The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1942-12-10
WNU Service, 1S4s H Street, NV,
Washington, d. C.

oSA AS>b oA
Washington, D. c.
BY the time this is written or
shortly thereafter. announcement
will be made Of the creation of what
may become one Of the worlds
greatest industries-synthetic rub
Der manufacturing. By that time
probably ten plants will be assured
of operation-the three biggest will
make synthetic rubber out of alco-
hol, which means a market for the
farmers grain.
If the program marches accord
ing to schedule, the United States
will have achieved within n year
what usually takes a quarter Of a
century to accomplish-the building
of a new industry.
This is the message that William
Jeffers. president OF the Union Pa
ciic railway. now rubber admins
traitor In Washington. gave me.
Mr.. LETTERS presides at a desk in
one of the offices of the War PrOduc-
tion board and appears to be n
man taken out of the American bust
ness world who believes that you
can get things done ever within the
government.
He looks like what he is. A rail-
road man who came up from the
bottom. still carries a union card
and usually mentions it. He is
stocky-bull-necked. slow spoken. a
prophet Of the practical. skeptical Of
the theoretical. who talks about his
''two-fsted" organization Of success
full business men, who know their
stuff"
! asked him first if he found much
difference between working for the
government and running a railroad.
YES" he answered. Then he
smiled and took his time before he
went on.
This is a democracy-I suppose
the. delays are necessary. But I
haven't had much trouble" He
looked up. Il make my own deci-
sions. I got that Ford plant over
night" (He engineered the negotia-
tons for the Ford tire manufacture
ing plant in Detroit for shipment to
Russia.)
Using What We Haze
Il have a top-notch organization
of two-fisted businessmen who know
their stuff. We r going to do what
we are supposed to do or schedule.
On our own schedule. We have the
information we want and in a few
weeks we'll know just how many
plants we are going to have. what
their capacity will be and the order
in which they will start producing.
My first job" LETTERS went on as
he lifted his 220 pounds and walked
around the desk, lis keeping the
country on rubber with what we've
got. That means reclamation and
conservation. Then it's to produce
the synthetic rubber we need to
keep going for the duration. Mean
while I watch that stock pile of pure
rubber we have. like a hawk.
Here are the ABC's." he said.
motioning me to a chair beside a
table on which was standing what
looked like an open sample case.
It contained a number Of bottles and
a few other objects properly labeled.
He pointed to the first bottle. This
Is full Of shreds." he said. 1T is
part Of q whole tire. casing and all,
cut up" He pointed to the next
bottle. This" he said. lis the
same stuff after it has been soaked
In oil and acid and the pieces Of
casing floated out. You can see
the pieces Of metal in it still" He
showed me a screen with pieces Of
metal on it. Here is the filter
which strains out the metal-a lot
of metal gets into a tire" There
were a lot Of pieces sticking to the
bottom Of the filter.
These next bottles" he went on.
''show the way the stuff looks after
each successive process Of refining.
And here is the reclaimed rubber
he said as he picked up a black
strip. Then he pointed to a new tire
leaning against the wall. This tire
is made of reclaimed rubber" I felt
it. It seemed normal. l said so.
1T isn't as good as the tires you
get today" he said. but it is as
good as the ones you got ten years
ago."
Rubber Production
Then we came to part two-part
two Of his job, which is the produc.
ton Of synthetic rubber.
He showed me a yellowish object
which felt like rubber. This is
neophrene-synthetic rubber made
of carbide. It is better than rub
Der. but it Is very expensive"