Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-05
Industry's Dramatic Decade
Continued From Third Page.l


with newly appearing rival industries
and techniQ1eS.
Illustration Of Difficulty.
Leather-one of the four distressed
industries mentioned by President Hoo
yer in his recent message to Congress
affords a good illustration of the type OF
difficulty that has been brought down
during these recent years upon set
tied craft of long tradition. The indus
try has been caught, as it were, In wise
with two movable jaws, one OF them
especially unstable. On the one hand,
its raw material is a by-product OF the
meat industry, which has felt the vari-
atoms of diet changes so evident during
these recent years. On the other hand,
the shoe industry, which in this country
consumes rs per cent OF our leather out
put, has, of course, undergone profound
alterations because of style variations
that have succeeded themselves with al
most incredible rapidity. The craze for
new types Of footwear has made the
lives of reptiles unsafe in remote jungles
in all parts of the world. 1t has given
European manufacturers of certain lines,
notably WomenS shoes, a substantial
advantage over their American COMPETE
tors because of their proximity to the
style dictatorS in Paris and other con-
tinental capitals.
Indeed, it will be major task for the
future economic historian, as he looks
back on this postwar decade, to give
especially careful attention to the sub
tie yet penetrative influence of styles.
They have affected not simply occa-
Sional isolated industries such as shoe
making or cloth weaving, but have re-
acted, or have been in turn influenced
by many other factors in the rapidly
shifting economic scene.
For instance, the widespread develop
ment of automotive transportation has
materially and swiftly modified the need
for heavier footwear. The airplane has
come in to serve the purposes of accel-
Grated transportation of style goods
whose STABILITY is, Of course, highly per-
iShable. This has made both possible
and necessary the maintenance Of rap
idly changing lines on the shelves of re-
tailerS. One index Of this Is the fact
that many large stores in such a style
line as hosiery carry so different colors
and grades in the course of year.
Wonder Child Of War.
The almost fantastic advance in the
technique of communications since the
war-indeed. this is one of the real
wonder children Of the great conflict
has had q considerable part in these
rapid style changes. One we'll known
manufacturer Of print silks spends a
good many dollars every Monday morn
ing in transatlantic telephone CONVEX
sations with Paris getting descriptions
OF the frocks worn by mannequins at
the popular race courses the previous
afternoon.
The great improvement in colored mo-
ton pictures and their widespread dis
semination, the increasing frequency of
style shows, the universal reporting of
their striking features over the radio
and the recent beautifully improved
color technique of women's magazines
with greatly increased circulation. have
all made style changes almost instan-
taneously penetrative throughout the
civilized world. Therefore when her
ladySh1p from the provinces" visits the
great metropolis she is by no means
conspicuous on account of the ANTIQUITY
OF her gowns, as was the case a couple
OF decades ago. Indeed, the reverse is
quite likely to occur: the small-toWn
damsel, with relatively fewer diversions
than her city sister, is quite likely to be
more keenly alert upon this major prob
lem OF womankind and to follow 1t more
assiduously through radios. movies"
club discussions and style magazines.
Coupled with these other factors &C
IL,
the vastly improved skill and acun1en
Of another wartime giant, the chemical
industry. 1t. too, has been playing its
part in this matter of swiftly changing
styles. Certainly rayon and aniline dyes,
to mention but two factors at random,
have been very much to the fore in this
quickly shifting succession Of changes
in the mode.
Developments In Chemistry,
The new chemistry has, of course. ex-
erted an influence in a multitude of
other directions upon the worlds eco
nomic organization in recent years. The
lnroads that 1t has made upon long
standing, firmly intrenched natural mo-
nopolies has had profound effect upon
the we'll being of consumers everywhere.
For instance, the extraordinary devel-
opment OF synthetic nitrogen, manufac-
tured out OF the air in truly black magic
FASHION, is likely to have primary part
In that long-hoped-for rehabilitation
through cost curtailment of the farming
industry throughout the world,
These postwar chemical advances are
likewise coming to the aid of suffering
mankind everywhere through the i'm
provementS in medical science. To take
one example, we are no longer depend
ent upon the uncertainties of natural
in the Island of Formosa. Indeed, the
vigilant chemist turks in the background
with his microscopes and test tubes
pr1med for devastating action against
any natural monopoly which undertakes,
Intentionally or otherwise, any exploita-
ton of the consuming world. The rub
Der control maintained for some six
years by the British group promptly in
spired the search for alternative sources
q Iao
greatly improved technique in the use of
reclaimed tires, which formerly were so
largely waste.
The ingenuity of this modern magi-
clan with his intense and widespread
wartime training of course has
wrought hardship for many another in
dustry. The iceman is battling with the
now finds itself confronted by a new
gas consuming foe. Members Of the
ancient craft Of woodworkers are ha-
raised by campaigns from manufac-
tured substitutes ranging from paper to
steel, and countless variations of plas-
tic compounds.
One of the most dramatic Of these
postwar economic battles has been that
waged among the fuels and motive
forces. That venerable standby, coal,
has remained just about stationary so
1dk % WOAAA- AAC OuUPuV 40 SoiSCllCo'
The total production for all countries
of coal and Ignite was little under
l SOC, 900 900 tons in 1918. It has been
wavering but little above that figure
during the last six years. On the other
hand, the crude petroleum output
jumped in the same time from 1885,
100000 barrels to 1882, 900. 900 in 1928,
considerably more than a threefold in
crease. Developed waterpower of the
world amounted to 100000 horse
power in 1920. and the latest figures are
we'll over 100000.
Wrought Havoc With Coal.
The situation, of course, has wrought