Evening star., 1942-07-19

true. in that the countrys top-flght
technicians are endowed with genius for
the mechanical system. and are one and
all it's passionate GevoteeS.
But scope remains for distinct aber-
rations of personality. For example,
there could hardly be contrast more
striking than that offered by kaufman
Thuma Keller. the fabulous *. T. Of
the Chrvsler Corn and Frederick V.
Gcier president Of the Cincinnati Mill
inc Machine Co and chief of that war
production brain trust" the machine
tool industry.
Mr.. Keller's father was a horse trader
in Mount Joy, Pa, and his mothers FAM
ily were river boat people on the Susque-
hanna At the age of l3. the boy ran
a drill press after school hours and
raised pigeons On the side to get money
for a course in shorthand and typewrit
ing at business college.
Mr.. Geier is son of the late Fred
erick A. Geier, who founded the Gin
cinnati Milling Machine Co. in 1884 and
became a millionaire. Born with silver
spoon in his mouth, while the future
x t. emerged from a homely wooden
cradle. young Geier attended the Frank
lin School in Cincinnati and was grad
uated from Williams College in 1916. He
absently twirls a Phi Beta Kappa key.
Mr. Keller's proudest boast is that Il
an machinist by trade"
Chryslers Dreeident, at the age of 56,
has tie barrel chest, bull neck and py-
ranidal jowls of professional wrestler.
Mr.. Geier is 43 and could pass for 35 so
boyish are his features and so dapper
is his physique. Two years ago Will
liam S. Knudsen asked Mr.. Keller
whether his company could build me-
dium tanks for the Army. The athlete
of production instantly responded
Yes" and then inquired, as an after
thought, Where can I see model?"
On a recent tour of war plants Mr..
Geier fascinated correspondents with a
scholarly discourse on what may be
called the philosophy of the machine
tool.
Improvises a Slogan.
Chatting with the same group at
breakfast in Detroit, Mr.. Keller impro-
vised slogan for the age of mass pro-
duction. Show me an order for
million of anything" he exclaimed, "and
I'll make it,
With the precision of college in
structor, Mr.. Geier opened the lecture by
defining machine tool as a non-port-
able, power driven instrument of five
basic arts-the planning turning boring,
milling or grinding of metals. Con-
structing the machine tools themselves,
he startled the visitors by pronouncing,
is the least part of a given contract. Far
more important was declared to be serv-
ice engineering-the generalship or high
strategy of an assembly line.
This means an expert and detailed
analysis of the process in hand its
breaking down into hundreds of small
operations, aligned in due order of sue
cession; planning the best sort of tool
device needed for each stage, and draft
ing tens of thousands of blueprints.
Not until then follows the actual
building of the machines, to say nothing
of their installation in factories and the
! quantity output of implements and NUM-
! tions of war. No one who beholds an as
sembly line at work, for so simple a
product as cartridge, can fail to wonder
| at the long array of machines each per-
forming its minute but progressive func-
ton, and to be convinced that underlying
such an achievement must exist intel
| igence of a masterful order.
The American machine tool industry,
MI Geier proceeded, entered on the war
program with the gravest possible hand
leaps 1t had been all but ruined by the
depression, in which manufacturers
ceased requirements and new orders for
equipment, and was suddenly called upon
to convert a major section Of the national
plant from peace TO war production
The latter entailed pioneer designing in
three signal respects.
The motor car industry, chief customer
for machine tools, required only crude
tolerances Military manufactures
especially airplane and tank engines
ordnance and ammunition, exact precis-
ions up to millionth of an inch. On q
vast scale, former products custom
made by handicraft artisans were adapt
ed 10 the assembly BELT. Moreover, the
crisis afforded no leisure for training ex.
pert labor. AS never before, machine:
had to be gifted with such brains thai
inexperienced workers could operate
them after a few months or weeks OF
tuition.
Outstripped Axis Capacity.
Nevertheless, according to Mr.. Geiel
and other leaders in his speciality, thu
| American machine tool industry in two
years has outstripped the combined
capacity of the Axis, although German.
in particular had headStart OF NOR
than a decade. This triumph is attrlb
uted to the fact that the United State
served as teacher of machine tool meth
DDS TO foreign countries. Prominent il
the work of international instruction wa
the Cincinnati Milling Machine Co., tn
worlds largest establishment of the kline
Only once did Mr. Geer abandon tn
objective style. At the end of his talk
the cool executive INDUCED in wha
was for him an emotional outburst.
1--WE Americans may be the most de
cent people in history" he declared. "W
are certainly the most soft-headec
We've been caught short again, and nov
we're working like madmen to catch ur
For Gods sake, when this war end!
let's be sensible. Let's not abandon Q
tear down or let go to rot as we di
before, the implements we must hav
; to make weapons. Every tool, every jit