Evening star., 1943-01-10
Ration Board Agents Met With Rudeness
Volunteers Work
Long Hours, Get
Small 1hunks

| SsssSss ISsbtNS
Last week The Star printed a
story describing the trials and
tribulations OF Arlington County
residents iDho Dere said to ,D0tt
in line for hours before the
County Rdtio1,ing Board in order
to obtain gasoline or fuel oil.
Miss Bnrter's story today giDes
the boards side OF the question:
BY MARJORIE BARTER,
Arlington Ration Board Volunteer worker.
The national rationing picture has
two sides to it. One is the familiar
panorama of long lines of ruff1ed
citizens waiting for books-any kind
of book. The other, considerably less
familiar, is an interior shot Of the
workings of rationing board.
Understaffed through lack of con-
gressional appropriation, rationing
boards function by the volunteer
system. Volunteers have done q
heroic job, but when Mrs. Jones
young son falls down the coal chute
she stays home from her volunteer
| job That means one less brain, one
less pair Of hands and one extra
half-hour that somebody has to wait
for his gasoline book.
Membes of the boards are all VOL
unteers, too. They are men Of high
standing in their community who
have to make living outside of the
long hours they put in listening to
appeals, making decisions in critical
cases and digesting the tremendous
volume of information that pours in
from OPA headquarters.
Serves 100000 Persons.
The Arlington County Rationing
Board handles the needs of 100000
persons. The Offices open at. $50
a m. and the paid staff of II, plus
all available volunteers, has until 10
m. to complete files from the pre-
vious days work, get up records for
State and regional Offices and build
up morale for the frontal attack
commencing when the doors open.
The methods of attack vary, but
all of them indicate that the general
public has no real understanding of
the difficult processes of rationing.
The man in the fuel oil line may
have to skip his lunch to stay in
place, but the clerk who is at the
head of the line will skip hers, too.
She did yesterday and she will to-
morrow. He can get cross (he US
ually does, but she can't afford to.
The day for her moves on relent-
lessly with the friction and emotions
that accompany dealings in human
relationships.
Finally at $3.50 pm. the doors OF
the Arlington board are closed-a
hollow phrase. for there are enough
persons closed inside the doors to
keep the board functioning until 6
pm.
Work 16 Hours Daily.
So it's 6 o'clock So what? Well,
that's the time to get some food,
because the board works again at Z.
On Monday nights it's the tire panel,
on Tuesday the board meets. We'd
nesday night is the regular night
for all persons who cannot get in
during the days. Thursday is over
time night and Friday is fuel oil
appeals. That totals very neatly
into 16 hours day five days week.
with Saturday morning thrown in
for good measure. After that sched-
ule it's pretty hard to take the ami
mostly and rancor that the public
has vented on rationing boards since
their inception.
The other day man came into
the Arlington offices for a tire Ger
| tificate He was handed one for a
retread. "Oh no, want a new tire, !"
he insisted. The weary clerk smiled
so do we all, but you were rec
commended for retread and that is
all the board can grant you" The
mans face Redeemed. II want new
tire or nothing"
He slowly and deliberately tore
the certificate in pieces. The clerk
reached out a hand. I'm sorry, sir,
but I have to have that certificate"
"All right, lady. Here 1t is-frame
it." He took careful aim and threw
the pieces in her face.
Applicants Are Unthinking.
A meeting of the county's tire in
spectors was being held in the Offices
the night that fuel oil coupons were
issued at local schools. A clerk,
taking notes on the meeting, looked
up to see large gentleman in the
doorway. will you please get me
my oil coupons?" he asked politely.
She explained that they were being
Issued at the schools and that he
had plenty of time to get there.
yes, know" he nodded, but this
is much handler"
Well, it hadn't been very handy
to get 10000 books ready to be
issued. Forty men, all volunteers,
had worked four nights a week
for two months processing the books,
The paid and volunteer staff labored
day and night to write them up.
No sooner were they issued when
nearly all the householders streamed
back into the officers You've
made a mistake on mine" II can't
keep warm on this" MY neighbor
got 100 gallons more than l." The
board took the situation in hand
and shortly discovered the truth
IS per cent of the errors in COM
putting were errors OF the applicant
himself.
It's hard to stand in line for an
hour or more to get a ration book
and it's harder when, through error,
man has to come back again. But
inside that Office that looks like
Utopia to his weary eyes there are
on file 100000 war ration book rec
ords, 10000 supplemental gas ap-
plications, 10000 fuel oil applica-
tions and. recent addition, 5000
tire serial records.
Through the welter of worry and
i'll will, rationing boards will con-
tinue to function-and somebody
will always be able to muster a CO.
herent answer when. as last night,
the telephone rang at midnight and
sweetly feminine voice cooed,
When do you close?"