Milford chronicle., 1955-04-29
COSTLY CHICKEN-TRACKS

you PROBABLY WOnueT DIT LILIES IL olIieIS Can
read it.
In fact, neglect of the Second "R" has
been so widespread over the years that
new organization has been set up in Wash
ington, D. c., to improve the hieroglyphlcs
of us moderns. According to this Handwrlt-
ing Foundation, their efforts are primarily
essential and incidentally cultural.
Illegible messages, they say, are costing
business thousands of dollars every day. IL
legible love-letters are blasting romances.
Undecipherable shopping-lists cause hus-
bands to bring home butter when bread is
wanted. Our failures at calligraphy cause
young ladies to wait on the wrong corners
for young men, and vice versa greeters to
turn up at the wrong railroad, bus or air
terminals or on the wrong day; merchants
to ship the wrong quantities OF the wrong
cists to spend hours on the phone asking doc
tors just what they want put in their pre-
scriptions
To cope with this formidable problem, the
Foundation has announced fOurteen-polnt
program aimed at working with three
groups educators, businessmen and the gen.
eral public . which would seem to mean as.
Comprehensive script, if the Foundation can
help us achieve it, will save millions of dol
lars, millions of hours, broken hearts, brok-
en- homes, perhaps even broken heads. Ad-
ditionally, we expect life will be neater, we
will organize our thoughts more logically in
less time, enjoy greater success and suffer
less Illustration.
Maybe the best way to start is to take pen
or pencil in hand and see just how bad our
handwriting really is.
FARM MACHINERY IN EVOLUTION
Each year, at roughly the same time, all
the makers Of automobiles bring out new
models. Minor and major changes alike are
extensively advertised, in the hope that mo-
florists will decide after one season that their
cars are pretty well out of date and they'd
better get aboard the band wagon. And mil
lions of motorists do just that.
The situation is different in the case of
tractors and other modern farm machinery.
The farmer buys these tools on a basis of
need and utllity-nOt because of the attrac-
tons of chrome trim and sleek lines. But,
like the automobile, farm equipment is also
in a steady. process of evolution and i'm
provement.
Thirty-odd years ago, for instance, about
the sole mechanical power available to farm
ers were big, ungainly tractors, suitable only
for field crop operations on the largest acre
ages. Now there is power equipment avail
able for practically every agricultural job,
including the most specialized. The improve
ments and the innovations are testimonial
to the vigor and progressive spirit of our
competitive farm equipment industry. 1t
is a common practice, incidentally, for the
industry to consult with farmers on new
IDEAS and to test them under practical farm
ing conditions.
All this has a great bearing on the value
the farmer gets from his machinery dollar.
The cost of equipment has naturally risen
as wages and taxes and prices in general
have risen. But the machines do more work
in less time and with less labor. They re-
quire less maintenance and upkeep, if prop
erly cared for. They are safer to use When
everything is added up, the farmer receives
more for his money than ever before.
~S0(S
~SoSS
THE LOSERS
Proposed revisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act would not only again increase
the minimum wage, but extend the act to
cover millions more people, whose work
would be regarded as affecting commerce"
The term is defined to include "any activity
in commerce or where the payment of wages
at rates below those prescribed by this Act
would burden or obstruct or tend to burden
or obstruct commerce or the free flow of
commerce."
This is about as broad definition as any
one can conceive of. 1t would seem to reach
almost everyone who is employed. And the
significance of this change, coupled with the
lHCTedSeu wage, SIlOulu U0 DcLlGG uHuoIStOOu
than it is. The federal government would
have still more control over enterprise, agri-
culture, and labor. A new boost would be
given to imitation, and the stability of the
dollar would again be threatened. Industries,
such as retailing, which have provided en-
ployment for marginal, unskilled workers
would reduce this kind of employment as
much as possible-the wage and other re-
| strictions would involve too high price for
tho services rendered 60 cI1ob yUorkorc
would find it harder to get Jobs, and to learn
the responsibilities and skills that qualify
them for higher brackets.
Among the losers would be all consum-
ers, and the marginal workers themselves.
$685.
HURTING YOURSELF
Speakers before the Greater New York
Safety Council convention warned that there
are hazards to the do-it-yourself fad They
mt hot