The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1942-05-14
BEHIND THE SCENES IN
AMERICAN BUSINESS
BY John Craddock

L0US-Most notable quote of the
week was this, by Senate Military
Affairs committeeman after hearing
seven ~high-ranking government Of
f~ieials, in closed session, spell out
the rubber situation: actually peri
lous from a military standpoint" =.
These the strongest words yet
uttered on the subject, were given
firm backing by the action Of o.
fieials in urging the Senate COM
mittee to recommend the most dras-
tic step that has been proposed in the
u. s. toward communicating private
physical property and hurting it in
to the war drive, namely the lcgis-
lation authorizing requisitioning of
autos and tires Admittedly it's
the need for saving rubber that lies
behind the car-requisitioning pro-
posals. Some members said they ex-
pscted nothing drastic" in the way
Of requisitioning in the near flu
ture, but can paste it in your hat
that the threat of drastic measures
Is definitely here from now on"
PARTING OF WAYS-Apparen.-
ly we've reached the stage where
still-expanding industrial production
almost all Of it war work-can no
longer produce similar gains in re-
tail business. While heavy produc-
ton huns, retail trade for several
weeks has fallen steadily behind the
pace it had maintained ever since
the days when the upswing was call
ed a defense BOOM" National de-
partment-store sales gains have u
merely Is, 1S and 8 per cent ahead
Of corresponding I941 weeks, lately
and this means less actual move
ment of goods GRO counters be-
cause prices are about 10 per cent
higher, on the average. Some stores
says the customer slow-up was es-
pecially noticeable right after the
OPA price-freezing order, as though
shoppers were waiting for the May
10 reductions. But those reductions
will scarcely be worth waiting for,
probably averaging out to less thar
one per cent.
TIPS ON THE TIMES-United
Aircraft, which itself has passed
back $26,000,O 900 in savings on gov
eminent war jobs after achieving
mass-production economies, reports
further savings in voluntary kick
backs from its subcontractors, mi
Of which is cutting the price ST.
$780, 900 on one airplane engine part
alone! production soldiers"
Of industry are leaping into action
right alongside REGULARS to help
service equipment and keep motor
lied units rolling in high. Road SER
vice men of Willys-O Overland have
been dispatched to Army training
centers throughout the country to
train soldiers as "trouble-shooters"
TO keep the fast, hard-hitting Jeeps
in top condition. The instructors
were originally road service men for
the WHY'S auto. which uses the sams
basic power plant as the Jeep, but
had special training from the auto
eompany's engineering experts who
developed the standard design jeep
for the armed forces Three
Pennsylvania coal mines, abandoned
for years. have been re-opened, and
a new one is being dug in Ken
lucky.
REMOTE PATROL Far from
the oeean-prowling U-boats whose
extinction soon will be their as
signment. Navy sub-chssers are to
be turned out. ultimately at the rate
Of one q week. by the Pullman
Standard Car Manufacturing COM
psny's new shipyard now rising on
the shore Of Lake Michigan near
chicago. These win be the first ALL
steel anti-sub patrol craft built in
the midwest. Other Great Lakes
yards are turning out the regular
wooden ones. 1~10-footers, but the
Navy needed a company with long
experience in working heavy steel.
and these so sleek. diesel-powered
avengers will be built by workers
who in peaeetime pioneered modern
streamlined trains. Although almost
all present employees of the car
works will work on the ships. several
thousand men will have to be engag-
ed from outside and trained in ship
building crafts. IL was pointed out
the many skilled workers, including
welders, riveters, electricians, pipe
and frame filters, sheet metal work
ers, joiners, painters, plumbers ana
cabinet makers are readily adaptable
10 shipbuilding.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR -
Clothes made from peanuts. W. h.
Jester, president of the National