Evening star., 1939-11-19

Poland, where the company has
another huge factory.
Mr.. Bata's plans now, according
to his secretary, are for large fac
tory which will be largely a dupli-
cate of the Zlin plant Here, it is
now planned. the company will
manufacture shoes for export to
four continents, with especial at
tantion to South America.
Mr.. Bata, it seems, believes in
speed
Over the front gate of his fac
tory a 50-foot canvas banner pro-
claims in red letters a foot high;
Invention Is the Mother of the
Future-Always Be First
Another large banner shouts:
Time Is Worth More Than Money
The Day Has 80.400 Seconds.
Precious Seconds
And Mr.. Bata himself seems de-
termined to make every second
count.
Two months ago, residents of
Aberdeen and Havre de Grace saw
the arrival of IA -Slovakian
foremen and instructors to train
workers for the new factory, which
a Baltimore construction company
was rushing to completion.
A week later, according to G..
Arnold Pfaffenbach secretary of the
Havre de Grace Chamber of Com
merce, every member of the 1889
graduating class of Hartford County
high schools received a card invit-
ing applications for employment.
Soon thereafter. the invitation was
extended to 1888 and 1887 graduates.
Il know a lot of boys and girls
who gave up good jobs at SIS and S18
a week to go to work at Bata's for
beginning wage of SIPS Mr..
Pfaffenbach said "Of course. they
are supposed to get more later, and
I suppose they think they are get
ting in on the ground floor"
Five weeks ago, the company
started production in its first unit,
before the whitewash had been
wiped off the windows.
The company started production
with 200 workers and now has be-
tween $50 and 300. Production now
is at the rate of $4,000 pairs a
month, all in one line of women's
shoes.
But that is nothing said Louis
Gerbec, factory director. Soon it
will be $4,000 pairs day Later
that depends on conditions. Maybe
250000 pairs day
But even the present modest pro-
duction follows the same methods
which have made Bata famous as
one of Europe's greatest industrial
lists.
These methods are an adaptation
of the conveyor- system perfect
ed in the automobile industry Raw
hides and other materials begin at
the top of the building ard flow
endlessly down and around from
floor to floor. past the benches of
workers who have each one small
task to do in the making of the fin
ished shoe
One man polishes the leather of
the hide. Another cuts the uppers.
Another cuts the caps Another in
serts eyelets. Another turns the welt.
Another sandpapers heels.
"And it is fast!" declared an 18-
year-old girl, graduate of Havre
de Grace High School last year.
'They assigned me to brushing
polish around the edge of the sole,
and they gave me whistle.
Results From a Whistle
"'If you can't keep up with the
shoes going past on the belt they
said, blow the whistle. The belt will
stop till you catch up
II managed to keep up with the
belt all morning, but in the middle
of the afternoon I fell behind. So I
blew the whistle. All of a sudden, it
seemed as if about 20 instructors
were around me, shouting instruc-
tions in Czech and German and
English.
II vowed right then that I would
never blow that whistle again-not
even if the factory blew up!"
There are "a instructors at pres
ent, most of them from the Bata
factory at Zlin. But Director Gerbec
emphasizes that they are in America
only temporarily.
! Mr.. Bata himself, at his headquar-
tiers at 1925 Connecticut avenue
NV, Washington, emphasized the
same thing.
'This is going to be an American
factory, for Americans" he said.
I'm year every instructor and
worker will be American"
Profits, too, will be American, his
associates say.
$50 far as possible, every cent of
profit will be reinvested in this coun-
try" said his secretary, a Mr.. Mi
| chek.
Financing of the American activ-
tiles, so far, has been wholly foreign,
said Mr.. Michek.
Heretofore the company's retail