R_.C_.,
Shaughnessy,
Vancouver,
Canada.
Dear Father:
I hope that this letter finds you peacefully at home in front of the fire on a rainy day in Vancouver, enjoying a book, a pipe and a glass.
As opposed to, say, writing angry letters to English acquaintances about the Star Leader tragedy, reminding everyone of how often you have predicted that Don Bennett was going to get someone killed. Or that it is unpatriotic for the English to be buying lumber in Russia. After all, it is not as though there is enough lumber to go around as it is. (Thank you, by the way.) Having just handed out lucky money at the junior Quons' wedding at the Benevolent Association Hall on my way back to ink the deal to build the rest of the houses in the lower corner, I now feel doubly a smuggler and a criminal.
I've included a sketch of the development layout. You'll notice a blank spot in the upper corner. Uncle George won't be sure until he has met with the surveyor and the civil engineer, but it looks as though the original exemption was slightly larger than the county authorised, and there will be room for two more quarter-acre lots there without building out into the draw. To make sure, we've borrowed an access road approach that has been successful elswhere, sort of a "thermometer bulb" arrangement in which traffic circulates at the bottom of a dead end road around a lamp standard. Developers give it a fancy French name that escapes me, although "Prospect Point" has been floated.I'm not sure why, as the new lots don't have a prospect at all, except possibly from the second-story dormers, and then it is of San Jose. I say that if they pay us extra, we should guarantee that there will be trees blocking the sightlines at the lower end of the road.
 |
| Even a machinist can afford a half acre in Santa Clara County!" |
Your youngest is over the moon about "ace-ing" his mid-terms, although he refuses to say anything to you for fear of sounding as though he is back to boasting, and James has been bustling about the building chosen for Philco's new research laboratory. We tried to persuade the board to affiliate it with Santa Clara, but, unfortunately, Jesuits and all of that; they are building down in Orange County, instead.
Per your request, I have sent Wong Lee to Las Vegas to find out what has been happening with your shipments. As Uncle George feared, some of it is going into the Flamingo. We really have to deal with that man. He has been reluctant to order anything final because our contact on that side of things is so . . . irregular. But we've a lead on a most interesting connection now, via our noodlings about Yale. Via a --let's say, friend of a friend-- we have made touch with an American businessman (with NCR, yet, so Uncle George loves him!) who is in the old country, is cultivating the right connections, and has a need for secure arrangements should he be promoted back to Washington. There's a wife in the picture, you see, and she has to remain in the picture. (Just typing that makes me feel like a "madam," but it is the nature of the business.) If he can clear matters, we can finally close the book on the matter of respect that has detained us over that noxious musician and now the Flamingo.
"GRACE."
Flight, 5 September 1946
Leaders
“Combined
Operations” Generals, admirals and air marshals get together at the School of
Combined Operations and agree about how bad things used to be, how wonderful
things will be if they get to fight WWII over again.
“Cheap Lightness”
Like everyone else, the paper likes the Republic Seabee, but notes that it was
only made so cheap and light through tooling and jigging for mass production,
which is only possible in America, land of mass production.
“The F.A.I.
Again” The International Aeronautical Federation is having its first meeting
since the war. It will talk about important things, such as the conditions for
international records.
“Another Order
Goes to America” The paper is upset that BOAC has ordered six BoeingStrato-Cruisers, which seems to imply that the Tudor I is not suitable for the
London-New York service after all, and the paper would like to know why the change of mind.
The Blackburn Firebrand IV exists more.
“Firefly Trainer: Dual-Pilot Version of Famous
Fleet Fighter Developed for Advanced Training” Fairey builds odd-looking
two-seater for Navy.
“World’s Fastest
Air Race: Vampire Averages 427mph Over Three Laps of Lympne Course” The various
air races in the recent air shows included one with a jet fighter going very
fast. (And another with a Supermarine Walrus going very slow.) The Vampire was
up against a Hawker Sea Fury, Supermarine Spitfire 22 and a DH Hornet I.
“Pyfo,” “The
Goofer’s Platform” Aircraft carriers are crammed full of people who talk in a
made-up language. Also, landing aircraft on carriers is hard and dangerous.
Here and There
The RAF is
trucking a “Grand Slam” bomb around to parades to show how much it blew up
Germans. Australians are flying high-value livestock around because the country
is so big. Although the actual example is puppies to Singapore, which I am not sure proves anything. One Dr.[sic] J. T.
Lowe, an air expert at the War Department, says in Air Affairs that in the future, troops will be transported in
rocket transports that zoom through the atmosphere at 10,000 miles an hour to
take over countries “briefly stunned” by atomic attacks. The United States,
however, will be immune to this as long as it has air superiority over its own
territory. The paper thinks this is confused, but what if we can use rockets to shoot down rockets? The squadron of Lancasters that spent the summer on a good will tour
of the United States arrived back in England this week. Short Shetlands exist
more, and are very large. A movie about Arnhem is to be shown in London and
Ottawa on the anniversary of the battle. It will be a very special movie, and
not like a regular movie at all. Because I think that would be crass? (Theirs is the Glory.)
Aries flies somewhere very fast. The
Americans have been caught handing B-25s over to the Kuomintang. Howard Hughes
is still convalescing. The Falkirk Rolling Mills, designed by the Government
and operated for it by British Aluminum Company, has been bought by that firm
and will make sheet and coiled aluminum for aircraft and “many other purposes.”
 |
| From. |
Captain Sam Saint, of American Airlines, points out that existing navigational
radars are too imperfect to be “depended upon heavily” in airliner navigation.
Some US naval bombers practicing in Lake Erie mistook a cabin cruiser for a
target and sank it, although the owner survived. The Cowper factory in Olney,
another MAP shadow factory, has been taken over by its agency, Lodge Plugs.
“Private Flying
in France” Rich people in France also help their heirs inherit unexpectedly
quickly. Three pages worth.
