ENDS PROTECTED

: HAT SOLID CAST IRON FRAME protects Safety-Circle working parts against physical damage from every angle. The completely enclosed bottom provides extra protection and extra strength. End brack- ets are drip-proof at no premium. Because the frame is cast iron, it is re- sistant to rust and corrosion. It withstands physical abuse and will not distort.

Protected Inside, Too

Safety-Circle protects against internal breakdown with multiple-dipped and baked

Sofety-Circle, Texrope and Vari-Pitch are Allis-Chalmers trademorks.

ALLIS-CHALMERS, 1021A SO. 70 ST. MILWAUKEE, WIS,

ALLIS-CHALMERS

BOTTOM PROTECTED

et All-Around Motor Protection with

stator and die-cast aluminum rotor. Ball bearings are factory-lubricated and need no attention for years, Wide open internal construction and large fans keep tempera- tures well within rated limits.

Don't be satisfied with a motor that gives you less than full protection. Insist on the extra protection of Safety-Circle.

For complete details on Safety-Circle advantages, see your A-C Authorized Dealer, Sales Office, or write for Bulletin 51B6210B. Sizes from 1 to 20 hp, 326 frames and smaller.

A-3145

SAFETY-CIRCLE

Sold... Applied... Serviced...

by Allis-Chalmers Authorized Deolers, Certified Service Shops and Sales Offices throughout the country.

CONTROL — Manual, magnetic and combina- tion starters; push but- fon stations and compo- nents for complete con- trol systems.

TEXROPE — Belts in all sizes and sections, standard and Vari- Pitch sheaves, speed changers.

PUMPS — Integral motor and coupled types from 3%, in. to 72 in. discharge and up.

EDITORIAL STAFF

itor-in-Chief....... E. L. SHANER jitor IRWIN H. SUCH anaging Editor.....WALTER J. CAMPBELL Market Méditor............ WM. M. ROONBY gineering Editor......... Jay DeEKutis steel Plant Editor............J. D. KNox \iachine Too! Editor .....GuyY HUBBARD ~onsulting Editor... i ALLEN G. GRAY Art BGO. .<.... ‘ ....DOn 8S. CapoT

Associate Hditors: A. H. ALLEN, WALTER TOERGE VANCE BELL, FRANK R. BriGGsS DAN REEBEL, JOHN S. MORGAN

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Washington E. C. KREUTZBERG New York.....B. K. Price, L. E. BROWNE Pittsburgh J. C. SULLIVAN Detroit H. C. TUTTLE Chicago E. F. Ross

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Y 1S 14% 13 LU,

The Magazine of Metalworking and Metalproducing VOL. 127 NO. 26 DECEMBER 25, 1950

NEWS

* Letters to the Editors 8 * As the Editor Views the News 19 * News Summary 23 Price Controls Creak Into Gear 25 New Emergency Powers Aid Defense 25 Controlled Materials Plan Awaits Organization 26 Steel May Be Needed for Synthetic Fuel Plants 27 Steel Expansion Program Grows 28 Westinghouse Forms Electronic Tube Unit 30 Atom Plant Proposed for Kentucky 31 * Windows of Washington 32 Korean War Dominates Europe’s Economic Planning for 1951 35 Foreign Steel Trade Shifts 37 * Mirrors of Motordom 39 * The Business Trend 42 * Men of Industry 46 * Obituaries 51

PRODUCTION-ENGINEERING

* Production and Engineering News at a Glance 53 Birthmarking Alloy Steels Would Save Time and Material 54 Wraps Taken Off Low-Power Nuclear Reactors 57 Automatic Welding Keeps Transformers Flowing 61 Liquid Flux Technique Reduces Dross Formation 62 Alloy Steel Valve Casting Unimpaired After 6 Years’ Service 66

* Progress in Steelmaking—Interest in Continuous Steel Casting

Gains Momentum 68

* New Products and Equipment 75

* Helpful Literature 81

oe MARKETS

* Market Summary 83 * Metal Prices and Composites 84

Metal Markets Appear Stabilized 90 * Metalworking Briefs 101

*® Denotes regular features Advertising Index—Page 106. Editorial Index available semiannually; STEEL also is indexed regularly by Engineering Index Inc., 29 West 39th St., New York 18

