Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-10-05
STEEL STRIKE MAY
RESULT IN SERIOUS
SHORTAGE IN PARTS
Manufacturers of Cars Never
Recovered From War Lack
in Steel Stocks and Quit
Making Spare Parts.

Service and repair men If you
haven't good stock of spare and re-
pair parts, get them now! That is, If
the getting is still good get while you
can, That is the advice of Motor
Age, in contemplation of steel strike
and the effect il has already had and
is bound to have on the trade. The
journal believes that every motor car
factory in the United States VIII be Sc
riosly affected by the strike. and be-
cause none of them has "A stock sup
ply sufficient to last more than sixty
days. that their production is bound
TO be curtailed or cut off entirely
When the makers are pinched for
steel stock, of course, they will use
their supply in building complete cars,
not parts. That will mean a part
shortage as far as the dealer and serv-
ice men is concerned.
PARTS MANUFACTURERS SHORT
Motor car dealers. service men and
repairmen viii be among the major
sufferers from the great steel strike
which started last week, if the conflict
between labor and capital proves as
serious as expected Car manufactu-
rers even before the strike was called
were livin gfrom hand to mouth in OBJ
tanning steel for their product and
with the output curtailed, their predic-
ament is certain to be even more la
mentable than at present And their
plight undoubtedly will be reflected
upon dealers and repairmen.
Pats manufacturers in the motor
car manufacturing centers have been
unable TO secure any more steel than
is required for their day to day de-
mands. Stocks of steel iobbers in De-
trot and the other Centers of the in
dustry have been depleted by the de-
mand made by manufacturers rapidly
increasing their production, and there
is no supply ready to carry over them
in case they are Unable to get steel
from the great producers.
NO STOCKS OF STEEL ON HAND.
Car manufacturers have never been
able to catch mp on the steel shortag
they suffered during the war. Supplies
of steel allotted manufacturers of
course We're limited to material need =
ed for actual war work during the pc
Rod of hostilities and no stocks could
he laid in. When tho armistice was
signed and industry permitted to go
back to pre-war basis in ordering
supplies, motor car manufa cturers
found that all other industries We're
in the market Tor steel and as q result
the supply was not equal to. the de-
mand.
Poor transportation facilities aggra :
waited the situation and for the last
half year, getting steel supplies to run
the factories has been struggle
I While production has been increased
| by most of the big factories, this in
crease has been limited by the Difficult :
lty in getting steel and laying up stocks
of this material has been an !mpossi
/ bilitN.
! Steel iobbers in the larger cities are
almost cleaned out An example is
| Detroit, where the jobbers stocks were
/ almost entirely swept out q fortnight
/ or more ago when the Ford Motor Co
/ placed big orders with the jobbers in
anticipation of just such situation
as now confronts the industry. Other
manufacturers, Of course, have sought
! to meet the situation by similar ord
crs but have not been nearly as sue
! ccssful.
MAY CUT OFF WINTER SUPPLIES
To the deale' and rorairman, the
| situation is fraUght with significance
| The fail In1 winter ara the seasons
when. ordinarily. the distiibu and
dealer try 30 stock up WITH as MANY
| cars as possible in anticipation OF the
/ spring demand. With IA tory produc-
/ ton cut down this, of course, will be
impossible.
For the rerai' man, tie chief danger
is that 1t will soon become diff ui'
to obtain spar parts. Factories nat'I-
1T lily will Gazette the me- ior par: -
their supplies to the inanufa ctura o.
complete ears and, temporarily AT least
/ will allow the manufacture of spar.
parts to drop to mtrimum. CHS
viii make II extremely difficult for re
pairmen AMI dealers tn set tho parts
and il likely - interfere seriuuSlv viii
winter overnauling and general rspaii
work.
Tun mopt,. 10 pjNen ns tn, p.,foz