Douglas Fawcett, “Over
the Alps” Switzerland plus a Hornet Moth equals a sporting effort at –well,
actually, the author is 80, according to his biography, so Doctor Fawcett’s
heirs will not be inheriting early. (Though
he took a younger friend, so his heirs,
etc. And a tip of the hat to the Swiss authorities for letting an eighty-year
old pilot a plane through the mountains. Will no-one else think of the
playboys-to-be?)
“Pressure-Pattern
Flying: A Useful Method of Checking Navigation from Barometric Pressure Data” The
Empire Air Navigation School is testing out this new method of using a
barometric pressure map to check air navigation.
The Lockheed
Constitution exists more.
 |
| This is a very big plane. By W. T. Larkins at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7323437 |
Civil Aviation News
Various persons
have been added to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Further details of the proposed
A.W. 55 airscrew-turbine-powered transport are released. The third bulletin of
the International Air Transport Association says that the Financial Committee
of the IATA is considering changing PICAO statistical reporting forms for
traffic and finance in order to appropriately amend them in order to save the
work and money of airline operators. But now that they’ve spoiled all the good
bits in Flight, I won’t have to buy
the bulletin! Airwork (the company) is undergoing a “transition” from one thing
to another thing. I think, from a government contractor to a civil contractor?
A map shows all the paces that Pan-Am is authorised to serve.
 |
| Having already quoted from the 2011/2012 TV series, Pan Am, here's the signature tune. |
Since IATA is bulletining,
and PICAO is amending, it is only fair to mention that ICAN is meeting finally,
as it is being absorbed into PICAO when PICAO loses its “Preliminary” and
becomes ICAO. Acronyms!
Prestwick still exists.
The MilesMessenger exists more.
 |
| By RuthAS - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15094960 |
“The Lockheed
Servodyne” The paper needs another article, and so cuts a bit out of the
Lockheed catalogue about its new Servodyne, which looks uncannily like a very
large stationary bicycle. But is actually a highly accurate powered aircraft
control using double-acting hydraulic jacks.
 |
| Yes, it turns out, they did have stationary bikes in 1946. |
Correspondence
D. J. Strachan writes to thank the paper for
publishing such accurate scale drawings (‘could centre the section within a
couple of inches”) that he could lay out shop space for new types for which no
other drawings were available, way out in India. H.E. Norman, who lives within
two miles of London Airport and was an ROC during the war, writes with his
opinions about what the airport’s ground observation layout should be, in part
so that he can sleep at night. R. W. Clegg liked a recent article about amateur
construction so much that he writes four paragraphs about regulations for
building and flying private planes. Not a word about probate law. . .
The Economist, 7 September 1946
Leaders
“The Army in
Council” “All the army chiefs” (whatever that means) have dropped in to
Camberly to have a conference, which will then forward recommendations to the
Army Council, which, I am gathering, is on top of all the army chiefs. The
paper has opinions about what those recommendations might be, and it dwells on
“atomic artillery shells,” convoys and submarines before deciding that these
are for the Cabinet (which, I gather, is on top of the Council which is on top
of the conference).
Instead, it supposes that the issue will not be these
matters at all, which it only mentioned because it wants to talk about them.
Rather, it will be manpower. Britain, it announces, has never used its army
properly, as a cadre for a mass-mobilisation army. I may not know what an Army
Council is, but at least I’ve heard of the Territorial Army! Perhaps the paper
doesn’t think that Territorials were much of a cadre? (And remembering watching
the HKSA drill on Empire Day, I can see its point). The paper then supposes
that the armed forces cannot have more than 750,000 men, and that the army
cannot have more than 450,000, and from these it must prepare to receive all
the conscripts when the balloon goes up, and this might be hard?
 |
| Nothing wrong with the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery that being ten times larger wouldn't have fixed. But then Jardine, Matheson would have had to pay an income tax! |
The paper,
however, doesn’t spend much time on that, as it has to move on to tank design,
because it knows all about that, and so can conclude that when the Ministry of
Supply can equip an “airborne armoured division,” it can relax and have a
drink. And then something about demolishing all the barracks, because they are
substandard, and you can’t read in bed? Am I reading this right? And the army
should be given more cap badges? And “current affairs talks”? And should move
away from old slogans such as “Learn a Trade” towards “trades training?”
Admittedly, there’s a few paragraphs between those two points, so perhaps
Geoffrey has forgotten that he said one before the other. Finally, he comes
around to the main point: somehow, the army will retain more conscripts if it
will just work them harder and give them more responsibility. Mr. Crowther, I
think, is one of those bosses who is quite convinced that he works hard.
“Black Flags in
India” India finally has an all-Indian cabinet. But the Moslem League is upset
about it, and there were riots in Bombay, so the paper thinks that it is a
disaster. The paper reminds us that sectarianism is common among primitive
people, such as the inhabitants of the Sixteenth Century, or Ireland, and so
the Indians can be forgiven, just as soon as they are all beaten, gassed and
possibly shot. The paper then launches into a history of India since 1200 which
completely refutes the Congress charge of “divide and rule,” without once
mentioning it, lest some impressionable readers be a bit confused about how
battles in 1565 are more relevant than communally-based local government in
1946. In conclusion, it is all Congress’ fault that it is all the Moslem
League’s fault.