Next Week... YEARBOOK OF INDUSTRY ISSUE...$120 Billion Metalworking Market by 1960... Facts and Figures on Metal- ‘working ...1951 Annual Forum on Technical Progress

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December 25, 1950

Our Main Hope

As the year-end approaches, we find our nation in a difficult spot. Of all the free countries of the world, ours was the only one with physical resources , and spirit not dangerously dissipated by the ravages of war which could un- dertake the responsibility of leadership toward peace. We assumed that role. a We were liberal in our help to allies sorely in need of it. When the enemy went beyond ‘cold war” tactics, we abandoned the appeasement of the last two hap- less decades and met the aggressor with armed resistance. Under extreme dif- ficulties we escaped a Dunkirk at Pusan and rebounded with an offensive which brought us a spectacular victory—which victory was nullified by the entrance of hordes of “volunteers” from another satellite of the enemy.

At the present moment, we are holding our own in Korea against tremen- dous odds. Also, we face the threat of attacks at other points throughout the world—attacks against which we are the nation relied upon to provide the ma- jor defense.

Confronted with this dire prospect, we have come belatedly to our senses. We are discarding reluctantly ideas of politics and business “as usual.” We will cross the threshold of the new year with-a realistic grasp of the seriousness of our plight. Ahead in early 1951 will be periods of demoralizing confusion. The tran- sition from our free and reckless way of abundant life to one of restrictions, frustrations and sacrifice will not be easy. The die is cast. We are in an of- ficially declared state of emergency. We don’t like it, but it’s here and we must make the best of it.

Fortunately for all of us, this is the kind of situation which sooner or later will bring out the best instincts of the people. The very gravity of the hour will attract talent to posts that have been held by incompetents. The advent of able men will breed confidence. As confidence is restored, the esprit de corps of the millions will rise. Long before the end of 1951, we will be proud of a nation that is pulling unitedly for a definite, common objective.

This unity of purpose is our main hope. We must go all out to achieve it.

* * *

DON'T DISCOUNT AUTOS: Don't

get too excited about the price roll backs on cer- tain automobile and oil companies. These are initial and tentative efforts of government of-

Meanwhile the victims of these preliminary actions are being subjected to discriminatory edicts which can play havoc with almost every phase of efficient industrial operation. Produc-

ficials to place road blocks against inflation un- til such time as they can organize a staff that can deal with the problem effectively. These first acts admittedly are weak and futile ges- tures. They are makeshift expedients intended to delay price increases until the Washington authorities can organize facilities more preten- tious than a desk, a telephone and a stenog- rapher.

tion schedules, sales policies, dealer relation- ships, union contracts and many other impor- tant business commitments are jeopardized.

A factor overlooked by the Washingtonians is the recently intensified dependence of the Amer- ican public upon automobiles and busses. Mi- gration to the suburbs has made the jalopy and bus modern substitutes for commuter and long- haul rail service. If Washington clamps down

(OVER)

AS THE EDITOR VIEWS THE NEWS

too hard on highway transportation, it will make it difficult for needed employees to get to work. Leon Henderson was the official who belated- ly discovered the potent role of the automobile in World War II. Who will be the Christopher

Columbus in the present emergency? —pp. 25, 39

IDENTIFYING STEELS: West Coast airframe manufacturers have become concerned about the waste of time and material caused by the lack of a uniform system of marking alloy steels. A check of the color coding of 17 types of steel used by six different aircraft companies showed no uniformity in any single analysis. For instance, for SAE A-4130 steels each mill used its own multi-colored marking; no two were alike.

With mobilization on a grand scale approach- ing, now would be an opportune time to do some- thing about uniform standards for identifying steel. Color coding is not the solution, because there are not enough colors or simple combina- tions of colors to take care of the more than 5000 types of steel in current use. If, as has been suggested, some form of continuous ink stamping is the best solution, then it would be advisable for steel producers and important con- sumers to get together on suitable standards as soon as possible. Here is a project that would benefit everybody concerned. —p. 54

* % ~

MARGIN ON THE REDS: Metalwork-

ing industries of Western Europe look forward to record-breaking activity in 1951 and beyond. The Korean war and the decision to speed mo- bilization in Europe make it likely that demand —domestic and export—will tax output for an indefinite period.

