The Washington times., 1930-01-28
.78-STORY BLOCK
|NTRIGUES ITS
CREATOR
By JAMES L. KILGALLEN

NEW YORK, Jan. 28.-"I got
thrill watching this building
go up, floor after floor. 1t was
inspiring"
Walter P. Chrysler, multimil-
lionaire head of the Chrysler
Motor Corporation, made these
remarks in an interview today
as he discussed his latest achieve
ment-the erection Of the Chrys-
Ter Building, tallest skyscraper
in the world. It is 78 stories
high, dwarfing the 56-story Wool
worth Building, and is even
higher than the Eiffel Tower in
Paris. 1t represents a $15,000,000
investment on Chrysler's part
and is located in the heart Of
New York, near the Grand Cen
tral Station.
I've stood on the sidewalk
across the street day after day,
watching this building go up, and
to say it thrilled me is putting
it lightly" said Mr.. ChrysIer, a
tlnge OF pride in his voice.
Pierces Clouds
The towering structure, which
p1erces the clouds high up over
the busiest metropolis in the
world, stands as a silent tribute
to this man who rose to his pres,
ent eminent position from an er.
rand boy in a grocery store at
Ellis, Kan.
Chrysler was not so proud on
his own account as he was over
what the mammoth structure rep.
resents. He had in his visionary
way believed it was inevitable
that New York would have a
building that would stand as a
symbol Of what has been achieved
in American industry, and that
is what he believes the Chrysler
skyscraper is.
1T is a credit to craftsman.
ship" said Chrysler, who was
once a mechanic himself. He
personally congratulated the la.
borers who built it, as worker
to worker"
Engineers 5 Son
Chrysler himself always has
been an indefatigable worker.
And still is. The son of a loco
motive engineer, he left school
at the age of II and became a
machinist's apprentice in the
Union Pacific shops at Ellis, Kan.
Later he worked as mechanic
in various other railroad shops.
At 33 he was appointed super
intendent of motive power Of the
Chicago and Great Western, the
youngest man ever to hold such
a position. He was then boss"
Of 10000 men. His subsequent
rise in the motor world was me-
teoric and he stands today IS a
typical example of the American
self-made man.
Sees Better Business
Chrysler is looking forward op-
timistically toward 1880. He
thinks business will. steadily i'm
prove.
The stock market crash can
be discounted" said Chrysler.
There is nothing on the bU-:ness
horizon to change the forward
looking course of the motor car
industry.
Our plans anticipate return
to normal production early in
1880 and continuation Of good
business thereafter.
In the past two months We
have had ample opportunity to
observe the reaction to the stock
market decline. Indications are
that only relatively small per-
centage Of the total buying power
was adversely affected by the
stock market slump"
Lower inventories
Business generaIly-and espe-
cially the automobile industry
has been cleaning house" in the
meantime, he said, Overloaded
distributing facilities are being
relieved of the pressure of stocks
on hand and inventories will be
great deal lower by April /.
''The market for automobile
production in 1880 promises to
reach very satisfactory volume,
in spite of the record of motor
cars in 1929" he declared.
ChrySler is Sd years old, and
has wife and four children
Walter P. ChrySler, jr., a fresh
man at tmouth; JACK
Chrysler, who is attending Ia
Preparatory School; Mrs. BY
c. Foy and Mrs Edgar Garb