Evening star., 1951-08-07
New Machine Speeds
Plane Ticket Sales
For Capital AirIines
By Nelson M. Shepard

prieyouS - inconvenience OF all
travel by installing an automatic
ticket machine at the National
Airport.
The company said today it Is
the idea of Robert Wright, assist
ant treasurer of Capital. who re-
Gently went to movie where they
hurry up ticket selling. "T the
movies can do it, why can't the
airlines?" he inquired on return
ing to his Office.
For patrons in a hurry the idea
is working very well. For years
buyers of fight tickets generally
have stood in line waiting while
such vital matters as name, des-
tination, type of ticket. flight ano
time of departure have been writ
ten out by hand. The ticker ma
chine simplifies this tedious pro-
cedure.
The General Register Co. o1
New York and Chicago worked
out the idea for Capital Airlines
and turned out an experimental
machine. This is being tested Out
successfully at the airport. Now
it's possible to turn out a ticket
in five seconds that used to take
80 seconds on the average. A saw
ing of Is seconds may not mean
much, the company stated. but
when a passenger is in a dreadful
hurry every second counts, espe-
cially when a score or more OF
persons may be ahead in line.
Keyed to Five Cities.
Flight number and time of de-
parture are still written in long
hand, but the machine is geared
to punch out all the other re-
quired information. including
round-trip tickets - both ways,
yellow; one way, blue.
Capital Airlines has keyed the
machine to five other cities. Nor
folk, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleve-
lana ana DeCrolC.
The machine costs $2,500 at
present, President J. H. Car
michael said, and after a thor
ough test it is expected the Gen.
eral Register Co. will turn them
out in mass production. The air
line officers are a bit wary at this
time about predicting effects of
the ticketpuncher on manpower.
Obenshain Elected.
Southern Diaries announced the
election of Wiley S. Obenshain as
president, climaxing SO years of
outstanding service with this Or
ganization. For the last four years
he has served as executive vice
president. The position of preSi-
dent in the firm has been vacant
for several years.
Mr.. Obenshain started with the
company in Jacksonville, Fla. in
1915 and became superintendent
Of the milk department there.
Later he was placed in charge of
all production. He came to Wash
ington in 1947 from North Caro-
lima, where he held various exec
utive positions with Southern
Diaries. He also served a two
year term as president of the
North Carolina Dairy Products AS
sociation. At present he is di-
rector Of this association and also
is on the board of the Interna-
tional Association of Ice Cream
Manufacturers.
Southern Diaries is in its fiftieth
year. 1t maintains 81 plants in
the Southeast from Baltimore to
Key West. Fla. manufacturing
under the Sealtest label.
Additional Scrap Needed.
A substantial step-up in the
flow of scrap to the steel mills is
essential to the maintenance of
peak level production, according
to a survey by the Fred s. Gich-
ner Iron Works, Inc, Twenty
fourth and M streets NV, who
warns that scrap supplies have
not been at the rate required by
the present raw output and the
increasingly large national demand
for steel.
The Gichner company stated,
however, that sufficient quantities
of scrap are still available here
for essential maintenance work,
but that the inventories are un-
even and do not include all sizes
and shapes. 1t is sufficient, how
ever, to continue most needed
operations at close to normal
levels, the firm stated.
Annual Show Planned.
The fifth annual showing Of
Malco Wholesalers, Inc, 472 L
street NV, will begin Sunday,
August 10, it was announced to-
day by the firms co-owners, AL
bert and H. Alperstein. 1t will
introduce an advance line of
toys, housewares, electrical appli-
ances, Arvin radio and television.
The showing will be in the Federal
and South American oms of the
Statler Hotel August 19 through
August % from 10 am. to 10 pm.
daily.
The Norfolk g. Western Railway
had one of it's best weeks of the
year for coal loadings-chief fac
tor in the company's business
last week with a total of 10000
cars. This compares with the
years top week in January of
21,182 cars.
RFC Offers Securities.
The Reconstruction Finance
Corp. has offered for sale on COM
petitive bids four blocks of Sc
curities it acquired in supplying
funds to the Seaboard Air Line
Railroad and Foote Bros. Gear
and Machine Corp. This marked
another step under policy re-
Gently established by Administra-
tor w. Stuart Symington to turn
1onr-held cornnrafe sec,IrifieS into