A year ago competent authorities estimated that total demand for European steel in 1952 would amount to 68.2 million net tons against an estimated output (excluding Russia) of 77 million tons, leaving a surplus of 8.8 million tons. Today, in view of the present outlook, it is estimated that production by 1953 may mount to 79.2 million tons and that defense re- quirements will leave little, if any, surplus.

_. Interesting is the comparison of 1950 steel output behind and outside the iron curtain. Rus- sia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Ru- mania will produce about 34.3 million tons of ingots. Western European nations will turn out about 56.4 million tons—a substantial mar- gin of 22.1 million tons. —p. 35

WRAPS OFF REACTORS: = Govern-

ments of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada for the first time have released technical information, photographs and draw- ings of low-power nuclear reactors used for re- search purposes. The objective is to speed the training of technicians for atomic energy devel- opment. Incidentally, an insight into the ex- treme caution taken in the details of construc- tion and shielding of these low-power units gives a hint as to what these problems involve in building full-scale reactor plants for the pro- duction of atomic weapons.

It would be well for all industrialists as well as technicians to study this recently released in- formation. You will gain a new appreciation of the extent to which stainless steel, aluminum, cadmium, lead, concrete, high-purity graphite and other materials play dominant roles in the construction of these reactors. —p. 57

RUNAWAY EXPANSION: This na- tion’s steel expansion program is snowballing rapidly. In the week’s news are new companies which will build facilities at Owensboro, Ky., and Hazleton, Pa.; another substantial new steel- works at tidewater in New Jersey, the identity of which cannot be revealed at this writing; a major increase in steel ingot, pig iron and coke capacity of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. at its Indiana Harbor Works; an increase of 50 per cent in the steelmaking capacity of Atlantic Steel Co.; and an expansion program for Lukens Steel Co.

These additions, plus those previously an- nounced, mean that a phenomenal volume of construction is scheduled for completion in a brief period. The peak burden on materials, equipment and services may cause government authorities, who not long ago were criticizing steelmakers for failure to expand enough and in time, to ask fhem to slow down. Stranger things have happened. —p. 28

Keliday Guiting»

In the face of world conditions that are the antithesis of everything for which Christmas stands, we extend best wishes for the holiday season and for the new year.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

STEEL

STEEL . . . December 25, 1950

PRICES— Mandatory price controls on nearly everything are inevitable, al- though they won’t be effective until Economic Stabilization Agency gets the manpower and authority to back its orders (pp. 25, 39). That appears clearly out of the tangle of moves and counter-moves that ESA made last week on a voluntary plan to roll back most prices to Dec. 1. Don’t be confused by the loud talk now coming from the federal agency. ESA’s bark is worse than its bite— thus far . . . Steel companies have been asked to submit their price data as of June 15 and Dec. 15 to ESA.

CMP— To launch a Controlled Materials Plan or not. That is a question on which defense production authorities blow hot and cold (p. 26). Consensus at the moment is that CMP will not be ordered until the need becomes more ap- parent and that then several months will be required to get it working efficient- ly. July 1 may see the start of a full-fledged CMP.

WATCH US GROW— The East Coast will get another large steel plant to be located on the Delaware river below Philadelphia (p. 28). This is in addition to the facilities being constructed by U. S. Steel at Morrisville, Pa. Other sec- tions of the country also are getting important new capacity. Youngstown Sheet & Tube is spending $90 million at East Chicago. Two new companies will build plants, one in Kentucky and one in eastern Pennsylvania. The expansion pro- gram now includes 12 blast furnaces, in addition to more than large steel ingot and coke facilities.

HELP IN STEEL— Declining steel exports and climbing imports may help steel consumers in 1951 (p. 37). Exports are now at about 250,000 tons a month, less than half the monthly shipments in 1949. Imports are up to 240,000 tons a month, nearly double the 1949 monthly average.

TROUBLES AHEAD—A record production year draws to a close but the next few months pose many problems for businessmen (pp. 42-44). Controls and directives are plaguing metalworking executives but defense orders haven’t blossomed with the declaration of a national emergency. Steel payrolls were the highest ever in October but construction awards in November continued to slide downward. Chicago purchasing agents say demand tapered further in Novem- ber even though employment and backlogs are still high and deliveries of raw materials are slow.

