The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-08-07
"BEHIND THE SCENES IN
AMERICAN BUSINESS"
By John Croddock

LIGHT-The business stage now presents
crowded panorama, with many dlIIereht
developments and phases vying for the spot
LIGHT Auto industry, always headllner
in this show, is being watched especially
closely on two counts - extent OF ana erect
of production curtament, which starts TINS
month and nature of the 1912 model-year
cars, soon to be unveiled New govern
ment price control bill will grab the hmehght,
too: outlines of the new bill, which would
give the President authority to fix ceiling on
prices. rents and services, excluding wages,
indicate that prices prevailing on June 30,
last. will be the guiding point for these con-
trolls: exceptions are rents, which will be tied
to levels of September 80 of this year, and
farm prices. On the latter, no farm commodi-
tv can be placed under price ceiling which
is lower than its parity price Another
spotlight subject is the eastern seaboard oil
situation - with Administrator 1ckes re-
quest pm. to am. shutdown OF ming
stations (about 100000 stations are in the
area affected) /. =. Meanwhile general bust
ness continues to boom, with emphasis on
"hard goods" like washing machines, clea-
ners, refrigerators and so forth
TRANSIT JAM-Its been pretty widely
forecast-and hoped-that as those durable
goods become scarcer the economic shock
might be cushioned by the nations purchas-
ing power switching over toward much
greater buying of soft goods things like
cosmetics, confectionery and clothing whose
manufacture doesn't compete with defense
needs for materials, men or machines. How
ever, even soft good have to move to
market, and right now freight car loadings
are about fourth higher than at the same
point last year. Speaking at the National
Council of State Liquor Dealers Associations,
Robert j. Byers, director of merchandising Of
the Michigan Liquor Control commission
who supervises the sale of close to $50, 1872
808 worth of luxury goods year. suggested
most logical solution. Said he: 1T is
evident that anticipation now of the needs
for the next several months, and purchases
based on those needs, should help to some
degree in relieving transportation congestion
later on, and assure adequate supplies of
stocks which can be turned into revenue for
national defense
edly will have less aluminium nickel, Zinc
and other vital defense materials than their
predecessors, and of course there'll be fewer
new ones. Materials just have to be saved for
actual defense use. At the same time, ade-
quate transportation has to be provided for
transit and food-delivery facilities. Reduc-
ton in overall weight might be solution
to this two-edged problem. One manufac-
turer, Joseph Frazer of Willys-Overland,
said after conference with OPACS that the
obvious solution is for the industry to turn
to the production of lighter weight, more
economical cars which will use less of these
materials He said that Sin a time of nat
ional emergency like this it is more than I'M
necessary to have two tons of weight to trans
port 95-pound woman to the grocery store"
and that his company had demonstrated that
it is possible to produce full-sized five
passenger car which will do rs miles an hour
and yet use 613 pounds less steel, 1876 pounds
less iron, SO pounds less rubber and 81
pounds less of such materials as copper, lead
and zinc is required in the average of the
nations four largest-selling cars.
THINGS. TO WATCH FOR - A built-n
tiny light for dial telephones in dark rooms
which goes on automatically when receiver
is lifted and vice versa A synthetic olive
oil, produced by combination of all-Ameri-
animals, vegetable and mineral oils
Something new in rubber handsome equip
ped with button and button hole. . A new
electric coffee-maker that can be adjusted
TO make exactly the same brew every day
And in the same field, an electric toaSter
that times the toastlng automatically without
any ticking sound Still another electrical
item plug that requires n oscrew-driver
whatever for making the wire connection;
the two halves of it screw together as easily
cap on a bottle, squeezing the wires into
tight connection with the terminal prongs .
A fruit Juice dispensing machine in which YOU
drop nickel, select any one of six flavOrs
puncture the lid on bult-in opener. and
drink 'er down A sunlamp bulb that fits
into ordinary house sockets and has every
thing built in, special glass for screening out
undesirable rays, reflector, and all.