The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1917-01-05


land dealer in this city, who is
one of the 5000 dealers visiting the
great Toledo plant in connection
with the immense convention now
ences in this entertaining letter to
the editor:
Dear Joe.
Some action!
| Nothing was ever so impressive
as our tour of the great plant that
turns out Willys-Overland cars.
Our pullmans all parked in the
| company yards. There was room
enough, for there are seven and
| three-quarter miles of track within
the plant.
Each man got a card containing
picture of Mr.. WHY'S and an au-
tographed message of welcome from
him. Next thing l knew we were
lined up on the steps of the stun
ming new administration building
getting photographed.
Elevators shot us to the com
pany's own restaurant on the sixth
floor. There we had corking
breakfast. At each plate was copy
of the live new Willys-Overland
house organ 1.-The Starter. 1t
mapped our days program.
Then started our tour of the
plant.
Our guides were carefully picked
men. They knew the plant from
end to end, and the parties were
small so that each member of the
party could have his questions an
swered.
Nobody ought to try to sell Will
lys-Overland product without know
ing this plant. You cant grip the
immensely of the proposition till
you do.
1t is no piker business.
$25,O00,000 are tied up in land,
buildings and machinery not to say
a word about the stock of parts and
raw material
From the roof of the wonderful ad-
ministration building which stands
out like state capitol, you get
panorama of the plant. You can then
readily believe that it occupies 1913
acres, 4,4S6, $50 square feet of floor
space in daily use and production
capacity of 1000 cars per day.
You can appreciate the growth
from $50 employees in 1908 to II,
900 in 1915.
1000 persons, more than the en-
tire force of many company, work
in the administration building a.
lone. This structure, 375 feet long.
has every facility for rapid work,
including dictaphones, it's own tele-
graph and telephone system, and a
mail handling department that does
about everything but write the let
tiers.
38S persons can be fed in the
restaurant at one time.
But this is nothing to what hits
when you cross into the shops. 1t
is a Whirl Of action, yet all is sys-
tenn
Parts ty the untold thousands are
here with a value into the millions
of dollars. There are lines of motors
never saw so many crank shafts
together. Our guide said 5000 -
I'd have believed 10000
There is a stock in bins, stock
in yards, stock along the walls, con-
Meeting rods, frames, tenders, mud
guards, hoods, rims, springs, axles,
torsiOn tubes, transmission gears,
shafts, brake parts, steering rods,
pedals-it is an amending process
sion
Every 80 days sees an average of
1000 tons of steel come in. 1t is
handled by magnetic crane that
enables two men to do a work that
formerly required thirty.
There are amazing machines.
The toggle press, for example,
held us all. This monster, with its
pressure of 1000 tons, shapes cold
steel like cardboard. A piece of
metal fed to it come out as. side
frame. 1t can make 1000 Cf these
in an eight hour day.
Other mighty machines stamp
out radiator shells, tenders, cowl
dashes and doors.
You take off your hat to the
drop forging machines. Down comes
the hammer and the fiery piece OF
iron is beaten into shape. The
complete drop forging of the front
axle can be accomplished with one
heat
Every kind of part requiring
strength was drop forged while we
looked on aXleS. crank shafts. brake