SYNTHETIC FUELS— Private companies are considering the establishment of commercial-scale plants for the production of synthetic fuels (p. 27). If these plans mature, the demands for steel and equipment will be large.

EUROPE LOOKS AHEAD— Western Europe expects a record industrial pro- duction year in 1951, because of the Korean war (p. 36). The Schuman plan and nationalization of British steel are two other factors that will affect the course of industry in the next 12 months. Major threats to peak output are scarcities in labor, coal and iron and steel scrap . . . Russia and its satellites in- creased industrial production in 1950, but as much as West Europe did.

HERE AND THERE IN INDUSTRY— Westinghouse will build three plants for its new electronic tube division (p. 30) . . . National Lead has leased buildings and site for a possible titanium plant in Nevada (p. 31) ...A $500 million atomic energy plant (p. 31) will be built near Paducah, Ky., when Congress appropriates the funds . . . E. J. Hanley is new president of Allegheny Ludlum Steel; Clark W. King is executive vice president . .. Harvey Machine Co., Tor- rance, Calif., will build a new aluminum plant near Kalispell, Mont., with an- nual capacity of 144 million pounds. Plant will be in operation by mid-1952.

Production-Engineering News—p. 53 Market Summary—®.: 83

News Summary

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SUMMARY!

ERO AERA RANI RM RE AME GG SS GS

“Take a good look at the SYKES...

|”?

she’s really two ships in one!

“‘l’m Clyde Johnson, Second Mate on the S. S. Wilfred Sykes, newest ship in the Inland Fleet. If you live near the Lakes, you may have seen her. In that case you’ll know what I mean when I say the Sykes is two ships in one. She’s big—678 feet long, with a capacity of 20,000 tons of ore. And she’s fast—makes a round trip between Superior and Indiana Harbor in five days. That’s why she can haul 880,000 tons of iron ore in one season

. actually the work of two ordinary lake freighters.”’

INLAND STEEL COMPANY

38 South Dearborn Street ¢ Chicago 3, Illinois

Sales Offices: Chicago * Davenport © Detroit # Indianapolis * Kansas City Milwaukee ¢ New York © St. Louis ¢ St. Paul

fae. “= ‘ ®

Se Sa

The addition of the S. S. Wilfred Sykes to Inland’s iron ore fleet is just one more step in a continuous modernization and expan- sion program. This constant improvement of every phase of steelmaking facilities is further evidence that Mid- west steel users can put their confidence in Inland as a progressive and depend- able source of steel in peace and war.

Products: Sheets, Strips, Tin Mill Products, Bars, Plates, Structural Shapes, Sheet Piling, Reinforcing Bars, Pig Iron, Rails and Track Accessories,

STEEL

— & . a te oo

December 25, 1950

STEEL

Price Controls Creak into Gear

The voluntary program has no teeth in it because ESA has insufficient organization and authority to back its orders.

Wage curbs lag

“WE KNOW business men will be asking us a lot of questions about price controls.”” So says an econo- mist of the Economic Stabilization Agency. His remark may prove to be the year’s classic understatement.

He was referring to the “fair standards” set forth in last week’s ESA action clamping a “voluntary” freeze on all prices as of Dec. 1. His statement touched on one of five pricing conditions likely to arise.

Transition That first condition will be a state of bickering, charge, counter-charge and confusing pricing regulations as we move toward full industrial mobilization. That was de- veloping already as on one day last week ESA called for voluntary roll- backs of all prices to Dec. 1 levels, but on the next asked 250 big firms to give seven days’ notice before in- creasing their quotations.

International Harvester Co., one of the companies that complied with the rollback request, did so even though it was ‘not clear’ what ‘fair stand- ards’ mean. ESA says that the ma- jor point in its standards stipulates that no manufacturer may _ raise prices—with a few exceptions—if his net profits before taxes are equal to or larger than his average net dol- lar profits before taxes during 1946- 1949,

What We’re Headed for—The ‘‘vol- untary” phase of the current pricing regulations can’t last too long. A second pricing condition certain to develop. eventually is mandatory con- trols on nearly. all quotations. We may get mandatory controls fairly soon, but they won't be effective—a third condition in the pricing picture

until ESA builds up its administra- tive staff. It has a 235-man staff now. The old. OPA had 20,000 price employees on its payrolls at the peak.