“Egypt’s Dilemma”
The Anglo-Egyptian talks continue, because there is a “dilemma” gumming up the
works. The dilemma is the Egyptians want the British out now, and the British
are determined to stay so that they can defend Egypt from someone. Anyone, really. You know how you try to be sarcastic, and it looks like you're coming across straight, and you double down and try something so silly that it's obviously parody? That's this article, after the last one, which is clearly satire, but not so obvious that everyone twigged. In this one, the paper explains that it has been calculated that to “secure
Egypt’s frontiers” would require an army of 1.5 million men. But with only 9
million men, most of them down with bilharzia, anklyostomiasis, hookworm or
trachoma, the Egyptians cannot raise those 1.5 million men, and therefore must
be dependent on Britain to supply those 1.5 milloin. Or 450,000? Oh, wait, this is after mobilisation, when Britain will, indeed, be able to spare 1.5 million men for Egypt. The paper goes on to suppose that Egypt cannot
possibly tax enough to maintain all these soldiers, much less equip them for
modern war; nor will it even be able to employ all the masses who cannot work
because they are in the latrines all day because of the end of wartime
prosperity. In conclusion, there is no conclusion, because the conclusion would
be that the British must remain to defend an Egypt
that does not really want to be defended. And which will collapse into social
revolution momentarily, anyway.
“New Domesday
Book” The paper is very pleased with the new National Farm Survey, as it is
full of statistics. There are 290,000 farmers, of an average size of “only” 83
acres, only 80,000 exceeding 100. 490,000 people work in agriculture, most
farms are “mixed,” heavy capital investment is needed, as is full technical
efficiency (the farms are laid out wrong due to accidents of history, as well
as the usual bits about farm machinery, utilities and land management.)
The paper
advertises an air mail service to North America at a “small increase in cost.”
While I am reluctant to put more money in Mr. Crowther’s pocket until he
actually works for it, this sounds far better than having Mr. Bain
radio-facsimile the Earl’s copy.
Notes of the Week
“The ILP Refuses
to Die” The ILP is the Independent Labour Party. Its existence annoys most
people, but this is not making it go away, and it even won a by-election. The
paper points its finger at Mr. McMillan and his “New Democratic Party” and
laughs and laughs, because the Tories will have to have new policies to win in 1949,
and not just depend on a split on the left. Because the ILP is not going away? Please help me, here.
“Closed Shop
Demands” The London Passenger Transport Board’s decision in favour of a closed
shop has “as expected” provoked other unions to ask for the same. The paper is
upset at this violation of the principles of “democratic freedom.” The paper
thinks that the Labour government should suddenly discover that “big” unions
are horrible, and intervene. That could certainly happen!
“Food Conference
Opens” Global Famine What’s Keeping It? The paper thinks that the FAO’s targets
for world food production are “surprisingly high.” So are the “demands for food
consumption.” The FAO thinks that there needs to be a World Food Board to
stabilise prices, but the paper thinks that this will be terrible for Britain,
as food prices will go up.
Then there are
bits about Molotov in Moscow and the last pleas at Nuremberg, where a new myth
is growing that the Wehrmacht was betrayed, this time not by a Marxist stab in
the back, but by Hitler’s madness. In Greece, a probably fraudulent plebiscite
has brought the king back for the third time; the paper doesn’t think it will
go any better than the previous two times. In the Security Council, Mr. Gromyko
is saying horrible things and being rude, while Parliament is debating an
electoral commission to make parliamentary districts more equal. Farmers are
attracted to the idea of a new marketing scheme. It also turns out that while
the Civil Service is much expanded over its prewar size (695,000 versus 376,000
in 1938) it is much smaller than in 1943, and this points to both the
government being too big, and to there being a recruitment problem. Finally, it
asks whether the Government can afford to “freeze 300,000 more men and women
than it did in 1938, especially when the birth rate is falling, and industrial
output is of critical importance.”
 |
| Apparently this is "working class youth improvising at skiffle?" British is so close to English that sometimes you think they're the same language. I am increasingly baffled by Geoffrey Crowther's intellectual reputation. |
“Where are the
Women?” There are not enough employed women in the June manpower statistics for
the paper’s taste, and they are in the wrong industries. Industries which
cannot get enough women have “black prospects indeed.” If only there were some
way for critical industries to attract more labour!
“Population Shift
in Japan” In a spirit of liberal democracy, the new Japanese government has
decided that there must be extensive de-urbanisation. Of a population expected
to reach 80 millions in 1950, no more than 30 million may live in towns, and a
great effort must be made to increase cultivated area from the current 15
million acres to 19, which will still leave Japan importing 20% of its rice, which
must be paid for with exports, which also must pay for imported raw materials.
Nevertheless, it falls far short of the British Commission’s recommendations,
and the Japanese take great pleasure in mocking the British suggestions; the
paper concludes that this is all MacArthur’s fault, because he is awful.
“Siamese Rice”
Lord Killearn, the Special Commissioner for South-East Asia, wants to lean on
Siam for the rice exports promised. The paper blames Chinese rice merchants,
who have all sorts of evil motives, including a desire to send food to China,
even though one might think that that
last was a charitable impulse. (It is not. Chinese rice merchants are horrible,
says the paper, which clearly does not need Chinese subscribers.) Anyway, short
of increasing the price paid for rice, the world is at a loss as to what to do.
 |
| Take it from a grocer. Thailand really is the rice capital of the world. |
“Trouble in
Tripolitania” Anglophile Italians in Libya are upset at the British for not
letting them run the country more. This, of course, “damages British prestige,”
and, as a result, the local Berbers and Arabs are becoming more anti-British.
The Russians have also permitted local elections in Saxony, and the Ensa is
being wound up. The paper takes a moment to be snide about the talents of Ensa
performers, British performers who did not want to tour, and the Government
that refused to “put them in battledress.”
American Survey
“The Economics of
Coal” Peak production of bituminous coal in the United States was set in 1944
at 620 million tons. So far in 1946 it is 23% below that, and 17% below 1945.
Company earnings were solid, but this masks grave concerns. For example, coal
production hit 579 million tons as long ago as 1918, and while industrial
production is up 213% since 1920, coal production is up only 9%. This shows
that the industry has failed to grow with industry in general. Fuel oil and
natural gas consumption, meanwhile, has grown rapidly. Reductions in the amount
of coal needed per ton-mile or kilowatt-hour have been between 16 and 62%, and
the real price of coal has been falling from 1890 to 1916, and subsequently
rising, so that by 1945 it was 89% higher than in 1916. And while coal prices
have been rising, natural gas prices, in particular, have been falling. This is
largely because of the cost of loading and transport, which is not “elastic,”
as that of natural gas is. The more coal is used, the more expensive it becomesby comparison with fuel oil and natural gas!
