The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-06-29

Thereafter, the trend turned up.
Huge orders were placed for air.
planes and other materials OF war
by the Allies. Meantime, the Unit
ed States projected q 100000, 900
defense program which Is expected
soon to send industry soaring still
higher.
Production Spurts in May
In May the production index had
reached only 1906. Then came O
squirt, II was estimated 1t was at
l25 by mid-June and still rising. Ex-
perts forecast continuation OF the
upturn despite capitulation OF the
French.
Wartime activity Is considered
q poor substitute for the natural
purchase OF materials In peacetime.
II Is not lasting and after the war
Is overcome the inevitable change
10 peace-time operations, which Is
o costly process. The nations fnanu-
facturers learned that In the last
war.
Employment picked UP sharply as
production increased and there was
increasing talk OF labor shortages,
especially skilled mechanics In the
metal working industries. II was
estimated that the total unemployed
In June was the smallest since All
gust, the month before the outbreak
OF the war.
With emphasis on war supplies,
the aircraft industry enjoyed a
boom unparalleled In Our history
However, contrary 10 widespread be.
lief, the aviation industry was for
from capacity, being hampered by
numerous bottlenecks that develop
cd. These were particularly noted
In production OF engines and In ma
chine tool Industries. Design chang
es further slowed output.
Allies Order 5000 Planes
The Allies placed orders for 5000
war planes here, with delivery OF
some due late In l04l. Meanwhile,
orders also came In from the Unit
cd States government. NeVerthe-
less, expectations were that air.
plane production for 1910 would
range only between 10000 and 2O..
900 units-far below the $4,000 units
annually which President Roosevelt
advocated In his national defense
message.
Experts said that cooperation OF
the entire industry and two To three
years time would be necessary be-
fore $4,000 planes annually could be
turned out In this country.
The backlog OF plane and engine
business alonG---iiot including parts
was estimated over one billion
dollars at the close OF the half, COM
pared with slightly more than $780,
100000 at the end OF 1880.
II was estimated that despite all
the fanfare OF the past six months,
total output of the aircraft indus
try for 1910 will not be worth much
more than $600,000,000 --- q figure
which appears favorable only when
measured against the 1880 total vol
une OF 1926 100000.
The machine tool industry was
one Of the major beneficiaries OF the
war boom. Operations Increased
progressively, when other industries
slumpod. Many plants worked
three-shifS daily and even then
could not keep pace with incoming
business. Here too, there we're bot
tlonecks, the major one being O
shortage OF skilled labor. by may
the industry was working 20 per
cent above the rated capacity which
existed after outbreak OF the war
last September.
Steel Operations Squirt
Steel operations Jumped spectac-
ularly In the final two months OF
the half after dropping swiftly ear
lier In the period. Operations In
January were at 84.1i per cent OF
capacity. by April they had fallen
TO an average OF GiY04. May Wit
messed q recovery 10 72.0 per cent
and In June the rate was back TO
the January level. For the half
year IL was estimated that tho aver.
age would be Ut 10 per cent OF ca
pncity, with tonnage aggregatif1g 49,
706,214 net tons, compared with co.
0b8,723 In the first half Of 1890 when
the average was 62.D8 per cent. on
q tonnage basis the increase was
374 per cent. In the final half OF
the previous year almost 81 900, 900
tons Of steel were produced, how
ever. with the capacity average for
November ut q record high OF 0371
per cent.
In the June II week operations
we're around 90 per cent, the high
est since midi December. And the
outlook was for practical capacity
In the near future.
The automobile industry enjoyed
one OF Its most profitable years In
history. output held we'll even when
other industries were cutting opera
lions severely. For the first six
months II was estimated that pro-
duCtion would DO around 100000
cars and trucks, q gain OF around
~ per cent over the 2,047, 1850 units
produced In the 1887 period.
Oar L0adlngs at Years High
Carloadlfgs slumped sharply Gar-
ly In the year and then came back
10 the best weekly levels recorded
since last November. Estimated Car-
loadlngs for the first six months Of
the year totaled 100000 units, n
gain OF about II per cent compared
with the 16,270,206 In the 1889 pc.
Rod.
Electricity production ran around
go billion kil0watt hours for the
first six months this year, q gain OF
almost II per cent over the 1880 pc
RODS 80 and q half billion total.
The textile industries, consumers
goods lines and most other branches
OF American private endeavor also
displayed an increasing tempo a.
the first half drew 10 q close after
tagging earlier In the year.