ESA now is talking loudly, but hasn’t much to back up its current regulations. There’s no legal punish- ment yet for non-compliance. One metalworking man says: “I think ESA is being deliberately confusing to cover up its lack of. real author- ity. It’s trying a psychological club to make as many people as possible hold the price status quo until things clear up.”

Evolving — While things clear up, gray and black markets will get a head start, a fourth feature of pric- ing conditions likely to develop in the months ahead. A fifth feature will be a substantial lag in wage con- trols behind price controls. Sen. Homer E. Capehart (Rep., Ind.) charges the administration is failing to comply with the law in imposing price ceilings without taking imme- diate action on wages, too.

He brought to the attention of the Senate the section of the Defense Production Act of 1950 which gives the President power to put ceilings on prices. Part of that provision states that the President “at the same time shall issue regulations and orders stabilizing wages, salaries and other compensation.” Cyrus Ching, chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board indicates that no firm plan for stabilizing wages in any industry is yet ready.

Concerned — In case of industry price freezes, most metalworking men want wage freezes, too, but with reservations. They don’t want the relative labor stability disturbed. They fear that wage freezes would

A PENTON PUBLICATION

upset the calm, particularly if im- provement and_ cost-of-living in- creases provided for in many con- tracts are voided.

What will or can be done by Wash- ington to minimize the danger of a labor upheaval in case of wage freezes? Nobody yet knows.

More Price Meetings Held

Last week Price Stabilization Di- rector Michael DiSalle held closed meetings with industry groups repre- senting the American Iron & Steel Institute, the Institute of Scrap Iron & Steel and the National Association of Waste Material Dealers.

New Powers Aid Defense

Emergency proclamation gives Truman the power to negotiate contracts, give risk insurance

THE PRESIDENT’S declaration of emergency gives him two new powers that will help speed industrial mobili- zation and defense ordering.

The government may now negotiate for defense contracts without the time-consuming advertising for bids required normally. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to provide war-risk insurance.

Delegated Authority—Biggest im- provement made by the executive ac- tion is in provision for substantially

MR. DISALLE STARTS: FIGHTING FIRES OF INFLATION: . can he put out the blaze?

greater delegation of contracting au- thority to the armed services than has heretofore been possible at pro- curement office levels of the govern- ment. Contract negotiation will per- mit regional offices and headquarters departments of armed services pro- curement branches to conclude orders faster and in greater volume. Ad- vertised bid methods, required by law until the emergency proclamation, are slow and cumbersome.

Three other powers Mr. Truman does not yet have will probably be granted by Congress to speed mobili- zation. One is a law to help out de- fense producers who have been hard hit by rising prices. The President asks for a law giving the govern- ment authority to modify existing de- fense contracts where clear evidence exists that because of the mobiliza- tion program prices have risen since the orders were placed.

More Agencies—A second power would permit the President to set up new defense agencies to handle mob- ilization problems. A third power would put indemnity clauses in con- tracts calling for hazardous work which might bring plant damage.

NPA Drafts Machinery Men

National Production Authority drafted three industry men into its machinery division. New chief is Marshall M. Smith, former president, E. W. Bliss Co., Canton, O. Acting chief .of machine tool section is Col. P. L. Hauser, International Harvester Co., Chicago. Herbert L. Tigges, ex- ecutive vice president, Baker Bros. Inc., Toledo, O., is adviser and con- sultant on metalworking machinery. William L. Beck, Commerce career man, who was chief of machinery di- vision, is now deputy chief.

All are in Temporary T Bidg., telephone STerling 9200. Rooms and telephone extensions: Mr. Smith, Room 2134, Exts. 4550 and 4688. Messrs. Hauser and Tigges, Room 2131, Ext. 3463.