American Notes
“The End of the
Primaries” “The public reaction against the Truman Administration has firmly
fastened [the Republican] Old Guard in the saddle.” Meanwhile, the Democrats
seem to be moving leftwards, with many candidates opposed by the CIO being
rejected.
“Past Labour Day”
It is thought that the American labour force has risen just about as high as it
can go, and so therefore any further rise in employment must mean a fall in
productivity away from its current, post-war peak. Labour is upset at rising
commodity prices, and there is now a freight car shortage. Wall Street
continues to slump. Bad news, says the paper with a gleeful smile.
The paper is also
pessimistic about the housing plan, where Wyatt has made some concessions to
private builders, cotton, where there is a shortage leading to high prices
which will somehow make things worse for American farmers, and coal. I’m not
even sure what the problem is in coal, where output is up since the strike, and
so are prices and wages. Also, the Army is allowing union drives at Oak Ridge,
where the AFL and CIO are consequentially squabbling. American grain export
targets have been raised, and restrictions on grain supplies for white bread
and brewing reduced.
The World Overseas
“The Italian
Economy” Everything is terrible.
“Sweden andInflation” Everything is terrible.
“Latin American
Dilemma” Everything is. .. Oh, seriously! Italy’s problem is that it cannot
afford to import grain, so people are starving, even if our correspondent
cannot find them. (The question is whether official figures are really capturing the nation's grain production. If it is not, then Italy's hunger problem is much less serious than appears, although its government problem is a great deal worse.) Sweden’s problem is that a boom in industry, construction and
wages is accompanied by rising wages, and a recent revaluation of the currency
hasn’t resulted in any changes even though it happened weeks ago. At least these things belong in the newspaper, though.
The issue in “Latin America” is that there have been some demonstrations in
Argentina. An unthinkable development!
The Business World
The recent
international wool auctions might be construed as having gone well, so the
paper spends a page and a half explaining why this is not actually the case. It
is then on about “Cheap Money and ‘Unfunding.” I think I understand this. As
the rate of interest in the market is lowered, something that the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and Bank of England can cause to happen, the return on bonds
falls. So whenever the Government rolls over wartime securities, it can secure
a lower interest rate, and “unfund” the national debt, which is what the paper
says instead of, oh, say, “the government saves money on interest.” From here
it launches onto an arcane discussion of the way that money is held. And then
it turns out that I am wrong, and that “unfunding” actually means “turning debt
into money,” and that this will OF COURSE have bad effects. (Inflation, if you
must know.)
 |
| Baloney. |
Business Notes
Oh, Good Heavens.
The lead note is about appointments to the Steel Board, and from there downhill
to some fine-tuning of Bretton Woods, some banking news, an attempt to explain
the sell-off on Wall Street, and finally some news that is actually vaguely
applicable to the real world (a Rhodesian copper strike.) The Monthly Digest shows a falling off of
deliveries of industrial products, mostly due to summer vacations, but also due
to various shortages. There is a linseed oil shortage due to Argentina being
almost the sole seller and unable to meet world needs, and the current
stockpile of winter coal is 5.5 million tons lower than in July of 1945,
suggesting that the final, October numbers will be “close to the minimum necessary.”
This will not mean shortages severe enough to cause “widespread unemployment,”
but a 3% loss of industrial output can be expected. The first anniversary of
the rise in cocoa prices in West Africa has not led to disaster, although the proposed
marketing board still does not exist. The Government is sending missions to
East and West Africa to investigate oil seed production with an eye to
increasing it.
 |
| West African peanut stew. Recipe here. |
West African farmers need to be brought into the cash economy,
perhaps by increased imports of consumer goods; while in east Africa changes in
land tenure will be needed to resettle various group, leading to viable ground
nut industries. Hides and skins are somewhat scarce. Wine imports, especially
from the Empire, are up. They grow wine in the Empire? Where?
Yes, yes, there are many fine Australian wines, etc, etc.
Appended at the
very end are the conclusions of the successful commission on shipboard radio
navigation aids. Decca has won out, and the Americans are likely to manoeuvre
for LORAN, perhaps meaning that ships will have to carry both, which will be
inconvenient.
Flight, 12 September 1946
Eight pages of
ads to leaf through before we reach the editorial material. The paper might be
having trouble getting articles, but there is no shortage of advertisers.
Leaders
“Export” The SBAC
is having a show with the RAE at the Handley Page Airfield on the subject of “buy
our planes with your Yankee dollars. They’re ever so fine!”
“Engine
Reliability” The paper seems to be taking the crash of the Star Leader pretty casually. I know that you will be shaking the
letter in frustration and muttering about how many people Don Bennett will be
allowed to kill before he is fired, and this is one case where I hope that you
are wrong. Anyway, the point seems to be that you cannot abuse your engines
indefinitely, or your planes will fall out of the sky and kill 24 people or so.
“A Tentative
Record?” In case you were wondering why the talk about the attempt on the speed
record vanished from the paper last week, it is because it has been getting
very difficult because of the weather, and this week, at last, an official
trial at the disappointing-but-still-record-breaking speed of 616mph was turned
in, and so the High Speed Flight is going to pack it in for the season if next
weekend goes bad
The “Jet Spiteful”
(E.10/44) exists, and only a mother could love it.
 |
| The two-tone paint scheme cleans up the design very nicely. |
“Tomorrow’s
Aircraft” The paper points out that the Brabazon I will be very big, that the
Brabazon II will also be very big, and a
flying boat, to boot, that the A.W. 55 will be
aero-airscrew-turbino-engine-powered (Because it would be giving in to vulgar
Americanisms to say “turboprop”!), that the Vickers V.C. 2 will be splendid,
that the de Havilland type will be a flying wing, that Handley Page is still
trying to push its trash out the door, and that Miles Aircraft is still promising
to deliver the Marathon.
 |
| In defence of the Brabazon scheme, Handley Page rescued the Marathon and the VC-2 turned into the Vickers Viscount, so 2/6! |
“The 1000mph M.
