Red Cross Scrapbook 1934: page 21 - March
Collection: Red Cross Scrapbook 1934
Title
Red Cross Scrapbook 1934: page 21 - March
Subject
Great Depression, 1929-1939
American Red Cross
Food relief--Kansas
Unemployment
United States. Federal Civil Works Administration
Description
A page from the 1934 scrapbook of newspaper clippings from the Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler. The scrapbooks were created by local Red Cross volunteers. Articles during the Depression years covered food and other relief efforts, and documented unemployment issues.
Creator
Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler
Source
Arkansas City Public Library, Arkansas City, Kansas
Publisher
Arkansas City Public Library, Arkansas City, Kansas
Date
1934-03
Contributor
Red Cross volunteers
Rights
Used with permission of copyright holder. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Clippings
Identifier
RC34016
Coverage
Cowley County, Kansas
Citation
Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler, “Red Cross Scrapbook 1934: page 21 - March,” Digital Arkansas City, accessed April 26, 2024, https://arkcity.digitalsckls.info/item/76.
Text
SWAN SONG OF
CWA SATURDAY
IN THIS COUNTY
Spectacular Career of Federal Agency at An End
A WINTER’S BOON
Transferred Needy
Two days later, county officials received instructions to transfer all men participating in federal relief to the CWA payroll, with a minimum wage of $12 a week replacing the relief allotments which ranged from $1.80 to $5.40 weekly. The list of projects was approved by the state office.
In another two days, 250 Arkansas City men were wielding picks and shovels for the government at standard wages, and the number was doubled in still another two days.
Then the full extent of the government’s new venture was revealed. A county reemployment committee was appointed and through its representatives started registering every unemployed person in the county. Jobs for every one, including women and
Its Payroll Carried Hundreds of Families Through
In two more days, the most ambitious project ever launched by the federal government in Cowley county, the civil works administration, will have ended its spectacular career.
During the 18 weeks of its existence, the CWA has distributed an aggregate payroll of more than $200,000 in the county, has furnished employment at a standard wage scale for a maximum of 1,-236 men and has been responsible for an imposing list of city and county improvements.
More than half of the program’s benefits were received in Arkansas City and vicinity. Until demobilization was started, there were some 740 persons on the CWA payroll here, receiving about $12,000 every week.
Played Important Part
Assuming the responsibility of caring for practically all the county’s able-bodied unemployed over the winter, the CWA played an all-important part in preventing misery and in affording the hard- pressed county poor fund a respite from its mounting deficits.
Organized late in November, the CWA moved with a speed which left observers somewhat be- wildered and even its own local officials a bit confused. In less than a week, the government became one of the largest employers of labor in Cowley county, with approximately 800 persons on its CWA payroll. In another ten days, this number had mounted to the established limit of 1,236 persons.
The CWA stepped into the local scene at an opportune time. Federal relief funds had become exhausted, and the county was preparing to shoulder the entire burden of providing for almost 1,000 dependents.
On Nov. 16, the government made its initial move, granting $40,000 to the county for use by the new agency and calling for a list of projects upon which the unemployed might work. The proposed improvements were submitted that night.
white-collar workers, seemed in prospect.
Next came the country’s quota of 1,236 workers, smashing the hopes of many who had hoped to secure places on the payroll. By Dec. 1, this quota had been practically filled. Registrations went forward briskly, finally totaling about 3,500. The first CWA payroll here, on Nov. 26, amounted to $4,100 and its effect was quickly felt in the. business district as stores, especially those featuring low-priced merchandise, reported a spectacular increase in sales.
Starting with a force made up almost entirely of laborers and office workers, the CWA gradually expanded its field. Teachers, statistic gatherers and other specialized employes were hired. A rural sanitation program was started, and later an orchard sanitation project was added. The federal transient program and the distribution of surplus commodities were formed as subsidiary ventures to the CWA. Approximately $9,000 was made available in the county for the purchase of material.
Designed originally to close on Feb. 15, the CWA began to place a check upon the funds flowing from its seemingly limitless coffers early in February. The working week was shortened from 30 hours to 15 hours in rural districts and 24 hours in the cities. A few weeks later the demobilization program was started, with some 150 men being lopped from the payroll in the county every week.
