Smyrna times., 1944-03-23
STATE RECRUIT
OF FCANNERY AID
War Manpower Commission
Say 10000 Workers Will
Be Required
CALL ON WOMEN

GALL ON WOMEN
While the War Manpower Com
mission is completing plans for
Nationwide drive to recruit more
than 100000 men and women for
work in the canneries and other
food processing plants before the
end of the summer, Delaware's w.
M. c. officials are busy with details
concerning the States share in this
huge program. Paul v. McNutt,
chairman of the War Manpower
Commission, has announced in
Washington that these workers
will be engaged in the major por-
tion of activity in which 10000
100000 pounds of food will be
handled in the course of canning
and packing throughout the United
States. Estimates, as gathered by
Delaware's War Manpower Com
mission aides throughout the State,
indicate that workers here in the
food processing industry will ham
die approximately 2o0,000,o00 lbs.
of fod during the year. The heavy
load, of course, will come with the
peak of the canning season in late
summer.
10000 Workers Needed
Approximately 10000 workers
will be required throughout the
State for this huge task to enable
Delaware to maintain its record in
the canning and packing field. In
addition to these workers required
for the actual handling of food,
hundreds of others will be needed
for logging and sawmill work and
for packaging companies to pre-
pare boxes and crates for the can
ners. Elmer H. Smith, acting War
Manpower Director for Delaware,
in making his plans for the season,
believes that an unusually high
number of part time workers will
have to be signed up and efforts
also are being made to have vaca-
tionists spend their time in this in
dustry to aid in the war effort.
Drive For Woman Power
1t is believed, too, that twice as
many women as in other years will
be required for the work, due to
the inroads in available help which
have been made by the draft and
war plants and their higher pay.
Smith expects most of the workers
to come from the non-working wo-
men in the 20 to 55 year age
bracket and says that Delaware's
drive for Woman power, which now
is in full swing for war plants, will
have to be enlarged to meet the
demands for cannery workers.
Other plans of the War Manpower
Commission, for its offices in Will
mington, Dover and Georgetown,
call for lining up students to work
after school hours and during the
summer vacations; to obtain as
sistance and workers from organ
lied clubs for both men and women
for part time duty and attempts to
line up various groups of boy
scouts for this work.
Line Up Workers
Thomas Russell, manager of the
War Manpower Commissions Of
fees in both Dover and George
town, already has his staff at work
lining up workers for the canning
season. Letters were mailed to
1861 workers who had registered
at the Dover Office and 1869 reg
istered at the Georgetown office.
To date, Russell reports that 18
per cent of the persons who were
mailed letters from Dover have re-
ported they are ready to return to
work while from the Georgetown
records, only 245 have signified
their intention of returning to the
work they have done in other
years. At Georgetown, 21s per
cent of the workers reported they
will not be available for work this
year while at Dover 11s per cent
reported along the same lines.
Russell explained that 133 of the
letters sent out from Dover were
unclaimed and ATT of those from
Georgetown were returned without
reaching the worker. Other an
swers still are being received
daily, but Russell requests that all
workers in Kent and Sussex Coun-
ties returned their questionaires
Immediately so the VINO may be
ablel Ito check thoroughly on the
needs.
Training Within Industry
Russell pointed out that "it
must be recognized that from the
standpoint of experience, most of
the labor recruited for cannery
work this year will not meet the
high standards of the workers to
which the canneries have been ac-
customed. Use of inexperienced
\ o.