Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 November 1942 — Page 31

A woman came into the office at . M1 W. Washington st. holding a - child by the hand. She came up to & desk and sat down with a sigh. “Do you suppose you could find Us any kind of a place we could stay?” she asked. She was a soldier's wife. She had come here to be near him. And she had been: looking, looking, lookIng for what to her seemed ages, for just some spot she could move into and call “home.” Her case wasn’t unusual. There's 8 lot of cases like that passing through the home registry office every day of the week,

It’s a Big Job’

Yes, the volunteer workers | thought they could. help her get located. That's their business. But it’s just a part of it. They try to put a roof over the heads of a lot _ of others, too—service men, defense workers and the parents and friends of servicemen here for only a night. It’s a big job but one for which there has been a crying need ever _ since the war began. And as the days go by, it becomes an even bigger problem. At first, agencies like the Family

Welfare society, the Y. M. and Y.

W., the USO and the Travelers’ Aid tried to cope with the cases which came to their attention. The increasing need for a central organization became more and more ap- ' parent.

Mrs. Joseph W. Walden (right), d

9

Staffed by Volunteers

About five months ago, the Council of Social Agencies tackled the problem. It set up an office at 10 E. Market st. It was staffed by volunteers from the office of civilian defense. Just a few days ago, the headquarters was moved into the Claypool hotel. : It offers three primary services: 1. Lists all rooms and :urnished and unfurnished houses and apartments which are vacant. 2. Assigns rooms to those seeking housing. 3. Acts as a referral and information bureau. Its service is free to both landlords and applicants. And the office aids are there every day, seven days a week, from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. There are no bars. White and Negro alike are. served.

Influx Is Growing

Mrs. J. W. Walden, the office director, and Mrs. C. I. Greenlee, the executive secretary, can quote statistics on their work, but the figures really don’t—and, of course,— can’t give the true picture. The influx of new people has become increasingly great in the last month. The personnel at Camp At_terbury and;other stations for the ‘armed forces has grown and .civilian workers, especially women

- from out in the state who come!

here for defense jobs, housed. The Homes Registry did have quite a list of rooms, houses, apartments, etc., available but that list has steadily been shrinking. Mrs. Walden now goes so far as to say the need for vacant rooms, etc. is “acute. ” | How Registry Works Here's how the homes registry works: If you have a spare bedroom, call up the headquarters and let them know about it. Mrs. Walden considers it the patriotic duty of any resident to offer a vacant room— even if she hasn't done it. before. Besides its a simple way to make money. When you call, the office takes

must be!

your name, address and telephone number. This is referred to a group of OCD volunteers who have had a course in investigating housing. They are certified with special cards in order to inspect the rooms. They make notations about the size, bath facilities, etc., on a card. This is returned . to the homes registry office and placed on file.

Begging for Rooms

The landlord also registers with the rent control board. This may be done at 612 Board of Trade building or the form may be filled out right in the homes registry office. If you.do not want permanent roomers, that’s all right with homes registry. They beg for rooms just to be rented for Saturday nights.

Fifteen hundred men were served supper at the Service Men’s club

one Saturday night recently which gives a rough idea of just a part of the need. But the service men are really not the big worry at homes registry for the staff has the feeling that the public will gladly open their homes to them. The worry is about the wives and children who come here to live, the defense workers and the week-end visitors.

The Touching Cases

The wives and children provide the really touching cases. They are the ones hardest to place. It’s the old bugaboo of the landlord saying “no children.” As Mrs. Walden put it up to a landlord the other day: “We can’t just pour a wife and child down the drain and forget about them! Although the man is in the army, he'd like to have them near, if possible,

Eccentric Brothers Buy Home to Prevent Eviction

NEW "YORK, Nov. 20 (U. P.).— The eccentric Collyer brothers protected the mystery of their old brownstone mansion today by buy.ing the place just as a corps of workmen assigned to evict them was starting up the stairs after forcing the barricaded and bolted oaken doors. The Bowery Savings bank had obtained a court order evicting the brothers—members of an old New York family—from the house to which they retired as hermits in 1909 because of their refusal to pay rent or amortize the mortgage. Workmeh hammered at the doors and a throng of some 500 collected,

"drawn by stories that the house

contained a library of 15,000 volumes, a rowboat, an automobile, and anywhere from 10 to 17 grand pianos—but no telephone, electricity, gas or heat. In the crowd was John McMullen, attorney for Langley and Ho-

mer Collyer, who had checks for several thousand dollars which — Langley Homer is blind and paralyzed—had shown no inclination to indorse. The money came from real estate owned by the brothers. As the first workman started into the house, there came a scream. McMullen rushed up the stairs and yelled into the blackness if there was anything he could do. Back came to Langley’s voice, telling him to take whatever measures were necessary to keep the house inviolate. McMullen handed over the checks to representatives of the bank and said he would soon complete the purchase.

WILLKIE RAPS FILIBUSTER

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (U. P).— Wendell L. Willkie said last night that the senate filibuster against the anti-poll tax bill was a perver-

sion} + of the legislative process,

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irector of Homes Registry, makes notations on the room which Mrs. Paul Miljer, 940 Bancroft st., has available,

to keep some semblance of a home atmosphere. What's going to happen to these children?”

about it that way before,” replied the landlord.

