The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-09-24


Americans VIII Work When
They See Need; Want a Boss
BY RAYMOND CLAPPER
WESTINGHOUSE more You
see around here, and the more you
hear about the conduct Of the war,
the more i appears that We have
plenty Of drive at the bottom but
could use still more at the top.
Whenever American troops or
naval forces have been given Job
to do in this var. they have done
It to the extent Of putting every
thing they had into It. Bataan
and Corregidor viii stand up IN
the company Of any chapters Of
heroism. Midway was a victory
won BY the unstinted sacrifice of
American navy. army and marine
fliers who went down into almost
certain death TO do their work. At
home in scores of camps men are
going through speeded-up training
that could be endured only with
the highest spirit.
II is the same with production.
Processes which I saw at war
plant in the Pittsburgh area re-
Gently showed the drive behind war
work.
A plant making bomb cases has
reduced the time of manufacturing
90 per cent by introducing a new
method of production to replace
slower machining which took ten
times as long.
Another instance of time-saving
concerned the Tugs on bomb cases.
American planes use one kind OF
lug, British planes another. That
meant producing two kinds of fin
ished bomb cases. Through nego-
tiation between British and Ameri-
can military officers it became pos
sible to produce bomb case which
served both British and American
planes. That particular plant has
trained 20 others in its time-saying
technique.
At one plant in Pittsburgh I
saw new process being started
that will save two-thirds of one
of our most critical materials, IN
addition to saving enormous time.
Several other concerns soon will
be using this process.
! saw a huge strip mill which
had been converted within space
of five months to produce plates.
/ By agreement with the maritime
commission, specifications were
changed so that ship plates are
now turned out without trimming
the edges. That saves large
amounts of labor and materials.
In one plant a trainload a day
of 24-inch pipe is being made for
new pipe line to relieve the oil
shortage in the east.
I found steel mills in difficulties
because of raw materials. One mill
superintendent told me he could
roll more ship plates If he could
get more ingots. This comes down
to shortage of scrap. The steel
industry is beginning to move into
other processes which will reduce
/ the amount of scrap needed for
production of steel. Some fur
naces for this are under construc-
! ton now.
Those samples, spotted on
quick tour of some war plants,
show the spirit behind production.
As at Bataan and Corregidor. men.
whether soldiers or civilians, will
throw themselves into a specific
task. When Americans know what
needs to be done and are given
the opportunity to do il, they do 1t.
Most of our trouble. and allied
trouble generally, comes from the
top. Political considerations, jeal-
ousies. special interests. get in
their paralyzing work. The effects
reach out directly into military
operations They reach directly
into production TO create difficulty.
You can scarcely talk TO a re-
/ sponsible official here without re-
alizing how grave the need Is for
still more progress toward unified
+ command. both within our own
government and as between the
allied governments. The British
people. as our own. give every evi-
dence Of being sll-out But both
governments still need 10 20 NOR.
about IN the sense Of moving still
further toward central close-knit
direction Of the war and all that
feeds L.
Costly experience has led 10
some progress. More is being
f sought.
Fighting forces, the materials.
and the spirit at the bottom are
growing steadily. But they are not
fully effective because al the top
there Is not yet the full coordi-
mated drive necessary TO brush
aside the claims Of one component
as against the total war effort. and
the political consideration which
have a paralyzing effect IN sew
eraI theaters.