52” The Miles supersonic test plane that won’t be built has quite a nice model
at the RAE display.
Here and There
Bristol is
bringing out a 2 litre Frazer-Nash Bristol with a six-cylinder engine of 1,971
cubic inches with detachable aluminum cylinder head and overhead valves set at
90 degrees. The Autocar has quite a
nice feature on it, so pick up the latest number of The Autocar today, wherever fine magazines are sold!
 |
| Now that's "Britain can build it"! |
The WAAF is to
have a not-a-beauty-pageant to pic out the “smartest and most representative airwoman”
for recruiting posters. “Chief interest in the ‘Designs for the Future’ section
of the ‘Britain Can Make It’ exhibition, opening in the Victoria and Albert
Museum on September 24th, will doubtless be centred in Mr. Warnett Kennedy’s Space Ship. The designer of
this futuristic aircraft is said to have been greatly influenced in his ideas
on inter-planetary flight by the potentialities of atomic power. In the light
of scientific progress to date, few people would be so rash” as to deny that we
are going to spend our next summer vacation on Mars.
 |
| Warnett Kennedy's space ship isn't coming up on Google images. But what the heck, this is. Devil Girl from Mars, if you were wondering. |
“Military Miscellany”
A six page insert of “new and familiar types” shown at the Radlett show,
including the military version of the Airspeed Ambassador, the Auster VI Gipsy
Major VII, Blackburn Firebrand V, Bristol Brigand TF Mk I, De Havilland
Mosquito 34 photo-recon type, General Aircraft Hamilcar X transport glider, Hawker
Fury I and Sea Fury X, Heston AOP model, Saunders-Roe flying-boat jet
fighter(!!) model, Short Sturgeon, Supermarine Seafang, possibly the E.10/44 Supermarine,
and a model or drawing or some such of the S.14/44 amphibian flying boat withRolls-Royce Griffon engine and variable-incidence, fully slotted wing. Westland
will finally show its Welkin, and there will be various trainers.
 |
| OMG. The original design had a four-gun turret? I bet that whoever wrote that specification could explain the Blackburn Roc. |
“Civil Aircraft
at the SBAC Show: wide Range of Types: Fir Airline, Charter and Private
Ownership” Airspeed will show its
Consul, Armstrong-Whitworth will have a model of its AW55, Auster will show off
its small planes, Avro will show all of its Lancaster transports except the
York, Bristol will show its 170, Cunliffe-Owen will have some nice models,
including its Cierva helicopters, De Havilland will have a Dove, Handley Page
will have junk, Miles will have glib promises and evasions, Percival will have
its Merganser; Portsmouth Aviation will use its invitation to hover over the
refreshments table, getting drunk and dumping whole trays of cheese and crackers into its suspiciously large pockets, Saunders-Roe
will show a model of its giant flying boat, Short will give every Sunderland
ever made its own class name, and Vickers will show a Viking.
“Britain’s Latest
Military and Civil Aircraft” Given all those ads at the head, it is not enough
to repeat these details once. A third time will give the advertisers their
money’s worth. Though, to be fair, there are new mentions of the Hornet,
Spearfish, Firefly, Vampire, Meteor, Lincoln and Martin Baker M.B.V.
“Turbines at the
Show: Synoptic Survey of Current British jet and Turbine/Airscrew Power Units
on Exhibition” All the turbine engines that already exist are mentioned.
“Piston Engines
Displayed: General Review of the Reciprocating-Type Engines Exhibited” I was
leafing through old volumes of the paper at the university the other day in a
vain attempt to find out when work on the Kestrel started, and there are pages
from my childhood that look exactly like this, mainly because the only engines
deemed worthy of mention on the first page are assorted Cirrus and Alvis types.
(Well, there’s a Centaurus at the bottom, so only almost.) The point seems well-taken, though. Someone might still buy a Bristol radial and put
it in an airliner, if they can get over the costs of fitting out a repair shop
to deal with sleeve valves; but the window is rapidly closing, leaving the only
market for new piston engines as small types for light duties.
“Radio and Radar
Demonstrations” The Ministry of Civil Aviation is putting on demonstrations for
PICAO delegates.
In shorter news,
there is to be a British Air Charter Association, and the trade unions are
fighting over who gets to represent ground engineers. The TUC is displeased
with the Amalgamated Engineers’ Union, but what else is new?
“Flight’s Camera at Folkestone” The
paper’s society photographer was at the Folkestone air show to take pictures of
the airminded, with occasional diversions into something a bit more fashionable.
 |
| Wing Commander Kendall had a good war as a photographic interpreter. I have no idea what's on with the wife, who looks a great deal younger, but there's hordes of Kendalls in the RAF nowadays, so I'm going to be optimistic. |
“Exhibitors at
Radlett: Complete Alphabetical Guide to Nearly 200 Show Stands Where Ordinary
and Associate Members of the SBAC Display Their Products” I had, of course,
completely summarised this entire article for you, but then little Jay-Jay ate
it. What a terrible little boy he is! Now you will never know about Desoutter’s
latest, the “Mighty Atom.”
The Economist, 14 September 1946
Leaders
“Another 1929?”
