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The Seaforth News, 1941-08-28, Page 7:t 1 THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1941 THE SEAFORTEI NEWS PAGE SEVEN' ousing The Canadian War Workers etavouvIANIARMSeeteetiAMOMAIWVIA The war has chauged Canada's of- ficial outlook on housing and has put J. W. Pigott Is President the Dominion into the home building business, It has done this by creat- ing un entirely new set o f housing problems to be added to the existing 0i0e8 which were in themselves be- coming roiIlplieated enough, says Leonard L. Knott, ill 'Canadian edginess." t)etore the war there was a short-. 1t„ of some 100;000 hones in Canada tine I.+ the alums! coupled' lack of residential building during the de. pression. Cnlmtlencing in 1987,when the Notional Huttsing Act was filet introduced. some efforts wore made to take up this slack but progress was slow and only during the 12 or 18 months prior to the outbreak of war was construction getting into its full stride and accelerating to a point where it appeared likely that even normal annual requirements were be- ing reached. With the placing of nanny of our largest war industries in small imvns ,,r• semi -rural areas, we are faced ith a housing problem wbich 011151 1,1ve,1 with an eye to both tire`- ent end post-war ooltditinlll, To meet the, need the government is Melding Ill rcliy thousands of new homes which. depending on the total seem - tion, aro 1leing completed in a mat- Ier of weeks, days nr even hours. Additional workers employed on war industries in Canada during 1041 total approximately 200.000. A sub- stantial part of this total will be employed hi new industries or in plants which are still to he erected. At some industrial sites absolutely no accommodation is available and many large plants requiring thous- ands of workers are being built in ulwns with populations of less than years old, the son of a prominent 1 iMac people. In one town a new Canadian contractor who founded the plant. which will open ibis fall, will bran Mr. Pigott now heads. The employ 3.11110 people, Present popula- company has built nanny of Canada's tion of the town is about :1,000. Tile ont4tanlliug Minding», notably the influx of these needed workers and Royal Ontario llustnua, the Bank of their dependents will increase tite Canada, Ottawa: tate Basilica of town's population by npprnxlnmtelvCinest the King. Hamilton; and the 10,000. The population will then rise Pigott Building in Hamilton. from 3,000 to 13,001) and the factory cannot go into operation until homes for workers have been built. That is an outstanding example, but it is only necessary to consider the vast migration of workers that is now under way to realize the vast problem with which the nation is faced, Lack of sufficient housing for war workers is obviously bad for Morale and disturbing to the thous- ands of families concerned, Carrying on emergency !lousing re- search, Mr, Frank W. Nicolls and the 17 arehftects who work with !lint in the Housing Administration at Ot- Iawn, began preparations for the auto 1011et1 large et•ale government housing would become a national Polley. Iu co-operation with 111auufae. turers of building nniterini0, contrite. tors t1ut1 architects. the Housing .ad- ministration designed and tested pre- fabricated houses which could be built in record time. would he effici- ent as well as economical and could be demounted after the emergency was over and transferred to other locations. These plans were com- pleted and tested and a model house had actually been 1(11111 when. in 1401011, the Government announced formation of Wartime Housing Lint- ited, a government building company headed by J. M. Pigott:, of Hamilton, Ontario. Wartime Housing I..imited is a gov- ernment owned -company: with its own staff of architects and snrvey- m:. Nnrt-rys are now being cnuthnet- ed aeroge 1'anatia with a view U1 cpliek building of flouter in emergency urea s. Till' government company does 110 eallstrtictioa work 00 its own but lets out contracts to private con- tractor(, preferably to general con- trarlors who are equipped to handle large jobs, President of the company is .T. M. Pigott; vice-president. W. L. Som- merville; general manager, Victor T. Goggia. Mr. Pigott, a native of Ianlilton and well-known in that city where he !wads Pigott Construc- tion Company, 11 -as appointed to his war -time job last March, He is ,11 :ems Duplicate Monthly S tatetnents We can save you mauee on Bill and Charge Forms, standard sizes to fit Ledgers, white or colors. It will pay you to see our samples. Also best quality Metal Hinged Sec- tional Post Binders and Index The Seaforth News PHONE 84 The World's News Seen Through THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR An International Daily Newspaper is Truthful—Constructive—Unbiased—Free from Sensational. ism — Editorials Are Timely and Instructive and Its Daily Features, Together with the Weekly Magazine Section, Make the Monitor an Ideal Newspaper for the Home. The Christian Science Publishing Society One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts Price $12,00 Yearly, or $1.00 a Month. Saturday Issue, including Magazine Section, 02.60 a Year. Introductory Offer, 6 Issues 23 Cents Name Address SAMPLE COPY ON REQUEST Mr, Pigott, was president oC the Canadian C!oustruetdon Association, 1923.24; president, the Hamilton. Chamber of Commerce, 1932-33; chairman, apprenticeship board, Pro- vince of Ontario, 1828.32; and is now a member of the National Labour Supply Council at Ottawa. Directors of the company, in addi- tion to the officers, are: Wilfrid T. Gagnon, Montreal; Ernest logics, London, Ont.; Wm, E. Tibbs, Hali- fax; R. J, Cowley, Winnipeg, and Hedley