Tool Steel Section Established

David Carson announces creation of a new unit in the iron and steel division known as the tool steel sec- tion of which Felix Kremp, Crucible Steel Co. of America, is chief. Mr. Carson has drafted Charles Brooks, Luria Bros., Lebanon, Pa., to serve under Marvin Plant as the assistant chief of the iron and steel scrap sec- tion. A

They can be reached through the same room and telephone number re- ported for other iron and steel divi- sion section heads—3814A Commerce Bldg., STerling $200.

Deny CMP Imminent

NPA officials doubt that full fledged program will be possi- ble before mid-year

CONTROLLED Material Plan _ re- vival is not imminent, National Pro- duction Authority spokesmen say. Contrary to many reports in the metalworking industry, NPA officials contend a new CMP will not be or- dered until the need for such a program becomes more apparent. Then, they say, several months will be required to organize and to do the preparatory work to make it function. They now see July 1 as the earliest date for complete CMP.

Meanwhile, the NPA iron and steel division has allocated 10,118 tons of steel monthly through the first quar- ter for constructing Canadian ore carriers. Earlier, 8000 tons monthly was allocated for Canadian freight cars.

Oil Program May Be Pared—At least a month will elapse before the NPA will act on the petroleum indus- try’s steel requirements program. The stated requirements are being screened and indications now are that somewhat less than the 12 million tons requested for 1951 will be al- lowed.

Mine Requirements Studied—Mine requirements also are being studied, with particular reference to mine car needs.

Allocations for construction of new diesel locomotives and repair of exist- ing locomotives are under considera- tion. This program totals 70,000 tons monthly.

Plate Supply Better—The plate sup- ply situation is slightly improved be- cause a substantial portion of the allocated tonnage is being rolled on strip mills, even though the strip mills have not been completely con- verted for plate rolling.

NPA denies it has any plans for curtailing civilian consumption of pig iron. There are no controls of pig iron and none are contemplated im- mediately. Supplies are tight and the situation is being watched closely.

NPA Extends Aluminum Base

Certain base period adjustments permitted during December under Di- rection 1 to the NPA’s aluminum use order will be continued in the first quarter of 1951.

The action provides for these three types of adjustments:

1. If new business operations were commenced or a new product was manufactured or produced during or

after the base period, these percent- ages are applied to the average use in October and November for the new purposes—January, 80 per cent; Feb- ruary, 75 per cent; and March, 65 per cent.

2. Where changes were made in products during or after the base per- iod which required more aluminum than was previously used to main- tain the same unit output, a deter- mination must be made as to how much aluminum would have been con- sumed on an average monthly basis if the products had been manufactured in accordance with the changed de- signs. To that adjusted figure these percentages are applied to determine the permitted use—January, 80 per cent; February, 75 per cent; and March, 65 per cent.

3. If production or manufacturing operations were shut down for more than 15 consecutive calendar days during the base period, a person may exclude from his base period the month or months in which the shut- down occurred.

Tin Consumption Curtailed

Tin consumption for nonmilitary uses will be cut 20 per cent beginning Feb. 1. In an amendment supersed- ing its Order M-8, NPA ruled that materials containing 1.5 per cent or more tin may be used for civilian purposes in January at a rate of 100 per cent of the rate of use during the first half of 1950 and 80 per cent of that rate during February and March.

Renegotiation: “Best Method”

Countering much prevailing busi- ness opinion, the Business Com- mittee on National Policy, Na- tional Planning Association, sees re- negotiation as “the best method yet devised for preventing excessive pro- fits and high costs on defense busi- ness without discouraging expansion of production and the efficient use of manpower and materials.”

The committee finds the present law and procedures’ should be strengthened. Provisions “are inade- quate because they do not apply to all defense orders placed by all gov- ernment agencies and they automa- tically exempt too many contractors and subcontractors from renegotiat- ing prices charged to the govern- ment.”

Report of the business committee, with six recommendations for a stronger renegotiation law, may be had at 15 cents by writing the as- sociation at 800 2ist St. N. W., Washington 6.

STEEL

Steel for Fuel Plants

Commercial production of syn- thetic fuels planned by several private companies

A LONG-PROMISED new market for the steel and steel fabricating in- dustries may be opened up as part of the defense program.

