The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-06-29
BY PAUL MALLoN


back when conversion had been ae-
compiished with many an ache
and groan. would come true. Then
the experts predicted that reeonver'
sion would be easier than conversion.
Eighty per cent Of the factories,
we are now told by offieisls Of the
department Of commerce. win not
have to do a major reeonversion Job.
This Is largely because many indus
tries now furnishing supplies to the
military will continue to manufae'
ture the same supplies for civilians
clothing. food. printing. electrical
appliances-you can think of a whole
lot of others yourself. II win be no
great problem for the makers OF
such products to shift from one mar
ket to another-from Uncle Sam to
John Q. Consumer.
Some industries whose present
final product differs considerably
from the civilian goods they make
won't have such major difficulties
either. It will please the ladies to
learn that even the folks who have
been making parachutes will have
little or no trouble changing back
to stockings. The nylon people sim
ply have to change spools.
There are q number Of other pre-
dictions concerning the future Of
businesses. big and little, and one
Of them Is that 20 per cent Of the
industries, although they won't do
the business they are doing today
with Uncle Sam as a customer. will
have a bigger demand to meet than
they had in the boom year Of 1929.
And this condition will continue. say
the prophets Of profits. for two or
three years on the impetus Of the
present pent-up buying power of
the nation. II we keep our heads
meanwhile, there Is no reason why
the period Of prosperity cannot be
extended.
But what about the other types Of
business which we're expanded by
war demands for products which
won't have any civilian market?
Well, our American business inge-
nuity and our native mechanical In
ventive genius. they tell US. are go
ing to step into the picture again.
Then there will be the natural evo-
luton which will eliminate the be-
low-average business man and es-
tablish a survival of the httest.
Yankee Ingenuity
To the Fore
What started me of on this topic
was a typical example Of how this
inventive genius. stimulated by war
demands, has laid the foundation
for turning what started as little
two-room factory into a big. small
town business. The man with the
inventive genius is a frequent Wash
ington visitor these days. His name
is Burl E. Sheriff. The name Of
the town Is Peru, Ind, population
1900. Sheriff. is a modest Hoosier
genius In his forties who managed
TO make a living from tinkering and
selling the patents on the gsdgets
he invented. Then one day he made
something he liked so well he didn't
want to part with the idea behind 1t.
so he decided TO manufacture II him
self. II was a popular-priced mag
netic compass for use in steel
bodied automobiles and trucks.
Sheriff. rented three Offices right
on the public square Of Peru. turned
them into his factory and started
out. Soon he began to expand, push
ing lawyers, doctors, real estate men
out OF the way. But am getting
ahead OF my story.
Sheriff. was a born inventor, al
though he didn't realize it and start
ed off to study law. After two years
at the University Of Chicago he
found that his hunger for the law
was appeased, his hunger for three
meals a day was not. He went to
work managing a little neighborhood
shoe store In Chicago. This gave
him a chance to tinker in the kitch-
en-laboratory In his fat. Then he
got a chance at a Job back In In.
diana-repairing radios In Peru
This gave him lots Of opportunity to
tinker and he patented inventions
and sold them, which bolstered his
income considerably. Finally he
evolved the compass which he
wouldn't part with. He was able to
hire a small staff of workers-then
came the war and no more civilian
autos.
But there were lots Of military We
hicles and after our blind tanks had
lost themselves in the African des.
erts, Washington found out about
Sheriff. and gave him the challenge
of making a compass for use in mo-
torized equipment Of various kinds.
Sheriff. went to work and produced
his models. The Carnegie Institute.
the army engineers and the war
AWNA