Two weeks’ worth of declines on Wall Street have naturally led people to worry
that another Great Depression is at hand. American commentators say that this
is ridiculous, since stocks have not been bought with borrowed money, that, on
the contrary, the country has never been so debt free. The paper replies that
since stocks have fallen so sharply, the fact that prices have not been
inflated by ignorant investors means that it is even more serious. The paper
supposes that the moment of reckoning, when the American consumer cannot
consume any more, must be near at hand. When they do stop spending, and resume
saving, the factories will close, the workforce will be thrown into
unemployment, and the “interesting question” of whether they can be quickly
shifted to more remunerative work will finally be asked. The paper supposes
that the current fall is an advanced warning of this, so more like the decline in
the stock market in the spring of 1929 than the one in the autumn of 1929. It will be
September of 1947 when the world’s economy collapses. Possibly.
“World Food
Plans” The FAO continues to talk about a “World Food Bank” to stabilise prices
and combat hunger. The paper peers into its crystal ball and foresees a
combination of unsellable food surpluses and global famine in poor countries
which cannot afford food. Then everything will be horrible.
“Public Health”
The Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health has a report out On the State of Health During the Six War
Years. It was surprisingly good, mainly due to the fortunate avoidance of
all sorts of epidemics which could have occurred. Now, the paper can look
forward to the national health insurance initiative and see that the Government
is facing a “colossal task.”
“Germany Faces
the Winter” Germany is in for a hard winter due to the shortage of food and
coal. Various financial and administrative reforms are needed, and public
opinion should stop complaining about Germany getting food aid. Also, the Zone
authorities ought to see about paying German coal miners more to increase
production.
Notes of the Week
“Mr. Byrnes in
Stuttgart” Mr. Byrnes gave a nice speech about how America is going to make
sure that Germany does not remain in the poorhouse of Europe.
Pan-Am again!
At the Uno, there
has been talk about whether Greece is awful, mainly having to do with its
territorial claims against Albania, and about the lack of accommodation in
Paris. The current talks about the Palestine situation continue to lack
Palestinians.
“Squatter’s‘Hubris’” London squatters have launched an “obviously preconceived and
large-scale attack on luxury flats in Kensington.”[pdf] The paper is appalled, and
thinks that “the people” will support any efforts the Government makes against
the squatters. Although at the same time, thousands of families of squatters
should not be moved, as they have effectively resolved some serious problems by
finding themselves accommodations.
 |
| Squatters move their furniture into the Duchess of Bedford House, Campden Hill, Kensington, 1946. Source" randompottins.blogspot. |
In labour news,
the closed shop controversy continues and has become linked to talk of
sector-wide bargaining, while the paper hopes for a “new spirit in the mines”
and for a cabinet shuffle, although that would be Labour news, not labour.
“The Chinese
Civil War” The paper makes the point that it is not an issue of fronts and
territories controlled as which side the various bodies of troops turn out to
be on. The paper is also concerned about talk of an autonomous communist state
in northern Manchuria, a “Chinese Azerbaijan,” as it were.
"I have no children to sell/Only this flower drum on my back" --traditionallly attributed to the first emperor of Ming.
“No Industrial
Revolution Yet” Mr. Baruch’s report to the United Nations underlines that there
is no immediate prospect of atomic power for all yet. Atomic power faces such a
large capital cost that it is very difficult to finance. Any future atomic power projects will depend very heavily on the rate of interest. If coal prices remain high, atomic power will gradually
replace it. If full technical efficiency ends the malaise in coal, it will not.
(Oil is not in the picture, as the world’s supply of oil is too limited.)
“Bread Upon the
Waters” The paper finally gets the kind of news it likes about the state of the
harvest, as six weeks of wind and gales may have greatly reduced the harvest
and posthumously justified the introduction of bread rationing. A labour
shortage is also affecting the harvest, and so does a significant reduction in
the amount of land in tillage compared with temporary grass, which the Government is
going to remedy in the new year, by regulation if necessary. The weather has
also ruined the first family vacation season in seven years, and led to
speculation that the Bikini tests had something to do with it. The paper wonders if the climate is changing. After all, the average temperature in
London has been rising since 1850, and one might suppose that ancient
civilisation was hardly possible if it was as dry in Egypt and Greece as it is
today. All in all, it concludes, English weather is good for the English soul.
 |
| "The incomparable Dejah Thoris of Barsoom" [as portrayed by Lynn Collins of Earth, eons less advanced in the inevitable progression of worlds from their Venusian state of humidity, jungle, and savagery to their end state of Martian aridity, canals, and decadence.] Look, an astronomer made this stuff up. How can it not be good science? Okay, never mind. Let's just keep on subsituting racial-panic displacing narratives for science until the biosphere boils away. |
“Safety in the
Air” The British South American and two Air France disasters raise the usual
question: is air travel safe? Well, first of all, my father-in-law says that it is certainly not going to be safe if you let a
bastard like Bennett run your airline. The paper ends the section by talking
about training the civil service and apologising for confusing one Bulgarian
with another.
 |
| "Bennett was not a popular leader: a personally difficult and naturally aloof man, he earned a great deal of respect from his crews but little affection." |
Correspondence
G. G. Eastwood,
of the Printing and Kindred Trades Profession writes on the subject of liberty
and the unions, to the effect that the unions’ demand for a forty-hour week is
a demand for less hours, and not for more overtime. The paper cannot resist
replying that a forty-hour week is just impossible, and so it is a demand for
more money, that is, for overtime for the last five hours, which must be
worked. Two authors think that unions are terrible, and W. N. Leak, of Dingle House, Winsford, Cheshire, is of the fresh and novel opinion that it will
all lead to Russian-style totalitarianism. E. H. Dean, of the Technical
College, Coventry, is most upset at Mr. Stone’s letter, which implies that
“permanent inflation” is permissible if it can only be accurately measured. It
is not, Mr. Dean thinks. Inflation is a tax on saves, and must never, ever be
allowed.
American Survey
“Competition at
Sea” An American Correspondent shows that the American merchant marine pays its
seamen too much, and so cannot be competitive, and suggests that it is in large
part the unions fault. There follows a shorter note on the AFL mariners’ strike
which has now broken out.
“Against Big
Business” Secretary Wallace “stands at the back” of a new movement to
invigorate American antitrust action, which the paper thinks has hardly
accomplished anything over the previous sixty years.
