[St. Charles Banner-News, no date]
AMMUNITION PLANT WILL
AFFECT US
Every Immense
Industry Within Range Brings Pressure Labor Conditions Here.
As new
factories are established in the St. Louis area pressure is applied to the
labor conditions of St. Charles. Such plants as the new ammunition factory, a
$20,000,000 project to be located at Goodfellow and Bircher, St. Louis, or as
the new airplane factory of St. Louis County a short distance from St. Charles,
not to speak of the TNT plant, will draw on the last man and woman available
for employment. Hundreds will have to migrate to this part of the country if
the possibilities of production are to be satisfied.
Concerning
the ammunition plant we quote from the St. Louis Star-Times:
Construction
of a small arms ammunition plant at a cost of at least $20,000,000, to be located
on a tract of land at Goodfellow and Bircher boulevards, is provided in a
contract approved by the War Department.
The
contract, it was stated at the ordnance division of the War Department
yesterday, has been submitted to the Western Cartridge Co. of Alton, Ill.,
whose officials have not yet returned it to complete the transaction. Western
Cartridge, under the contract, would operate the plant, with the government
retaining title to the property.
A United
Press dispatch from Washington stated that cost of the construction and
equipment of the plant does not include contracts with Western Cartridge Co.
for production of munitions.
The
Star-Times today confirmed the fact from an authoritative source at Washington
that the cost of the plant may exceed $20,000,000. Officials there said that
published reports placing the cost at only $2,000,000 to $8,000,000 were
incorrect.
This
contract for production, it is believed, may approximate $50,000,000 thus
bringing the overall total to $70,000,000.
Congressman
John J. Cochran announced in Washington that the contract for construction of
the plant already has been awarded to a St. Louis firm, and stated that the War
Department had assured him the operation of the plant would not be a hazard to
residents in the neighborhood.
The plant,
it is understood, will manufacture .30 and .50 caliber bullets, and will be one
of the largest such plants in the United States.
“The
department has assured me there is no danger of explosions,” Cochran said. “A
similar plant has been operating in Philadelphia for many years without an
explosion.”
Samuel W.
Fordyce, St. Louis attorney, told the Star-Times here today that officials of
the Western Cartridge Co. have been negotiating with the General Electric
Realty Corp. of Schenectady, N. Y., for two months, for purchase of the land at
Bircher and Goodfellow, a 133-acre tract.
War
Department officials at Washington declined to estimate the number of persons
that would be employed by the proposed plant.
==========
[no source, December 4, 1940]
PUBLIC SALE AT
HAMBURG DRAWS 1000
[Handwritten: Dec. 4,
1940]
Businessmen Preparing
To Move Elsewhere; Hundreds Of Applicants For Work In TNT Area.
Nearly
1,000 buyers attended a community sale of household goods, farm machinery and
livestock along the roadside at Hamburg yesterday as natives of that part of
the TNT area rid themselves of non-essentials preparatory to moving to new
homes.
Three
auctioneers, P. J. Hunn of Wentzville, Jack Lowery of Defiance and a man from
Warrenton kept the sale lively as the crowd offered bids. Only one mule was
sold before darkness halted the sale of farm animals.
Seib &
Wackher, general store proprietors, held a “marked down” sale of goods to limit
the job of moving to their new proposed location in Mel Mergenthal’s garage at
Weldon Spring.
Reports
from the Hamburg and Howell communities state that the Muschany Brothers will
open a store on Highway 61 near Highway 94 on the John Hollander place.
C. E.
Fridley will probably move his place of business to Wentzville and Gert Fridley
will probably move back to Defiance where he formerly operated, it is reported.
Elroy
Sweitzer, general merchant at Howell, will probably move back to St. Louis
while Frank Post, who operates a garage at Howell, will likely build a new home
on Highway 61, reports are.
Clyde
Stumberg, who operated a riding academy near Toonerville, will continue to
deliver mail in the area for the time being. Just what will become of his
stables was not announced. Likewise, Charles Gross, proprietor of the “Y,” has
made no announcement as to where he will move.
Before the
sale at Hamburg was over yesterday evening, Highway 94 at the “Y” and at a point three miles south of Hamburg was closed
to traffic. Signs directed traffic over Little Femme Osage Creek Road past
Kaut’s Hidden Valley to Howell.
Activity
around the offices of Frasier-Brace in Miller School at Weldon Spring has been
great during the past few days. This company, which has a government contract
to construct the TNT plant, is swamped with persons seeking employment. More
than 500 men were in the neighborhood of the office this morning making
inquiries. The highways were lined with cars.
Employment
of men on the project will attract a lot of undesirables to this county, it was
pointed out today by Chief Deputy Sheriff Leland S. Cunningham. He cautioned
local motorists against leaving their automobiles unlocked on the streets.
Usually,
when large projects are started, he said, gamblers and other undesirables move
in. Christmas packages in parked cars are not safe under such conditions, he
pointed out, and even cars may be stolen by persons seeking transportation
after their applications for work are rejected.
The arrival
of undesirable women whose eyes will be on the payroll checks of workmen must
be dealt with properly, he added.
==========
[no source, no date]
TAXES ON TNT LANDS TO
BE PAID UP SOON
County Court Paves
Way For Collection Of 1941 Taxes And Hold Money In Escrow.
Farmers and
townspeople who must vacate the 20,000-acre TNT area must pay their 1941 taxes
before the government formally takes over their properties, it was learned late
yesterday when the St. Charles County Court made an order authorizing the
county collector to hold this tax money in escrow. Prosecuting Attorney David
A. Dyer was given the job of drafting this order.
Assessment
on properties for 1941 taxes was made last June. Normally, the county court
does not fix the tax levy until May of the following year. In order that the
taxes may be collected in advance of the proper date, the court had to make
assurance that the total tax levy will not be higher than last year.
Hundreds of
workmen in the last few days have visited the Frasier-Brace offices in the
Miller School at Weldon Spring in search of jobs. Today, more than 200
automobiles lined Highway 94 at the school.
In the
meantime, farmers who must vacate their lands in the next few days, have
arranged for a roadside auction sale to be held Saturday at Howell. Many of the
items to be offered for sale include antiques which have been in some of the
families for years. A community sale will be held at Hamburg December 4,
starting at 10 a.m.
Phil Beck,
Regional Director of the Farm Security Administration, Indianapolis, Ind., was
in St. Charles today and met with the local F. S. A. personnel relative to
working out a plan whereby families in the TNT area can secure short-term
credit. A survey recently completed by Department of Agriculture officials
indicates there are about 50 families that cannot secure local credit that will
need financial aid to move until they are paid by the government. Stephen C.
Hughter, State Director of Farm Security Administration, Columbia, Missouri, also
attended the meeting.
Walter J.
Gross is the supervisor in charge of the local F. S. A. office.