C. Wilson, Saint John, N. B. Just how many homes will be built this year or next by Wartime Hous- ing Limited is not known even in Ole tawa. Tho number depends Upon ctr- etlnlllt.ancee, but work involving 1)1':? construction of snore that 1.1901 hooses has already comm«,ureal in 11 number of scattered 0(r_1lnntlir ,,,.. n3111 as 0011' factories roue Ue into pro-. duction and honsin b.cunlls an )4.. - gent need and cnntra.t' awarded. By the middle of clay- Il,iit:rs. where a housing antes gency ha:; ex- isted ever since the beginning of X11,. war, reported that Wartime H1a.;it14 Limited was building WOrker4' lenne1 at the rate of eight or mire a day- in five sections of the city. At the sant" tine it was reported that the Brook. field Construction Company of Half - fax had been awarded a contract for building four staff houses and 226 single dwellings costing approxi- mately 3500,01)0, with the work to he t•a111pleted in ten weeks. )4tuee the:: reports of similar pro- jeeis have cane front old and new industrial centres aoross t:anada. ;4t. ('atharines reported Wartime Hous- ing Limited heat r011tl111 tl>d to Ir11il11 7 5n 1holitos 111 ar neat' the city for v. -at' workers. III addition another 50 bau- galowe are under construction to ac- commodate munition workers in two major industries'. . In St. Catharines. there will be a dormitory for 81)0 then and gall prefabricated bunga lows. At Kingston contracts have been let for 2511 single family units, three staff houses and a commissary. Hamilton already hag under way a project for the construction of tween 100 and 204 hnu:eee. Windsor has loll housee under raltstruetion. Peterborough 30 and Fart Erie 209. In Welland a complete new mantel - pal district is under way including hnil,l)ng of new 8(0eets and pelvis• ton of all municipal services. More than 100 houses aa',l under construc- tion for the new idistriet and play- grounds, cch'ols- and other facilities are included in the development. In Brownsburg, Quebec, mora than 100 homes have already been built, Foie of them completed in nine hours). The problem confronting War- time Housing Limited on its incep- tion was threefold. First was the Problem of finding out where hoot- ing was most urgently needed and. how much was required. Second was the method under which construc- tion onstruetion should be carried out in regard to co-operation with municipalities, lease or purchase of land, payment of taxes, etc. And the third 'was the cost and type of homes to be built. All these problems had to be consid- ered and answers secured before awarding of contracts or actual building could commence. The third problem. the cost and type of houses t0 be built. has not yet been completely solved and the government project may still be said to be in the experimental stage. The entire question of prefabrication of houses is involved in this problent and consideration must he given to the fact that Canadian climatic con- ditions, availability of materials and municipal preferences stake it im- possible to follow literally public housing projects in the United States and other countries. in the United States, for instance, where consider- able experimenting with prefabricat- ed dousing has been carried on for the past ten years, all -steel houses have been developed with consider- able success. Steel, however, is not considered a suitable material for wide Canadian use. In the first place steel is a bad insulator and insula- tion is extremely important where for half the year heating is required. Secondly, use of steel for home con- struction could hardly be considered at this time when steel is so greatly needed for war production. Architects in the National Hous- ing Administration had given consid- erable attention to the question of prefabrication and early this year had developed a building method which seemed entirely suitable fo-r Canadian conditions, practical and economical. Making use of building materials already available in Can- ada, the administration had created new forms which speeded up pro- duction without lessening oriciency or injuring appearance. Under this system full size wall, floor and roof panels were developed, with standard size frames, all parts interchangeable, and various factory fabricated materials used. The plan, as developed by the administration, was to have these panels manufac- tured In factories during the winter months so that they could be ship - • - CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER FLIES TO BRITAIN Making has fleet airplane flight an epic one, the )light Honorable W. L. Matfkmzie Mpg. Pti:ae Minister of. Canada, arrived in Great Britain recently by bomber after a successful trans-Atientee crossing. Accatltpenying the Prime Minister were various Gover0:uent officials including Narnlau A. Robertson. Lander -Secretary of State for External Affair,, and Brigadier George P, Vanier, former Canadian Minister to France and present Command- ing Officer of Quebec Military district No, 3. In the top .photo the Prime 'Sinister is shown waving a_ cheerful goodbye to the small party on hand to hid ilial farewell. At left is R. B. Jackson, Traffic Manager R. A. F. Ferry Command. At right is H, bi, Long, Assistant to W. Wilson, Representative of the British Ministry of Aircraft Production, in the bottom photo Mr. Robertson (at lefty and Brigadier Vanier are shown chatting just before boarding the plane ped to building sites in the spring and bolted together. After consider- able experimenting with panels of this description, the Housing Admin- istration had constructed in Ottawa a model house which cost less than 32,000 and took eight hours to build. Following the formation of War- time Housing Limited these plans. with