“The Shadow of
1948” Mr. Roosevelt casts a shadow forward, and the 1948 Presidential election
casts it backwards, but they are both the same shadow, because President Truman
is not President Roosevelt. Also, Governor Dewey may be the candidate in 1948.
“Manpower and the
Army” Selective Service will have to take up 185,000 men to maintain the Army
at 1.2 million, because volunteering has dropped off so far. This is not
surprising given the high employment rate, but has led to demands for a
reduction in unemployment insurance, because there are still 1.2 million men
registered as unemployed, and 1.8 million veterans receiving the 52-20
benefits.
“Construction for
Prosperity” Speaking of 2.2 million men unemployed for some reason, the
question of whether construction “can reinforce business activity” has come up.
America needs 10 million homes, but building them might prove difficult. As
near as I can tell from the article, apart from shortages of skilled labour and
construction material, there is the question of the lag between effective
demand and actual construction, which acts to discourage investment. (Since by
the time the house is built, there might be a new Great Depression, etc.)
How odd. On the one hand, in spite of very high employment, unemployment insurance rolls are high, too. On the other, in spite of high demand, there is far too little new home construction being registered. This is in part due to the diversion of scarce building materials onto the black market, where, presumably, it is all being used to build resorts in Las Vegas. A lot of resorts. But what other possible explanation could there be? In unrelated news, we finally have contractors working on eight of the house lots in the bottom corner. (Up from five, but the surveyor's report shows that the original McKay exemption was rather larger than allowed!!!)
 |
| This isn't what I went to Google Images for, but whatever. Lloyd Alter posted this image of a 1946 "Airform" house by California architect Wallace Neff on treehugger.com in 2008. |
“Inquest on WPB”
The Mead Committee is hearing testimony on who was more awful during the war,
the War Production Board or the War Mobilisation Board; the Army or the New
Deal.
Shorter notes
include comment on the “irresponsible press” predicting war before Christmas, even
as The New Yorker prints an entire
special issue on the effects of the Hiroshima bombing; the rapid rise in the
price of meat; and suggestions that the primary victories of Senators Bilbo and
McKellar be disallowed on grounds of interference with the vote in he first
case and overspending in the second. Unfortunately, it is not clear that the
Corrupt Practices Act applies to party primaries as well as elections.
The Business World
“Still Dearer
Transport” Rail traffic is down on the war, leading to a deficit in receipts,
leading to an application for higher rates.
“Farm Machinery” Full
technical efficiency, etc. Though, to its credit, the paper declines to take
the opportunity to call for combine-harvesters on all English farms (and so
also larger farms), and instead insists on the extension of utilities to all
farms.
Business Notes
“Wall Street –and
London” I merge two notes into one, as the point is the same. The markets are
down, and no-one knows why, which allows the writer to speculate on
whether Mr. Molotov or Mr. Dalton might be the cause. The writer is very much
in the paper’s style, since he is
not-at-all-hoping-on-the-contrary-quite-alarmed that the American sell off
might be the beginning of the great American Depression of 1946/1947/What’s
Keeping It?
 |
| I especially like the way that these theories are all predicated on American consumers just getting tired of buying stuff and socking all their money away in low-interest savings vehicles. Especially when The Economist's preferred solution seems to be higher interest rates. |
“Prodding the
Small Saver –And Bribing the Large” Since the trick of combining two notes
separated by a dash worked so well above, I will do it again. The point is that
the cheap money policy requires prodding/bribing, as determined by the size of
the savings. I suppose that the paper
might conclude that it will all end in tears if I read the rest of it.
There follows a
couple of bits that get the traditional “Latins are excitable” summary. (Argentinian
talks, a new Anglo-French trade agreement, a revaluation of the franc to check inflation.) Also devaluing, the Turks. Anglo-Russian trade is advancing, especially with a
very large English purchase of softwood in Russia. No, I do not know what is
wrong with your wood, considering that I don’t think that Russia is in the
sterling area any more than Canada. Something about the Steel Board, then about
manpower which is basically filling space. Bank investments have
declined, and the Hudson’s Bay Company showed good profits on the strength of
its Canadian department stores. Tin output in Malaya and the Netherlands East
Indies has recovered surprisingly well (same as rubber production; it turns out
that it didn’t all go to Hell when left to Asiatic devices!) and an upcoming
global price conference may provide relief to industry, although not Bolivian
miners. The English wool textiles sector has conceded some wage increases.
Aviation, September 1946
Down the Years in AVIATION’s Log
Twenty-five years
ago, Dirigible R-38 crashed in England, killing 44 crew members. The first crop
dusting by a plane (Troy, Ohio) was deemed a success. The Australian air mail
was introduced. Glenn Martin brought out a high lift wing. General Mitchell
said that the entire US Atlantic Fleet could be destroyed by a single attack
from the air. Fifteen years ago, a Chicago wholesaler outfitted a Ford Trimotor
as an airborne grocery sampling room. Sikorsky brought out its first S-40;
there were 1178 airfields in the US, up 260 from the year before; a Wright-engined
Bellanca made the 4999-mile flight from New York to Istanbul in 49 hours, 19
minutes, breaking the distance record by 87 miles. Meanwhile, Frank Hawks flew Mystery Travel Air New York-Havana
and return in 17h 3 minutes elapsed time. Ten years ago, China National
Airlines bought some S-43s; TWA announced a 2.5 million dollar recapitalisation
programme; Harold Neumann won the Shell Trophy at the National Air Races,
flying his Menasco-Folkerts Special at 2243mph,
 |
| Menasco-Folkerts Special |
 |
| Maybe it's because you say this |
 |
| . . And do this. Rescuers scramble over the hull of the wrecked R-38. By US Navy - U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #: NH 69230; URL containing: [1]; URL image: [2] Source: english wikipedia, original upload 6 July 2004 by Taak, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=308258 |
Line Editorial
James H. McGraw.
