Arizona republican., 1922-01-22
BY MYLEs z CONNOLLY

BY MYLES z CONNOLLY
Roger w. Babson was visiting
Henry Ford's research Laboratories
/ in Detroit the other day.
"What will be the next develop
ment in automobiles?" asked Mr.
Babson.
at may be making the bodies Of
formaIdehydO, glue and cotton re-
piled Ford.
Ford arinned thinIy, IaeonleaIly.
And 80 the auto wizard again
awakes the world. Again, he jerks
Us up in our seats. makes us gasp
and stuns us with wonder.
1.-THE hour will come" he says
"when our children will 90 to the
museum to see the ponderous limou-
sine of today. The hour will come
when the steel railway coach will be
found in junk heaps and old picture
books"
For Henry Ford ls to make autos
out of cotton.
"Bosh!" says MIR. Has been, "a
phrase from poet"
And 60 il is. Mr.. Ford is . poet.
So was Fulton, so was Bell, SO
were the Wright brothers. And their
phrases were dream phrases: Ships
without sails men that fly, wires that
talk. They all come true, Mrs. Has
been.
This Is a composite interview with
Mr.. Ford and Mr.. Babson. Mr.. Ford
is absent, but Mr.. Babson speaks for
him. When the great statistician is
In Detroit. he makes a call on the
great mechanic, They swap ideas
and critical suggestions.
I like to visit Mr.. Ford's plant"
says Babson. 'T like to look down
on that mechanical masterpiece, see
the great steamers dumping their
load OF ore, coal, and lime. see the
great steam derricks dump the loads
again into the mighty furnaces. see
the 20 vast acres of land where the
coke furnaces blaze away. see the
magical auto grow from the rough
ore, part on part, as each man adds
his bit until 1t is rolled out a shining
accomplishment and the last man ad-
justs the headlights.
"And I like to visit Mr.. Ford. He
Is something OF an autocrat. Men
like him are. But he is America's S
greatest mechanic and he has visions,
dreams, ideas. He is not a states
man, not a philosopher. He Is like
one of his own locomotives. When
Il Is on the track it is supreme.
"Consider his ideas. He wants to
make lighter and cheaper machine
and he goes to cotton. He plans a
mixture that will make cottonoid-a
durable, tough, serviceable material
out of which his vehicles may be
made.
'Tf he succeeds, he will be able to
stamp out his auto parts the way the
cook stamps doughnuts out OF dough.
His idea, he believes, will revolution
ize the auto industry.
He, a pioneer in the manufacture
Of the light cars. sees day Of even
lighter cars. And he is sure that the
day of the heavy car is over. To-
morrow 1t will be an interesting re-
liquary of early years.
"He believes that the day or the
steel coach is nearly done. that 1t, too
is doomed to take its place among
antiquities.
"He is convinced that steel coach
es would have disappeared by now
except for the power the steel manu-
facturers hold over the railroads.
II do not agree with him on that
point. We have steel coaches the
way we wear neckties."
"SIaves to Convention"
Mr.. Babson, standing framed In the
sun dazzled window of his Wellesley
office pulled at the dark blue scarf
beneath his beard.
"Somebody once thought that 1t
would be good to wear neckties--in-
stead, say OF the much more COM
Portable low necked collar-less shirt.
Forty thousand people today are
busily making neckties. And 10000
600 slaves to convention-even as
you and waste an incredible
amount Of time adjusting these ties
day by day.
"Somebody once thought Of steel.
And until Henry Ford, nobody has
changed It. He now startles them
by offering TO make coaches out Of
cotton. And I think he will.
1T will be of tremendous advan-
tage. this innovation Of his. Ninety
eight per cent OF the load OF an or
dinary passenger train today does
not pay. Two per cent alone is prof
table, simply because of weight OF
the heavy cars. Think of the benefit
of cars made OF cottonoidi
"Tt is these unique, courageous
ideas that make Henry Ford what he
is. Another man might go on for
half a century merely adding TO or
improving that which he had under
his eye. Ford will make an absolute
divergence if he thinks it expedient.
"He plans, for instance. to estab--
Iish factories across the agricultural
districts of the country where the
farmers may spend their spare time
at the work bench and lathe.
TN fact, he has already started
on this idea. with a factory in New
York. He told me he will build them
SO that their energy may be fur-
nished by water power. In the sum-
ner when the rivers are dried up or
shallow, the farmers may put their
time In at their farms. In the Win
ter they may work at the factories.
"This. you see, is another depar-
ture. Most men plan their factories
for the cities where they may OBJ
tain ready employees. Ford, on the
other hand says TO himself. why
should the farmer loaf during the
winter?
"And he plans TO utilize his spare
time by building factory right in
the very hearts OF the agricultural
districts as long as he can get water
Ford's own Pet Ford Joke
1.-THE thing that was holding the
ears Of Detroit" said Mr.. Baoson'