samples of materials and pan- els. were turned over to the new company. They have not yet been followed Iiterally but much of the method followed has been adopted. with various changes in materials. In a statement issued at Halifax, Victor T. Goggin, general manager of Wartime Housing Limited declared: "Demountable houses is a better name than prefabricated for the home which are going up in war boom areas. The houses Will be sub- stantial and comfortable, will be well insulated, will have modern plumbing. They will stand on posts but will be sealed from the floor sills to the ground panels. Hones will stand on 40 foot lots with at least ten feet between each on the one side and a little less on the other." Homes being built by the emerg- ency housing company are of four types. The Rrst is a single storey. bungalow type, 24 feet by 24 feet, with living room, two bedrooms, kitchen -dinette, bath and front hall- way. The second has the sante door plan but is slightly larger, being 24 feet by 28 feet. The third, 24 feet by 23 feet, with the sante ground 'floor plan and two additional bedrooms on the second floor. The fourth is a semi-detached house, of the same size and plan as the smallest single dwelling. In addition to these single family dwellings the government housing company is constructing staff houses for single men. Following construction of the houses and staff quarters, administra- tion is turned over to a. local com- mittee. Rents for the homes run from $15 to $25 a month, the govern- ment company thus recovering a part of its investment, In most cases the rents charged are based on complete payment for the dwelling in ten years. Should they be in use that long the government company will then recover the entire cost. If the Churchill Gives Blunt Warning To Japanese Prime Minister Churchill in a broadcast on Sunday warned Japan that her Menacing movements must stop and pledged Britain to range herself beside the United States should the latter's efforts fail to ob- tain a peaceful settlement in the Pacific: On the other si.le of the wool+i, ho called the "Atlantic Char- iot' drawn by hint and President -rloo evelt a Britt °-Cnit'd States pledge e to destroy' Nazi tyranny. He described his meeting with Mr. Roosevelt as n "marshalling' of the 11nod farces of the world against the 'vil forces" and a beacon of hope for all the conquered nations. Of the German attack on Russia, he said -Nazi blood for the fl1•st time "hats flowed in a fearful flood." He promised aid dto Russia and priased her efficiency and equipment, If Ger- many were to defeat Russia and then Britain in a policy of destroying her opponents one by ono. Churchill ex- pressed the opinion the United States would be attacked next. In Europe, Churchill said, "awful and horrible things are happening in these days. The whole of Europe has been wrecked and trampled down by the mechanical weapons and the barbaric fury of Nazis," war ends sooner than that and houses are vacated in two or three years the company would have ap- peoxintately a quarter of the invest- ment and the materials used would still have a high salvage value since the homes may be demounted and re- built elsewhere. When war production ceases un- doubtedly many of the special fact- ories constructed for munitions man- ufacture will be closed. The small communities in which these are loc- ated will return to normal and popu- lation will decrease. But the natural sequence will be -.another trek to the big cities where employment is more readily available. Unfortunately, in. spite of concentration of housing act- ivities in -the smaller centres, the big- gest cities in Canada are in anything but a good condition from a housing standpoint. Visitor --"And you say that are comfortable in the prison" Convict—"Yes; now I don't to get up in the middle of the to see if the door is locked." you have flight "Late? It's disgraceful the way these railways are run!" EVERY SiXTY SECONDS An R. A. F. Camera Clicks in Battle of Atlantic Britain's R. A. F. Coastal Com- mand, the world's biggest users of photographic materials, clicks the shutters of its cameras every sixty seconds of tits war. In the month of April the Command took photographs at the rate of 500.400 a year, Using efeeet0 square feet of film and 819, - feet sheets of bromide paper. All this material, as Well as, vast quantities for export, is supplied without difficulty by Britain's awn manufacturers, Photography plays a vital part in the work of the Coastal Command which safeguards Britain against In- vasion and fights the Battle of the Atlantic at its source, that is to say, up and down the coastline of Europe from Trondheim to Bordeaux. There, squadrons of the Coastal Command attack enemy U-boat bases, harass supply ships creeping down the Norwegian fjords or along the Channel coasts, and intercept the Luftwaffe's raids on Britain's ship- ping. Not only does the Command record every movement of the enemy across the Narrow Seas, but, it keeps the eagle eye of its cameras upon suspicious looking surface craft. The pilots are themselves highly trained in the observation of ship types, but when in doubt a photograph rushed to the naval authorities for identifi- cation is enough to ensure that she is speedily brought in for examinee tion by the Contraband Control. An old lady living in the country had a son in the navy. On one of her rare visits to a neighboring town she saw a sailor, Trembling with excite- ment she asked hint if he knew her boy. She told him his name. "Well, what ship is he in asked the shilor. "What ship?" exclaimed the old lady. "Are there two?" Colonel—' Am I in time for the express—has it left yet?" Stationmaster—"Take your titne, sir, it's a few minutes late."