The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-09-13
THESE WORKERS
LOOK TO FUTURE
WITH CONFIDENCE
BY VERNON Enr,.

BR1ncEpNn nUN EDWARDS
working men and WON an - , Thu
[ port would laugh if you ca III sS'tdse.
s sne problem children Of An u nem
And now that the war r,.,..
closing down, they're ton p b1' are
ung new Jobs to talk s boSy GET e
ment. VI 0aemploy.
But their story is import,r. =.
day. For these one,time p W.T. TO-
s s[s, many of whom came here f tpoa,
sleepy s,e,eE: towns hundreds Of m 1lUm
away, are typical Of mi III 1niles
americans ea,'e!l1 who helped win "t b o. y
cruclal battle of production s !.
now must be modified for bi rau
geared peacetime economy l Nigh
Bob Williams, 40, the father :.
three kids, helps tell that stor o.
wv came acre three years aoo
from New England town v,n asu
wasn't caught up in the war boon
ne got job making military nra'
clSlon instruments and, what pi.h
a week. ' 9O0
The Williams family, which had
known hard times, was able ~
catch its breath at last. ThousS
they were one of 1900 migr.nt
iamlll-s packed into crowded room
ing houses, Bob's wages covered
all looming living costs and lst.
something over for a war bond
each month.
When the war ended, Bob W.,
one of the $4,000 Bridgeport war
workers to lose their Jobs. He wen,
down to apply for unemploymen,
compensation and was offered =
new job - this time at a plant
turning out civil.a an goods
There would be no overtime in
this new job, and at the end of the
week, Bob would have only about
S35. The comedown was a little
hard to take.
But Bob Williams sat down and
figured that $35 was about what he
had been making before the war
He would take the job for a while
and hang on to his war bonds In
about six months he would bring
his family and his savings back
t that New England town - where
living is easier.
Bob Williams hopes that the liv
ing costs which rose so high dur.
ing the war will level off now. The
lush days are gone, but he figures
to do all right.
Then there's Sam Watson Before
the war he lived in Marina Village
one of Bridgeport's slum clearance
projects. To live there in those
days, family's earnings couldn't
b. higher than about SIS a week,
and most of the time, this came
from some form of relief.
With the war, Watson got Job
making vital electrical instrument.
used on ships. His wife who never
had worked, also got job. And
daughter who had been waitress
on and off was working steady.
Marina Village became a War
Housing Project. Because he was
in war work, Watson was allowed
to stay on. That little row Of
houses, once filled with poverty,
now echoed the boom. By 1914, at
least per cent of the families
showed more than one member
working, and in some cases, it was
as high as four.
Watson and his wife lost their
jobs on the same day. The daugh'
ter by this time had worked up to
head waitress, and kept hers.
Like Bob Williams, Watson was
working within a few days for less
money. His wife counted the war
bonds and decided she would go
back to the kitchen. The Watsons,
who remember gloomier days
aren't kicking.
There's one other reason why
Sam Watson doesnt mind the end
of the war boom. His son was IN
San Francisco, waiting to ship oul
tc the Pacific, when peace came
Most of the Sam Watsons Of
Bridgeport and America know TO-
day that that joyous return OF theF
soldier sons must bring with 1t
new employment problem. lhey
expected it all along.
If they're union men, and most
are in Bridgeport, they talk about
such things as the full employment
bill, extra unemployment colnpen'
satior, a national minimum wage
of SIS cents an hour and paid tran
sportation to new Jobs.
They saw their I'm on chiefs WORK
well with industry in Bridgeport
during the war. And today they
have a quiet confidence that things