450 Still on Rolls
As the CWA enters its final week, some 450 persons still hold jobs in the county. These will be transferred Apr. 1 to the new federal work-relief program. Projects remaining uncompleted will be continued under the new plan.
In addition to its work of providing for the county’s poor during the winter and the stimulus afforded to local business, the CWA has left an imposing array of improvements as per- manent evidence of its hectic career.
Arkansas City has benefitted more than any other city in the county from the free labor supply made available through the government agency. Here are some of the results achieved:
The construction of approxi-
mately one-quarter mile of dike along the Arkansas river to proportions equal to government specifications.
The refinishing of the interior of the city building and the repainting of the water pumping station and well houses.
A new roof on the pumping station.
Two concrete tennis courts in Wilson park.
A concrete floor in the Wilson park rotunda, providing a skating rink so that children may be more easily kept off the streets.
A new road through the municipal park north of the city and the improvement of the park, picnic grounds and golf links.
The elimination of some 12 deep gutter dips from the city streets.
A new wading pool in Newman
park.
The start of an extensive improvement program in Riverview cemetery, including the development of parts of an entire new section on a plan drawn up by landscape architects, and the installation of a tile drainage system.
The refinishing of the pavement on South F street between Madison and Tyler avenues.
Other Improvements
Improvements handled through the CWA may be seen on all sides of the city. Some of the more important are:
Reduction of grades on Sil-verdale hill and others on the old highway 166.
Grade reduction on the Parker hill east of the city.
Extensive improvements on the West Chestnut avenue road west of the Arkansas river.
Many of these projects are still unfinished and remain to be completed under the new program.
The termination of the CWA Saturday night will mean a return to a program resembling generally the old federal relief plan for the country’s unemployed, although budgets probably will be more liberal. It will be based primarily upon giving relief instead of employment, how- ever, and will provide for only about two-thirds as many persons.
For the summer at least, the government is retiring from the field of blanket employment in all parts of the nation. The spring expansion of agriculture and business and the numerous public works projects are expected to provide work for many of the four million CWA employes. Many others will be transferred back to the relief rolls. For them, an era of plenty has ended.
Original Format
Newspaper clippings on scrapbook page
Title
Red Cross Scrapbook 1934: page 21 - March
Subject
Great Depression, 1929-1939
American Red Cross
Food relief--Kansas
Unemployment
United States. Federal Civil Works Administration
Description
A page from the 1934 scrapbook of newspaper clippings from the Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler. The scrapbooks were created by local Red Cross volunteers. Articles during the Depression years covered food and other relief efforts, and documented unemployment issues.
Creator
Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler
Source
Arkansas City Public Library, Arkansas City, Kansas
Publisher
Arkansas City Public Library, Arkansas City, Kansas
Date
1934-03
Contributor
Red Cross volunteers
Rights
Used with permission of copyright holder. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Clippings
Identifier
RC34016
Coverage
Cowley County, Kansas
Citation
Arkansas City (Kansas) Traveler, “Red Cross Scrapbook 1934: page 21 - March,” Digital Arkansas City, accessed April 26, 2024, https://arkcity.digitalsckls.info/item/76.Text
SWAN SONG OF
CWA SATURDAY
IN THIS COUNTY
Spectacular Career of Federal Agency at An End
A WINTER’S BOON
Transferred Needy
Two days later, county officials received instructions to transfer all men participating in federal relief to the CWA payroll, with a minimum wage of $12 a week replacing the relief allotments which ranged from $1.80 to $5.40 weekly. The list of projects was approved by the state office.
In another two days, 250 Arkansas City men were wielding picks and shovels for the government at standard wages, and the number was doubled in still another two days.
Then the full extent of the government’s new venture was revealed. A county reemployment committee was appointed and through its representatives started registering every unemployed person in the county. Jobs for every one, including women and
Its Payroll Carried Hundreds of Families Through
In two more days, the most ambitious project ever launched by the federal government in Cowley county, the civil works administration, will have ended its spectacular career.
During the 18 weeks of its existence, the CWA has distributed an aggregate payroll of more than $200,000 in the county, has furnished employment at a standard wage scale for a maximum of 1,-236 men and has been responsible for an imposing list of city and county improvements.
