Evening star., 1951-03-22

the bit over delays in receiving
defense contracts.
This is especially true of smaller
manufacturers. They're afraid OF
being crushed in the materials
squeeze if they don't get defense
work.
There are few million dollar
contracts so far, outside OF the
aircraft industry. That industry
alone can talk Of rearmament IN
really big terms.
Real weapons of war are COM
Ing from the factories. such as
the F86 Sabre jets that are rip
ping into the Russian MIG jets in
Korean skies.
But most defense contracts so
far are for such unexciting things
as petroleum, rubber products,
food and chemicals. radio tubes.
paper and allied products, electri-
cal machinery, f1intS and lighters,
safety razors. sand bags, coffee
urns, pipe, scrapers. valves, tools,
aircraft and tractor parts, air
coolers, electric generator sets and
lumber.
New Land Tank Vehicle.
The largest single non-aviation
contract is that received by the
Food Machinery & Chemical Corp,
of San Jose. This company, in
the heart of the picturesque Santa
Clara Valley, has S177 million
order to produce an unannounced
type of land tank vehicle. Re-
tooling is to cost $42 million addi-
tional. About SO million is being
spent on a new plant for the job,
The West Coast has vastly ex-
panded manufacturing capacity,
a greatly increased steel industry
and a larger manpower pool COM
pared with 1910.
California is the hub of this in
duStrial expansion. Since VI
Day private capital has invested
more than SIS billion in 1924
new or enlarged plants.
Counting Government funds,
more than SO billion has been
poured into industrial expansion
in this State since 1910.
And the expansion continues.
More money was spent or projected
in January 1851, for instance,
than in January 1850.
A steel industry worthy of the
name gives solid backing to Far
Western manufacturing. Current
steel capacity is placed at 1885,
900 tons of steel ingots annually.
1t will be million tons within a
year. This compares with 2,552,-
600 tons at the end of 1945.
United States Steel has a huge
plant at Geneva, Utah, and sub
sidiaries in the Los Angeles and
San Francisco areas. Kaiser Steel
has a mammoth works at Fon-
tana, near Los Angeles. Bethle-
hem Pacific plants are in the Los
Angeles and San Francisco areas.
Aircraft Industry Booms.
The aircraft industry has been
hard at rearmament for months.
Plants have been expanding and
men have been added to payrolls
at the rate of 200 daily. Employ
ment totaled 10000 in January.
North American Aviation. makerI
of the F86 Sabre jet, has a back
log of S625 million-double lastI
fall-and is employing $4,000. til
doesn't expect to hit full stride
for another year.
Lockheed Aircraft Corp, turn
ing out various planes including
the ESQ Shooting Star jets, has
a backlog of S625 million. A year.
ago it was SAT million. 1t en-
ploys $4,000 and expects to have
10000 workers by the years end.
1t employed $4,000 at the World
War II peak.
Douglas Aircraft has a backlog
of $500 million-more than double
a year ago. Its working force of
28.000-to be expanded by another
10,000-iS rolling out such planes
as the BAT Stratojet bombers and
big transports.
Douglas has reopened it's Tulsa
(Okla) plant and is enlarging
facilities at Santa Monica and El
Segundo.
Northrop, maker of the Air
Forces twin jet F89 Scorpion in
terceptor. has a backlog of S195