Evening star., 1942-09-13
BY Sigrid Arne,
Wide World,

Wide World
LIE SUEUR, Minn.-It was 2 am.
There was big, yellow harvest
moon. The dew was thick. We
stopped at a huge, yellow brick
plant, glowing with light, thump-
ing with action-one of the plants
run by the Minnesota Valley Can
ming Co., which is turning out
some of the canned corn and peas
you and I, and the Army, Navy and
Marine Corps will eat this winter.
A placard at the door said: RE
stricted area by order of the War
Department"
The armed guard peered through
the moonlight and then tipped his
cap to John McGoyern, company
personnel manager. CYes. it's the
John McGovern who was Mime
sofas first all-America, picked by
Walter Camp in 1909. He was a
whirlwind at quarter. He's still, evi-
IDENTIFY, a whirlwind)
"Evenin', john" said the guard.
Evening, Mac. Looks like we'll
make 1t early tonight"
Yep, bout finished the run"
McGovern pointed to the big yard
alongside. There was a string of
wagons with cratelike sides heaped
to spilling with green ears of corn.
Just about II carts left" he said.
wen finish that easy. But some
nights we run straight through to
the am. day crew. You see, the
corn has to be canned five hours
after it's cut. So it takes team
work"
Teamwork Saves Labor.
It's that teamwork I want to tell
about. Because it's the most intel
ligently handled labor shortage
story I've run across in months.
This company, in South Central
Minnesota, is the biggest corn and
pea canning operation in the world.
1t turns out 10 per cent of all the
canned peas and corn we eat a year.
And we ate 624,000,000 cans of peas
last year. This year it will be
1854 100000 cans, And 35 per cent
of it all goes to the armed forces.
There are seven towns, seven can
neries, 10000 acres and 1000 farm
ers tied into this Minnesota drive
to get out the canned peas and
corn.
They're storybook towns-quiet.
white houses, big zinnia beds, huge
elm trees. LIE Sueur is the head
quarters. And De Sueur is proud
it's the childhood home of the Mayo
brothers. The old Mayo home is now
the town library.
So, the seven towns count up to
11,000 people. But this one COM
pany needs 1000 workers for the
two peak production months when
they can. The peas are already
warehoused. The corn is running
through.
Back last winter McGovern knew
his plant would have to scratch for
1000. He keeps records of workers
and writes them each winter. "Will
you be coming back?" So he has a
start. But this year it looked slim.
The draft has taken so many
young men. The wives of 3-A men
deferred because OF dependents)
were afraid to take jobs. Hundreds
left the valley for war jobs. The
Mexicans who usually arrive from
the Southwest were being decoyed
by all sorts of defense jobs at home
The lack of men and women could
mean we'd lose a large portion of
the corn-pea crop. AS it is now,
10 per cent of the green pea pro-
duction is decaying in the fields.
That's the estimate of the COM
pany's statiStician, William Dietrich.
There just weren't the men to get
the peas harvested and canned.
Right now it looks like We'll get
all the sweet corn
McGovern started by writing
colleges in early spring. Hundreds
of students signed on. Then, there s
Mexican, on the year round pay
roll, who started early to line up
his countrymen.
MC1ONeIu SOI more registrations
from Sioux and Chippewa Indian
reservations for young men. The
squaws wanted to come, too. but it
was too late to build housing for
them. 1t seems wigwams are passe.
High school boys signed up. But
the Walsh Healey Act prevented
signing of girls under 10, except
under such fancy regulations that
they couldn't be used in canneries.
TownsfOlk Helped.
The toWnsfolk signed-mayors
hardware dealers, garage men, Of
flee workers, housewives, teachers.
All Of them to work after they'd
finished their regular days work.
McGovern was still short. He got
his final margin at two State in
stltutions. He found several work
crews among the more trusted in
mates of the State insane asylum.
They're not clear on some things,
but they're all right in the fields,
under guard. He got more crews