Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-22
BY III. H. BROWN,

year CLOSED IL was rapldly catcnlng
up with airplane production.
BY H. H. BROWN,
Editor of Marine Engineering and
Shipping Review
The upswing in shipbuilding, which
began five years ago and. has in
creased steadily each year, reached
a new peacetime high in 1910, with
the tonnage of merchant and naval
vessels under construction or on
order totaling 3,743,750 tons. This
represents an increase of over 100
per cent for this year. The volume
of work now in hand is more than
five times greater than it was two
years ago.
Not only will this boom in ship
building keep the existing ship
yards running at capacity for sew
eral years. but Great Britain is now
negotiating for the construction of
a large number of merchant vessels
in this country to offset her war
losses.
BY BURNHAN FINNEY,
Editor, American Machinist.
Machine tool builders expect to
have the biggest year in history dur
ing l941. Output for the industry
is likely to reach s650,0O00 900. That
is a substantial increase over the
last years total to S425 900 900 and
is more than three times the volume
done in 1887.
The industry is booked months in
advance almost exclusively on orders
for the United States defense pro-
gram and for the British. The
amount of business which can be
taken from companies making nom
defense goods has necessarily been
reduced close to the vanishing point.
To meet the unprecedented de-
mand for machine tools, the indus
try has enlarged its capacity over so
per cent within the last IL months,
mostly without Government f1nanc-
ing, and still more physical facilities
are now in process of construction.
BY A. w. ZELOMEK,
Economist, Fairchid Publications
Textile apparel activity in 1910
reached new all-time high. ex-
ceeding the previous peak recorded
in 1887, which was considerably
above the peak of 1929. The gain
in textile fabric output was much
greater than the increase in APP
parel output. This was due to pur-
chases by the Government for de-
Tense purposes.
The outlook for l94l is for a fur
Their continuation of the improve
ment recorded in 1940 Total textile
apparel output will reach new rec
ord high, although the rate of gain
will be less than the gain in durable
goods output. With record output
in 1910, we can hardly expect fur
ther marked expansion. Although
somewhat higher prices are likely,
sensational advances are not in the
offing.
By JOSEPH b. MASON,
Eastern Editor, American Builder
Residential building in 1910 con-
tinued its seven-year uninterrupted
advance with II per cent increase
over 1899. The total number of
United States dwelling units built
excepting FARMS was close to
545 900. This is about $4,000 more
homes than were built in 1929 and is
a 12-year peak. The estimated value
was 1.850,000,000.
Prospects for contractors, opera
tive builders and material suppliers
are bright for 1941. Although some
price rises and some shortages of
materials are expected, the present
market for small homes is so strong
that 1941 private home building
activity probably will overcome these
obstacles to show an increase of at
least 10 per cent.
BY L. V. BURTON,
Editor Food Industries.
Any one who refused a year ago
to make predictions for 1910 is even
more reluctant to guess at the flu
ture for 194l. We can be reasonably