The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-29

cotton. So much scrap fro the United States by Europ' it clogged freight yards in s railroads temporarily refuse
 Thanks largely to foreign pur- cllases, the price of D. s. cotton Is the highest in seven years and even the government-held surplus has been largely sold.
 MOTE-It is impossible to make steel economically without using a certain amount of scrap iron, hence its importance to munitions manufacture.
 Modern Diplomacy
 Chilean Ambassador Trucco has been concentrating, not on diplo- macy, but on a gadget which will tell him what time his children get home at night.
 Trucco once was the head of the Chilean State Railways, is 8 great engineer. Also he is a wi- dover and father of one son and three daughters. So he undertook to design and execute, with his own hands, signal board with four sliding panels, each bearing the name of one of the children.
 The board hangs inside the front door of the Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue. When the young TruccOs go out in the evening, they pull their panels out. When they come home, each in turn slides the proper panel in. An electrical connec- ton flashes each arrival to the Ambassad0rial bedroom up- stains..
 When the. last Trucco gets home, he-or more likely .she-- pushes in the fourth panel and turns out the lights. tf Real Recovery
 On the wall of the office of Is- ador Lubin, Commissioner of Labor Statistics, hangs 9 large chart. It consists of two lines which tell a significant story of the pickup in American indus try.
 Line No. 1 represents the con- sumers or non-dllrable goods in- dustries Qood, clothing, etc.o. It began to climb in 1883 and has been on the upgrade ever since.
 Line No. 9 represents durable goods or haevy industry (steel. building materials, machinery. It was hardest hit by the depreS- sion, Jagged far behind even dur ing most of 1886. But now Line No. is going almost straight up. By March l, it had attained level almost parallel with consum- CTS goods.
 Economic Significance
 This development is of the greatest economic significance. It means that for the first time since 1929, payrolls in the vital heavy industries are once again in. 8 y'normaE' relation to payrolls in the consumer industries. In practical terms 1t means that for millions of workers in steel, ma chinery, auto, building material and railway equipment plants there is assurance of steady jobs at good pay.
 The index figure of payrolIs i'm the durable goods industries now stands between 97 and 99, or almost at the 1923-25 aver- age which statisticians use as 100. These figures, 1t should be noted. represent the situation before the recent wage increases in steel and autos. When these are recorded at the end of the month, Lubin's heavy industry line may even go slightly above the 1923-25 "norimar' level.
 How phenomenal is this recov- cry is shown by the fact that the low point reached by the durables was 28 in the spring of 1883.
 NOTE-While payroll totals are up to normal, employment in the durable industries still lags. Its index is 9O.2, in contrast to 97-99 for wages.
 Trade Opportunity
 A U. s. trade commissioner in China recently sent the Depart ment of Commerce a request from a troubled Oriental widower which read:
 "Sir, I shall be highly thank full if you will kindly pass on to me the full Information and address of those establishments in America who are well ad- vanced in communicating with the departed souls and i'm sup- plying the photos of those de- parted ones, as I want to get the photo of my wife who ex- pired very recently. Excuse me for the trouble"
 The letter was filed under trade opportunities" as.s Secret Ambition
 Now 1t can be told-the secret ambition lurking in the breast of every Senator. Chairman Henry Ashurst of the Senate Judiciary Ccmmittees spilled < the beans at Tss = = IT ' '