Evening star., 1929-06-07
.5-DAy-WEEK PLAN
IS GAINING FAVOR
Advent of Labor Saving Ma
chinery Is Aid in A. F. L.
Move.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

Special Dtspa tch- to The Star.
NEW YORK, June 7.--William Green,
president of the American Federation
of Labor, believes one day out of seven
does not give real opportunity for rest.
The f1ve-day week is his answer.
1t makes the whole schedule move for
ward with ease and rest" It's develop
nent has been more rapid in the last
IL months than in any other year. The
increasing reliance on machinery is
largely responsible.
Only few years ago the oxyacety-
lene welding process was discovered.
Before its introduction it took eight
men three weeks to repair one locomo-
tive. Today the work can be done in
from three to seven hours with force
Of not more than four men.
Fifteen years ago 1t took from SO to
70 hours to turn one pair of locomotive
tires. Now six pairs of tires can be
turned in eight hours by the same num-
ber of men.
Take the steel business Seven men
now can do the work which formerly
required sixty in casting pigiron. Two
men with modern machineS do as much
work as was formerly done by 1913 men
in loading pigiron. One man replaces
AZ In operating open-hearth furnaces
And so it goes.
In other industries the same machine
development is at work Take brick
making. A modern machine can make
10000 bricks an hour. Formerly one
man working eight hours made $50. 1t
would take one man a month to make
what the modern brick machine does
in one hour, with the same help.
The flve-day week was adopted by the
American Federation of Labor in 1926.
AS the American Federation of Labor
president says:
Material progress should bring high
er standards of living and life-not for
a few. but for all those who participate
in the production Of wealth. The f1ve-
day week is one phase of this larger
problem"
Gilbert D. Fish, Westinghouse Elec-
trio Co. engineer, believes the time
is coming when the welding necessary
will be done silently-that mems nerves
no more will be shattered by the ma
chine-gun staccato of the riveter.
II Mr.. Ftsh's prediction comes true
and every city dweller is wishing him
luck in making his dream come true
the persons living across the street
from building operations will hear no
more the noise from the joining Of
the steel beams.
Arc welding has proved entirely
practicable and dependable" says Mr..
noiseless building operations. Too
many structures have been erected by
this method, all without failure, for
its feasibility to be disputed"
Many steel fabricators now use arc
Welding in their shops. Many have
constructed completely welded buildings,
for the cost is less and lighter beams
can be used in certain places.
viii buildings rise much higher than
they do now?" Mr.. Fish was asked.
Yes, very much taller. We may
expect buildings thousand feet high.
There is only one difficulty In the way
Of taller and still taller buildings, and
IL is not an engineering problem. 1t
is the problem of air and light. From
an engineering standpoint there is no
limit"
Standard Statistics, an authority in
the business field, says the drastic de-
cline in wheat prices has already seri-
ously disturbed confidence and might
well bring numerous repercussions in
various business fields during the next
several months"
Wheat is the largest single contrib
utor to the cash income Of the Ameri-
can farmer, so any serious reduction in
lLS price cuts down MS cash purchasing
power. Cash to the American farmer is
like fresh air to the lungs-a life
saver. A year ago wheat was selling
around s1.45 q bushel Last week May
wheat sold as low as SO cents at the
terminal centers-the lowest In Is years.
The last few days wheat prices have
risen considerably. Still, prices are hov-
ering around a dollar a bushel. which
gives the farmers somewhere between 80
and 55 cents. This is not enough.
The 1929 Winter wheat crop, accord
ing to Standard Statistics. receives a
gross valuation Of only S637, ,000,0 900, as
against an estimated 1898, 100000 at
this time last year for the 1923 crop
(Which incidentally was 30, 100000 BUSH
els smaller than the estimated 1929 re-
turn, so the larger crop Of this year
is valued in the future market at about
"a per cent less than last year.
tCopyriEht, 1929, by North American News
AliiAnce)