The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1944-01-13
Behind the Scenes
IN American Business
BY John Craddock

SSAAA
Nineteen forty-four will be tn
decisive year.
General Eisenhower has assur
ca US that Germany will b,
Deaten this year. Already tn,
united Nations are marshallinl
thelr mounting strength for thu
ong-aWaited invasion of Fort.
ress Europa, battered and soft.
eneo by more than a year o.
heavy bombing. In the Pacific
the initiative is ours and the
laps are finding their defenses
dispersed in a u.lousald-mile
arc OF islands, atolls and ten
uouS strips of Asian mainland
inadequate to cope with Gener-
al MacArthur's magnificantly
planned attacks.
1t will be a decisive year or
The nome front, too. The war
production program will change,
but overall output will about 20
per cent ahead u la43, which
itself was SO per cent ahead of
1912. Charles E. Wilson, vice
chairman of the WPB, explains
1t this way: I'VE shall be say
ing to those responsible for air
craft production, Keep the
pressure on; give us more At
the same time, we shall be say
ing to the shipbuilders, Keep
your productive effort about at
present levels and we shall be
saying to producers of equip
ment for the ground army, cut
down production"
In this and next weeks COL
umn, we propose to review brief
ly what has been done on the
production front in 1943 and
what's likely to be done in 1914.
Aircraft, more than any other
weapon, has undergone contin-
uous development, both in struc-
ture and new devices, and in
volume of output. The industry
is producing at the rate of 1OO,-
600 units a year and the 1943
tonnage ran 40 per cent higher
than 1912. In Flying Fortresses
alone, the years output was 146
per cent ahead of 1912, accord
ing to P. G. Johnson of Boeing
Airplane company, which makes
them.
AIRCRAFT TONNAGE UP $3.50
For 1914, tonnage of all air
craft may run $3.50 ahead of
1882. according to Ernest R.
Breech, president of BendiX Az
iation corporation, who reports
that the Industry at its peak
will employ 1,700,0 900 workers.,
with 1,40O, 900 more working for
aircraft sub-contractors and
suppliers.
Even for this prodigious VOL
ume, we have the materials. In
fact, aluminium is now present
in larger quantities than needed
for strictly war purposes. In 1943
its output rate reached 81 bill
lions of pounds annually. Roy
A. Hunt, president of Aluminium
Company of America, recalling
the fears of aluminium shortage
that swept the country in 1871,
says that the fears have now
been answered by ingots and
sheets and other forms of alum
mum in definite and growing
SURPRISES over military needs.
Another and equally vital raw
material problem also has been
met. America is now able to
make at home more rubber than
we ever consumed in a single
year. But John L. Collyer, presi-
dent of the B. F. Goodrich COM
pany, pioneer in synthetic rub
Der, warns that conversion of
rubber product manufacturers
from natural to man-made rub
Der must be accomplished at an
Increasingly rapid rate because
OF the decreasing supplies of
crude rubber, still necessary in
the manufacture of some rubber
products. THE large war-born
synthetic rubber industry" says
Collyer, should achieve its ra-
ted capacity of approximately
100000 tons by July"
An outstanding example of
the diversity of war production
is provided by the can-making
industry. Among numerous pro-
ducts for which American Can
company has developed special
containers are Army rations,
blood plasma, human albumin,
Canned blankets, bomb fuses,
cratering explosive cans and
land mines. Fiber containers
specially developed for war uses
include those for int, incend-
larry grenades and sturdy suits
OF armor" for large and small
calibre artillery shells now being
mass-produced in more than 20
sizes. A Cameo subsidiary, Amer
torp, is the country's largest
commercial manufacturer of Ma
Wy torpedoes.