Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-22
Defense Construction
Takes Spotlight
In Trade Rise
Rush to Build Army
Barracks and Arms
Plants Sturts
By FRANK MacMILLEN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

NEW YORK, Sept. 2l.-Rush Jobs
for the construction Of new Army
barracks and arms plants sped the
flow of defense money into busi-
ness channels today and added
stimulus to industry's autumn up
swing.
Building took a front-line place
in the business parade with steel,
ships, aircraft and toolmaking as
a field of expanding employment.
Thousands of workers, trade re-
ports said, were being put back on
pay rolls or faced prospect of Jobs
soon in the advance Of defense
projects from blue print to the
brick-and-mortar' stage
Building operations generally we're
rated the highest in decade-and
apparently headed higher
In the latest weekly report Of con-
struction awards compiled by the
Engineering News-Record, a trade
publication, military housing &C
counted for s45 5000 out of a
total of s120,809. 00O
Defense chiefs demanded speed in
that part of the program to pro-
vide shelter for National Guard
units going into training and con-
tingents of drafted men later in the
year.
1000 to Get Jobs.
Cited in business quarters as an
example of what big military prof.
ects mean for training localities was
the cantonment under way at Fort
Dix, in the New Jersey pine belt.
The construction, scheduled for
completion within three months,
was expected to provide work for
1000 at the peak.
Building has been a main depres-
sion sector in the past decade. max
ing work for only a minor part Of
the estimated 100000 who had en-
ployment in that industry in the
postwar boom years.
Other relatively depressed indus
tries were being called into har-
ness again to arm Uncle Sam for
Western Hemisphere defense The
War Departments latest S386,OOO.-
600 batch of contracts clearing
through the Defense Commission
included large tank orders for lead
ing rail equipment manufacturers.
Locomotive and freight car build
ers, with big investments in plants,
have been through an exceedingly
lean decade.
Heavy industry generally present.
ed the busiest autumn aspect since
1929. Steel production this week
was estimated at about SO per cent
of capacity. Many mills were at
practical capacity, and there was
talk in the industry of what would
happen when the full force of the
defense business arrives.
Textile Plants Rushed.
Textile manufacturers likewise
were pushed to produce blankets.
uniform material and other fabrics
for Americas forthcoming crops OF
doughboys and sailors.
1t was good news for cotton grow
ers-shut off from erstwhile markets
in Europe-to hear cloth sales were
heavy in Worth street, the New York
textile center, and that home con-
sumption of the staple this season
probably would set a new record
with the aid of Army orders.
Many of the Government-spent
millions going into defense, w. P.
A. farm benefits and factory paw
rolls quickly poured into retail trade,
making some of the widest year-to-
year gains merchandisers have seen
in long time.
Department store sales increases
of II to % per cent over like 1899
figures for the second week of Sep
TENDER were reported by the Fed
eral Reserve Board in the Atlanta,
Chicago, Kansas City. Minneapolis,
San Francisco and Dallas Reserve
Districts.
With demand for goods on the up
grade and commodity prices stiffen-
ing somewhat, the National Retail
Dry Goods Association appealed to
merchants to cooperate with Fed
eral authorities in protecting con-
sumers against higher costs.
The waves of retail buying were
felt along the line in wholesale mar
kets.
Deliveries Delayed.
Frequently the rush of business
was so heavy that wholesalers were
unable to meet requested deliver
les" reported Dun & Bradstreet,
Inc.
Still behind this fast-moving bus
mess march was Wall Street, immo-
bile since the surrender of France
brought acutely before financial cir
Giles the question of the future of the
British Empire and the United
States prospective role in a chang
ing world setup.
The wealth of orders croWding the
books of many producers stirred
cautious buying in stocks and bonds.
especially rail liens, and the stock
market ended another quiet week
today a little above where 1t left
off last week.
Buying in rail issues seemed to
acknowledge that the carriers, too,
were leaving the depression trail Of
red ink and shunting into profitable
tracks for a change
On the rebound from the Labor
Day periods drop in traffic. car
loadings topped weekly total of
100000 for the first time this year.
The industry seemed on the way
to surprising the autumn loading
peaks of 1886 and 1887. the previous
years of fairly good freight move
ment.