The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-09-04
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WASHING soAAs - ~
AUTO CUT
That fanfared OPM cut of 261z
per cent in auto production drew no
cheers from war department chiefs.
To them it was big disappoint-
ment.
First of all the cut looks lot
bigger than it actually is. For one
thing the OPM carefully did not re-
veal in its hoopla press releases
was the fact that even with this
curtailment auto production still
will be 10 per cent greater than In
1888 and 1899.
In other words, Notwithstanding
the increasing shortage of strategic
raw materials, such as steel, rub
Der, alloys and other metals, auto
production is to continue at levels
higher than In the peaceful years OF
SO and 80.
Another reason for the army
gloom was that it wanted an imme-
date cut of at least SO per cent.
For months war department heads
pleaded and argued with OPM mo-
guls for drastic curtailment, on the
ground that the material going into
pleasure cars are desperately need
ed for planes, tanks, ships, guns and
other vital ornaments. But for
months the OPM masterminds did
absolutely nothing.
Finally, In July, scrappy OPACS
Director Leon Henderson, who has
seen eye-to-eye with the army on
this issue from the start, took the
bull by the horns and ordered
a so per cent slash.
OPM's reaction was to hit the cell
ing. 1t refused to accept the ruling.
And while OPM battled behind the
scenes with OPACS, autos continued
to roll off assembly lines IN record
breaking numbers. However, Hen
derson's bare-knuckling finally took
effect. The 261z per cent cut is a
little less than half Of what the army
and Henderson wanted, but it is 612
per cent more than OPM's original
figure.
TANKS FOR BRITAIN
Some time ago the Merry-Go-
Round revealed that chief obiec-
tive of Lord Beaverbrook' visit was
to get more tanks-tanks for Iran;
tanks for Egypt, tanks eventually
for an invasion of the continent.
Beaverbrook particularly wanted the
new powerful 80 tonners that soon
will roll off the Chrysler assembly
line at the rate of $50 month.
It can now be revealed that the
British supply minister will not go
home empty handed. He will take
back with him very cheering assur-
ances regarding the division of these
tanks between the U. S. and British
armed forces. But that isn't the end
of his tank problem.
Allotting tanks to the British In
this country is one thing, but deliv-
ering them across the Atlantic is
another.
In fact, the problem of transport
ing large numbers of 32-ton tanks
is the toughest shipping problem
maritime experts have faced since
the magnetic mine, which ravaged
shipping until the de-magnetizing de-
vices were evolved.
In a nutshell here is the problem:
For every shipload Of light Il ton
tanks sent to England or Africa, the
same ship plus nearly three-fourths
Of another ship would be required to
transport the same number of 30
ton tanks. In other words, they are
bigger. Translated into specific fig
ures-that 26-ship convoy which
landed $50 light tanks at Alexandria
three months ago would have had
to consist of A vessels to carry
the same number of medium tanks.
With shipping scarcer than hens
teeth, difference of Is ships is an
extremely important factor. Also,
the necessity of travelling In slow
conveys further reduces the amount
OF shipping available. Some experts
estimated this reduction as high as
so per cent. In addition the British
sometimes take an excessively long
time to unload cargoes.
So the tank problem thus also be-
comes an acute shipping problem.
One bright spot In the situation is
the great reduction in ship losses in
the last so days since the extension
of the U. S. neutrality patrols. But
the basic problem of securing more
cargo bottoms still remains.
Note: Since January /, U. S. ship
yards have turned out a total Of sc
cargo vessels.
MERRY-GO-R0UND
Army officers are singing the
praises of 10th Century-Fox's Daryl
Zanuck and many movie moguls
for their big job in filming 100 reels