The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1942-06-04
BEHIND THE SCENES IN
AMERICAN BUSINESS"
BY JOHN CRADDOCK

NEW YORK. June 1.-BETTER NEIGH
BORS-The neighborliness that wars rub
Der shortage and gas rationing has fostered
in the way of more backyard entertaining,
croquet, picnicking or just sittin' has bust
ness counterparts. For example, consolida-
ton Of delivery routes for milk and bakery
products to save gas and rubber. Latest ex-
ample is the decision to put New York-to-
Washington bus service on a lone big happy
family" basis among the four competing bus
lines. By terms of a special ODT order bas-
ed on their voluntary plan they are to pool
services, stagger schedules, honor each 9TH
er's tickets and eliminate duplicating opera
tons. And in Cleveland even the taxicabs
are getting neighborly! The two big rival
companies got together on a joint appeal TO
the public to double up on cab trips, to
save gas an drubber. There'l be more of all
this.
'UP-GRADING' - Hidden" price rises
have popped up to plague OPA since the
May Is freezing of retail prices. Such rises
can be effected in many ways, ranging from
perfectly legitimate to highly questionable
but even the most scrupulous "up-grad-
ing" maneuver has the net effect of higher
costs to the consumer. Two upgrading ex-
amples at opposite ends of the ethical gamut.
There are reports that the 35-cent species
OF photograph record will disappear, leaving
the half-dOllar version as the cheapest avail
able to the hep-cats, and others; a rug manu-
~facturer changed it's popular rugs in the
standard 8 X IL size to 8 x IL feet, 1 inch
hoping thereby to command a special price,
IL per cent higher than before, for this
technically "non-standard-size' rug!
y y
TIPS OF THE TIMES-Federal Reserve
Boards adjusted index of industrial produc-
ton shows TIA for April ("1OO" being the
1859 average), two points up from March,
whereas a year ago there was a three-point
decline in that period -. At dedication of
new Westinghouse merchant marine plant
Admiral Vickery of the Maritime Commits.
sion said America now has more ''active
shipbuilding capacity than all the rest of
the world combined Incidentally West
inghouse reports IS per cent of it's total
productive capacity in 30 plants is now in
war work Baldwin Locomotives dollar
volume of orders in April was around $1O6
millions; a year ago it was only Z millions,
and even in March of this year the total was
merely 10 millions.
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SALES AND PROFITS-When the ma
tons largest food chain reports a decline
in its rate of net profit in spit of rising
sales-for the third successive year, bust
ness experts look for the reason behind it.
AS is the case with almost all concerns now
adays that see profits dropping even when
they do more business, wartime tax increases
account in part for more-sales-lower-profit-
rate trend shown in the A & P Tea company's
annual report. But President John A. Hart
ford cited additional reasons resulting sole
ly from longtime company policy. "In spite
of increased taxes" Mr.. Hartford reported,
the COMPANY has been able to lower its re-
tail markup, raise wages and increase re-
turns to farmers and other suppliers because
of the company policy of using savings
achieved through operating efficiency"
POSTWAR JEEPING-An ultra-modern
version of the Swords into plowshares'
philosophy is the expected postwar CONVEX
sion of the Army's versatile "Jeep' or quar-
ter-ton reconnaissance car to farming tasks.
The U. S.. Department of Agriculture has
been putting it through its PAGES in Georgia
and Alabama, and Willys-Overland Motors,
which builds the rough-and-ready buzz wag-
on, has received reports from practical far
mers who've given it some workouts. DR..
Carl S. Mundy of Toledo used one in a variety