 The impact on the city of Hastings was a 40% population increase from just over 15,000 in 1940 to 22,252 at its peak during the war.By 1944, workers' base wages at the depot were 74 cents an hour with time-and-a-half for overtime beyond 54- to 64-hour workweeks, considerably higher than the 40- to 50-cents per hour in town and maybe a dollar a day for a hired man on the farm.Farmers experienced a severe labor shortage, schools were overcrowded with 50-60 children, and new homes were scarce.