More than half of the program’s benefits were received in Arkansas City and vicinity. Until demobilization was started, there were some 740 persons on the CWA payroll here, receiving about $12,000 every week.
Played Important Part
Assuming the responsibility of caring for practically all the county’s able-bodied unemployed over the winter, the CWA played an all-important part in preventing misery and in affording the hard- pressed county poor fund a respite from its mounting deficits.
Organized late in November, the CWA moved with a speed which left observers somewhat be- wildered and even its own local officials a bit confused. In less than a week, the government became one of the largest employers of labor in Cowley county, with approximately 800 persons on its CWA payroll. In another ten days, this number had mounted to the established limit of 1,236 persons.
The CWA stepped into the local scene at an opportune time. Federal relief funds had become exhausted, and the county was preparing to shoulder the entire burden of providing for almost 1,000 dependents.
On Nov. 16, the government made its initial move, granting $40,000 to the county for use by the new agency and calling for a list of projects upon which the unemployed might work. The proposed improvements were submitted that night.
white-collar workers, seemed in prospect.
Next came the country’s quota of 1,236 workers, smashing the hopes of many who had hoped to secure places on the payroll. By Dec. 1, this quota had been practically filled. Registrations went forward briskly, finally totaling about 3,500. The first CWA payroll here, on Nov. 26, amounted to $4,100 and its effect was quickly felt in the. business district as stores, especially those featuring low-priced merchandise, reported a spectacular increase in sales.
Starting with a force made up almost entirely of laborers and office workers, the CWA gradually expanded its field. Teachers, statistic gatherers and other specialized employes were hired. A rural sanitation program was started, and later an orchard sanitation project was added. The federal transient program and the distribution of surplus commodities were formed as subsidiary ventures to the CWA. Approximately $9,000 was made available in the county for the purchase of material.
Designed originally to close on Feb. 15, the CWA began to place a check upon the funds flowing from its seemingly limitless coffers early in February. The working week was shortened from 30 hours to 15 hours in rural districts and 24 hours in the cities. A few weeks later the demobilization program was started, with some 150 men being lopped from the payroll in the county every week.
450 Still on Rolls
As the CWA enters its final week, some 450 persons still hold jobs in the county. These will be transferred Apr. 1 to the new federal work-relief program. Projects remaining uncompleted will be continued under the new plan.
In addition to its work of providing for the county’s poor during the winter and the stimulus afforded to local business, the CWA has left an imposing array of improvements as per- manent evidence of its hectic career.
Arkansas City has benefitted more than any other city in the county from the free labor supply made available through the government agency. Here are some of the results achieved:
The construction of approxi-
mately one-quarter mile of dike along the Arkansas river to proportions equal to government specifications.
The refinishing of the interior of the city building and the repainting of the water pumping station and well houses.
A new roof on the pumping station.
Two concrete tennis courts in Wilson park.
A concrete floor in the Wilson park rotunda, providing a skating rink so that children may be more easily kept off the streets.
A new road through the municipal park north of the city and the improvement of the park, picnic grounds and golf links.
The elimination of some 12 deep gutter dips from the city streets.
A new wading pool in Newman
park.
The start of an extensive improvement program in Riverview cemetery, including the development of parts of an entire new section on a plan drawn up by landscape architects, and the installation of a tile drainage system.
The refinishing of the pavement on South F street between Madison and Tyler avenues.
Other Improvements
Improvements handled through the CWA may be seen on all sides of the city. Some of the more important are:
Reduction of grades on Sil-verdale hill and others on the old highway 166.
Grade reduction on the Parker hill east of the city.
Extensive improvements on the West Chestnut avenue road west of the Arkansas river.
Many of these projects are still unfinished and remain to be completed under the new program.
The termination of the CWA Saturday night will mean a return to a program resembling generally the old federal relief plan for the country’s unemployed, although budgets probably will be more liberal. It will be based primarily upon giving relief instead of employment, how- ever, and will provide for only about two-thirds as many persons.
For the summer at least, the government is retiring from the field of blanket employment in all parts of the nation. The spring expansion of agriculture and business and the numerous public works projects are expected to provide work for many of the four million CWA employes. Many others will be transferred back to the relief rolls. For them, an era of plenty has ended.
Original Format
Newspaper clippings on scrapbook page