Changing People’s Minds

A large part of the work of homes registry is in changing people’s minds. Yes, that’s right. The landlord has an idea about the kind of tendant she would like and the tenant has some pretty specific ideas about the kind of place she would like to live. But this is war and there is a housing shortage and so it must become a give-and-take proposition with homes registry the in-between to try and effect a compromise. Scme landlords don’t get immediate response «on their registrations. Right now, the problem of transportation is a big factor and many roomers and renters want to

“Why, honey, I just never thought

Mrs. Clarence 1. Greenlee, executive secretary, points out the location of a room to Warrant Officer Harlan Gregg of the U. S. marines.

vacancies are badly situated from

the angle of transportation. But, on the other hand, take the need for rooms in the vicinity of the Mars Hill bus line, This summer, men at Stout field were housed in tents. Now that winter is here, some officers are hunting rooms and want them near the Mars Hill bus line so they can ride to the field. If you live in the vicinity and have

a vacant room, homes registry is|.

practically pleading with you to call the staff at MA. 5818.

Big Mail Business

The headquarters does a big cor-|

respondence business, too. Some people hear about it through their Chamber of Commerce or USO in another city and write. No listings are sent through the mail. An ald answers and asks the resident-to-be to call at the office when they come to town. Often there is a call from the union station.

| security in a new situation.

“This is so and so,” a voice oft the other end of the line will say, as if they were the only one expected. But the aid never lets on. “Oh yes,” she answers, “Come to 114 W. Washington st.” And the wife and her child, or the girl defense worker, etc., will soon come in loaded down with luggage. : On Their Own, Then—

They outline what they want and the aids check their files. They send word to a landlord that they are sending out a prospective tenant. Then it’s up to the landlord and tenant-to-be to make a deal. Mrs. Walden pointed out that the landlord is at a liberty to evict, of course, after reasonable notice. And that’s how it, works. It is designed to fill a human need for

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be near their work or station. Some

of Coffee

I n a few days coffee rationing will become a “law of the land.’’ Everyone who enjoys coffee should read Whese questions and remember the answers.

Q. Who is entitled to buy coffee? A. Every person who now has a book of War

Ration Stamps (originally issued for sugar) and was 15 years of age or over at the time of registration.

Q. Suppose I don’t have a “Sugar Book’? A. Consult your local Food Rationing Board. You can register for one now, and if you're over 15 years of age, the stamps will be good for coffee, too.

Q. When can I buy coffee? A. Any time after midnight, Saturday, November 28. From midnight, Saturday, November 21, to midnight, Saturday, November 28, is a “freeze period” when grocers will not be allowed to sell any coffee to consumers. This “freeze period” is for the purpose of giving grocers an opportunity to replenish their depleted coffee stocks. Don’t expect your grocer to sell you coffee next week. You'll just be asking him to break the law.

Q. How much coffee am I entitled to buy under rationing? A. For every person qualified by age, Stamp No. 27 in the “Sugar Book” (lower left-hand corner) is good for one pound of coffee any time between midnight, Saturday, November 28, and midnight, Saturday, January 2. Each subsequently authorized stamp will be good for one pound of coffee every five weeks thereafter. If the basis or method of coffee rationing is changed in any respect, it will be publicly announced and your grocer will also know.

Q. How do I buy my coffee? A. Take your “Sugar Book”. . . War Rationing Book One... to the store with you. Ask for a pound of Hills Bros. Coffee, or whatever brand you prefer. The grocer will detach the proper stamp. He has to see the book because of the age limit. If you order by telephone the grocer’s employee or person authorized by him to make delivery to your home will detach the stamp. Please don’t expect to get coffee without surrendering a rationing stamp. Your

*

The WHO... WHEN. . HOW.. WHY

Rationing

grocer must have these stamps to replenish Ris supply,

Q. Am I limited to buying only one pound of coffee at a time? 2 \ A. No. You can buy as many pounds at a time as your family has stamps for during the specified period. But we urge— for the present at least—that you buy, coffee just as you need it — one or two stamps at a time. Wartime problems of production and transs portation will make it difficult to have plenty of coffee every place at the same time. If you'll help “spread it out” you should be able to get your share always.

Q. If I eat some meals in a restaurant do I have to take my rationing book? A. No, you don’t. Coffee rationing, as we have exe plained it, applies only to supplies for home use purchased through grocery stores. Restaurants, as well as all other “institutions” such as defense plants, hospitals, schools and any other group that purchases coffee for serving as beverage, are authorized to apply to Rationing Boards for certificates enabling them to purchase amounts of coffee which will permit servicg

on a rationed basis.

Q. I have a boy in the Armed Forces. Will it give him more coffee if I don’t buy any coffee at all? A. No, it won't help him a bit. Coffee to every branch of the Service is exempt from rationing. And Uncle Sam is giving the boys not only more, but better coffee than they have ever had before.

Q. And finally—Why has coffee been rationed?

A. Even if the rationing of coffee doesn’t permit you as much coffee as you would like to have, please don’t think of it essentially as limitation. It is limitation in a sense, since supplies of green coffee from our neighboring Latin American countries have been reduced by a shortage of ships. But we've all got to be good sports. They can't ship it... we can’t roast and pack it...you can't drink it. The thing to do is to look upon coffee rationing primatily as a guarantee that every person will be permitted to buy as much as his neighbor. It is to be hoped that as the problem of supply and demand becomes adjusted through the functioning of coffee rationing, you may be allowed to have morg coffee. -

HILLS BROS COFFEE, INC.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA * PLANTS AT SAN FRANCISCO AND tarts oe

Established 1878