The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-12-22
FACTORY WITHOUT WALL TRUE STORY
Columbus Ohio Yarn Al= most as Funny as Case of
 Homeless Freight Cars
By FREDERICK C. OTHMAN 5UnSted Press Staff Correspondent

Limited Press Staff Correspondent
 Washington, Dec. 22-(UP)-The case of the homeless freight cars in St. Louis, believe you'll agree, is something to read about. Sos the story of the factory without a wall in Columbus, o. Only not as funny as | thought at first. Not nearly as funny.
 An advisory committee of railroad car builders was in session at the War Production Board and R. A. Williams, Vice-president of the American Car and Foundry Co.,, happened to remark that he'd just put in a narrowing A hours.
 He was in the midst of building for the U. s. Army 610 flat cars when, at 2:35 p. m., the day before, he received a wire from Washing ton, cancelling the order Further more, he said, the order was effec- tive that midnight.
 What to do with 610 flat cars was the question, particularly since 72 of them still weren't bolted to- gether
 Frank A. Livingston, president of the Ralston Steel Car Co.,, of Col umbus, O., interrupted to say that Williams hadn't heard anything yet.
 He said he'd converted his plant to a bomb factory for the Army and was turning 'em out wholesale, when his order was cancelled
 Livingston said he thought he'd better get back to building rail- road cars as quickly as possible. He moved out all the completed bombs, bomb parts, and machineryfi in- cluding numerous presses so big he had to tear down one wall of his place to get them out.
 He had the whole business load ed up and ready to ship and his factory on the verge of turning out freight cars again when he got another wire from Washing ton. You guessed it. Resume bomb production"
 The Senate War Investigating Committee began a preliminary in- quiry and I must admit that when I heard of 1t, it sounded like bungling on the part of somebody in a brass buttoned coat,
 I checked with the Army and it said the facts as reported here are correct. It said the St. Louis freight car deal wasn't much to worry about, because the Army has half a dozen standard methods of getting rid of those cars with loss to nobody.
 The Columbus bomb deal is something else again. Seems that after manufacture of ordinary sized bombs got going good, the Army found it could plaster Ger many with block busters. Produc- tio nof these big babies scared: the 100-pounders slumped. That's when the Columbus contract was cancelled.
 The Army Air Forces discovered soon by experience that sometimes plane loaded with ten 100-pound- CTS could do more damage than one carrying single 1O0O-pounder. That's when the contract was rein stated.
 The head men at the War Depart ment realize that this was nuis- ance to the Columbus factory, but tthey ask) what else could they do? That strikes me as a pretty good question. It still isn't all.
 Many similar contracts suddenly have been cancelled under the evigeneies of battle and many a worker in a war factory finding himself jobless overnight, has re- fused to take a similar job next door. The army Is exercised about this. NY man said he realized it was more than inconvenient for a worker to have his job blow up in his face; he said it. also was incon- yenient for a soldier in Germany to And himself without the right kind ol bullets for bis gun
 4heEe 10 doubt about that,