Attracted by the progress made by the Bureau of Mines in deve!lop- ing processes for the manufacture of synthetic liquid fuel, several private companies have planned commercial- scale plants. They are under consid- eration by the Interior Department which, under the Defense Production Act, can assist this new industry by paying premium prices for its prod- ucts, guaranteeing loans to provide capital, and recommending fast amortization.

Big Stoel User—Requirements of this industry will be large; a coal hydrogenation plant capable of pro- ducing 15,000 barrels of liquid fuel daily takes about 100,000 tons of steel, mostly in fabricated form. The contemplated plants would qualify not only for their liquid fuel output, but for their yield of by-products.

The pants under consideration would increase by an estimated 25 per cent the production of benzene, toluene, phenol, cresoles, xylenes, xylenols, etc. And the kind of fuel used in jet engines, the Bureau of Mines thinks, can be most cheaply produced from oil shale.

Gas, Coal or Shale—The first such commercial synthetic fuel plant, that of Carthage-Hydrocol Inc. at Browns- ville, Tex., will go into production shortly. This will operate on nat- ural gas. The projected plants, the Interior Department feels, should be operated on coal or oil shale to con- serve natural gas.

Bureau of Mines estimates that, al- lowing credits for the value of the by-products, refined gasoline can be produced from oil shale and coal, re- spectively, at 7.3 and 10.8 cents per gallon. Selling prices would have to be somewhat higher to allow a rea- sonable profit.

Croning ‘Know-How’ Pool

The government may direct auto- makers working on the Croning or Shell molding process to pool their know-how in the interest of national defense.

Now, companies which are furthest along in their development of ma- chinery and applications for the Ger- man casting method are being hush- hush about their progress. Picture

December 25, 1950

DESTINATION: EUROPE—An example of the machine equipment sent to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan is this large horizontal boring, drilling and mill- ing machine built by Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Co., Fond du Lac, Wis.,

for Renault Motors Co. near Paris.

It is equipped with General Electric 20-horse- power, 10-horsepower and 3 horsepower amplidyne feed drives.

The GE elec-

tronic tracer automatically machines steel dies to the exact shape of wooden

models. Here you see the tracing head mounted above the milling spindle and

fcllowing the surface of a pattern while the milling cutter below reproduces the same form in the die steel

taking is banned and suppliers have been prohibited from making any mention of the automotive parts which are being made on pilot instal- lations.

High Employment Holds

Nonfarm employment in November showed little change over the pre- vious month except for seasonal] fac- tors, says the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Metalworking industries had slight gains in ordnance, primary metals, machinery (except electrical), electri- cal machinery, and instruments. Mi- nor declines occurred in transporta- tion equipment because of model change-overs in several auto plants.

Sustained by rising business ex- penditures for plant and equipment and the continuing volume of con- sumer expenditures, manufacturing production and employment were slightly below the postwar record reached in October.

Trailer Makers Need Steel

America’s truck-trailer operators will need 89,979 new trailers in 1951 to fulfill the day-to-day demands of the increasing traffic resulting from the nation’s defense effort.

That information, based on a sur- vey of trailer manufacturers, was contained in a statement of require- ments submitted to James K. Knud- son, Defense Transport administrator, by Truck-Trailer Manufacturers As- sociation, Washington. To produce

the 89,979 trailer, the manufacturers say the need 321,201 tons of steel. Other needs are 69,539,000 pounds of aluminum and 1,540,000 pounds of copper and copper-base alloys.

The trailer manufacturers’ state- ment was presented with an overall vehicle requirements program by the American ‘Trucking Associations totaling 620,000 trailers, trucks and truck-tractors held to be necessary by motor carrier operators to meet trans- portation demands next year.

Machine Tool Shipments Soar

The index on machine tool ship- ments hit 110.9 in November, the best since August, 1945, says National Machine Tool Builders’ Association. The figure compared with 100.9 in October.

GM Division Gets Defense Job

Ternstedt Division of General Mo- tors Corp. has been awarded an initial defense contract for fire contro] in- struments.

The instruments will be made by Ternstedt in a section of the Detroit Transmission Division plant of GM on Plymouth road near Middle Belt road in Detroit. Tooling for the job is under way and production will start soon. From 1500 to 2000 hourly and salaried employes will be required for the job. Most, of those will be new employees. In World War II Tern- stedt was a large producer of pre- cision aircraft instruments.