The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1942-09-24
Behind the Scenes
In American Business
By John Cruddock

NEW YORK, Sept. 21-STAB-
HIzATION-Plugging of the
two holes which have been let
ting big currents of initiation
pour through the price ceiling
wages and farm prices--has be-
come the most pressing econ
omic problem of the nation.
Both houses of Congress are
hearing experts, most of whom
agree that wages and farm
prices should be stabilized at
levels prevailing August 18th.
With respect to wages, it should
be fairly simple, just to state
that all wages will be fixed at
August is levels, except that
increases will be granted SO as
to match the rise in cost of liv-
ing since January, 1941. 49,. The
question of parity" or "11O per
cent of parity" makes stabilizing
farm prices a much tougher as
signment. Newest complication
in the latter is the contention
that the increase in wages farm
ers have to pay their help must
be figured in with the parity"
concept. With food forming
the largest single item in Amer
lean family budgets--taking
about 80 cents out of every pay
envelope dollar--the significance
of getting this home-front
battle settled is obvious.
/ BITS O. BUSINESS-WaSh-
ington government building
c~afeterias are jumping the gun
on meatlesS days, with volun-
tary mo meat or fish" policy
on Wednesdays. Macaroni and
cheese Or mushrooms on toast
are offered as substitutes. (.
Sales of independent retailers
throughout the land in August
were almost exactly the same as
for August of 1941--but eating
and drinking places came up
with a Is per cent gain. Motor
vehicle dealers recorded the
largest sales loss of all--62 per
cent. :. One works of the Car
negie- Illinois Steel company in
August turned out enough steel
plate to build IS Liberty ships. d.
Accent on soft" goods, since
durable goods are scarce due to
war demands, may be part of
the answer to the 81 per cent
gain in net sales shown by
Cluett Peabody, the Arrow folks,
for the first six months of the
year Motion picture produc-
ers are going to have to get
along on 10 to "a per cent less
film than they used in 1941, the
WPB rules.
BOND FORMULA--Early re-
turns indicate that a cracker
jack of a new formula for SELL
ing the payroll-deduction plan
for War Bond buying to indus
trial workers has been worked
out, in the rubber industry. The
first such campaign to be con-
Quoted on an induStry-wide
basis--using the ideas and
technique Of the war-born la
Dor = management committee
has just finished a housing three
weeks, with 167 plants of the in
dustry, scattered over 81 states,
participating. Returns are yet
incomplete, but the home plant
of B. F. Goodrich at Akron, for
example,, came up with a rec
ord of 99.2 per cent employe
participation, and its plants in
some other cities were edg1ng
even closer to the absolute 100
per cent mark. One of its 40
per centers" in Akron is Hun
garian-born John Bosnyak, g.
year-old millman who helps
build rubber fighting equip
ment--and has five sons in the
armed services of the United
States.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR
More and more wooden articles
you had always thought had to
be made of metal. For instance,
radiator covers made of fiber
board and hardwood, by the
Trance company of La Crosse,
Wis: . Almost all-plywooo
airplaneS--Beech Aircraft CORP
GRAFTON of Wichita is turning out
tWln-engine bomber pilot train
ers of this type in increasing
numbers. Even the leak-proof
fuel tanks are of plywood.
Fiber containers, by American
Can company, autographed to
look just like the vanishing tin
can; they can be packed on
existing canning machinery, but
are recommended primarily for
dry drugs, cosmetics, foods and
tobaccos. Various devices for
making it easy to hold your car
speed down to the rubber saw
ing IS m.p.h. A non-metal
garbage pail, made of plastic1zed
plywood, is one of the new war
substitute items shown at Chi
Cages Merchandise Mart. . De-
hydrated apple granules to be
marketed in cellophane bags
for use in pastries or for a quick
applesauce.
GLASS GOES TO WAR--and
the result is that one of mans
oldest known materials is help
ing our ultra-modern bombers
fly higher than ever before. |
Odd as it may sound, glass is
proving to be a tough and rough |