a foot long, would scamper across out tents at night and beat a weird tattoo on the canvas" he says. "There must be thousands of them on the island. And there are almost as many cats, who spend their evenings capturing them. There are also little birds that live in the tall grasses; crabs, huge fellows, that live in trees; funny little blister bugs that raise a welt on you when they land; ; booby birds that we call dive bomb ers,' because of the way they plunge into the water after fish; large lizards that are always on the alert for the myriads of little flies that populate the island"
 NATIVES GREETED
 JAP "MAN-BIRDS"
 The island had one stir of excite InenC, when five Sap pipianes, eVi- dently carrier based, cruised high above. Luckily, their mission must have been reconnaissance, Vincent believes. They didn't drop bombs, although the entire population took to the palm jungles or sand dunes
 The unsuspecting natives waved friendly hands, and yelled: "Tuo- Wan-A-Geepa' their own word Tor