Jr, celebrates Labour Day 1946 by urging “Time for Wise Union Leadership.” During
the war, dramatic increases in labour productivity accompanied rising wages, and
wise union leadership still aims for increasing productivity, as for example
Walter Reuther and Philip Morris of the CIO; but since the war, too many unions
have aimed for wage increases without regard for productivity, and this can
only end badly. Labour must end its featherbedding and other
productivity-reducing practices. Then output per man hour can go up, and so can
wages –without increases in prices.
Editorial –“America Sets the Pattern to
Pioneer the Supersonic”
Leslie E. Neville
introduces Jack Woollams’ article about the Bell XS-1, and notes just how
difficult and expensive supersonic research is likely to be, a point
underlined by Mr. Woollams’ tragic death
before the paper went to press, albeit in a P-39, and not a supersonic research
type.
Jack Woollams,
“How We Are Preparing to Reach Supersonic Speeds” The Bell XS-1 is a rocket
powered aircraft, as nearly conventionally designed as possible, and as small
as possible with regards to the demands of the flight. It will be lifted to
30,000ft by a B-29, from whence it is released for its trial flights. Woollam
believes that he will achieve supersonic speeds when it becomes possible for
the XS-1 to reach 60,000ft. Right now, it is still doing trials at 35,000 to 40,000ft.
After this there
follows a complete waste of paper in the form of a debate on whether surface
carriers should be allowed in air transportation.
“Though Nature
Hides the Flat-Top, Radar ‘Homes’ Its Planes” A navy writer describes the way
that radar is used to guide carrier aircraft back to their home ships. To be
more clear, it is actually a controlled approach system that will bring the
planes down on the carriers even at night, rather than a more generalised
air-traffic control system, and uses a microwave radar of the same wavelength
as the new bomb-aiming radar.
Raymond Hoadly,
“We’re Losing Our Export Markets” Exports are being BUNGLED. It’s all because
the British have sent a Vickers Viking to South America. Well just wait until
those excitable Latins see a Bristol Freighter being loaded with a very small
car!
Edward E. Thorp,
“Inspection and Servicing of Light-Amphibian Hydraulics”.
Frank R. Brine,
“Deft Dealers Make Air Shows Pay” Air Shows are where you show planes. People
who want to buy airplanes come to air shows. Good dealers try to make use of
this opportunity to sell planes. Bad dealers probably step on their toes and
make crude passes at their wives.
David B.
Thurston, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, “Estimating Plane
Performance Via Comparison Method” I didn’t mention it, but the Thorpe article
above is about the Seabee’s gear, so this is sort of a Grumman number. As near
as I can tell, the article, which is long and has tables and graphs, is about how
similar planes ought to have similar performances? I would probably know more ,
but I skipped to the end, saw a conclusion, that a twin-engined plane requires
either low power loading or low wing loading if single-engine performance is
required, and was too underwhelmed to go back over it.
James Montagne,
“Avro Interests Start Canadian Production” Avro has taken over the Maldon works
where the Government-owned Victory Aircraft used to build Lancasters and might
have built Lincolns.
Paul H. Stanley,
“Practical Engineering of Rotary Wing Aircraft” Mr. Stanley, of American
Cierva, continues to explain why Cierva designs are better than those
actually-existing helicopters that are available from real manufacturers.
K. R. Jackman, “Aircraft
‘Acoustical Problems and Possible Solutions, Part III” By far the most
important technical series currently running in the paper is back for another
installment.
Shorter articles
describe how the C-47’s radio has been redesigned for a single operator, the
new Kellett 10-place transport helicopter that doesn’t exist yet, the proposed
Aero-Flight all-metal tandem two-seater, a small pusher transport being
“readied” by Baumann; and the Miles Marathon,DH Chipmunk, Short Sealand and Handley Page Hastings are
noted to exist more. Kaiser-Fleetwing tells the world about its
YPQ-12A radio controlled robot bomber, XBQ-2A pilotless bomber, and XA-39 pointless fighter.
 |
| Having a trend in the 1940s must have been a lot like trying to pilot a canoe while a messy drunk tried to board it without permission. A messy drunk named Henry Kaiser. On the other hand, Kaiser Permanente. |
The article about
conning prospective student pilots continues.
Sideslips is so bored that it makes fun
of Harold Ickes for banning low flying over national parks, and The Aeroplane for correcting someone
American on the subject of which airline first served frozen food to passengers.
Aviation News
General Arnold
told Congress that better electronics are indispensable to successful guided
missiles. A dump of information on Army research programmes included an
automatic rocket launcher, guided bombs for attacking German submarine pens,
flying tanks (actually glider-tanks), and a “rocket hydrobomb” which travelled at
70mph below the surface. The Navy wants us to know that some Mcdonnell FD-1
Phantoms have gone to sea. The War Assets Administration has revamped its sales
policies, and military unification failed to go through Congress before
adjournment. The XB-36, Edo XOSE-1 and Curtiss SC-2 Seahawk exist more. While
Arnold told Congress about electronics, General Everett Hughes dropped by to
tell Congress that the Army is working hard on better missiles than the V-2.
Only 66 military aircraft were accepted by the two services in June, in spite
of the vast amount of money being spent on air appropriations. Someone could squint at that and
conclude that the American people aren’t getting their money’s worth. The CAB’s
action on non-scheduled airlines might be seen as being bad for veteran war
pilots finding work with the charter lines. The Cierva W-9 exists more.
 |
| Per Mika MicKinnon, writing at gizmodo, this is the old Hydrobomb testing chamber, repurposed in 1954 to test something boring. (The Hydrobomb is described as a submarine, rocket-powered towing car. Definitely not boring. Ms. McKinnon also mentions rumours that a Hell Pit opened up under JPL during its early tests.) |
Worlddata –by “Vista”
“Vista” notices
that American negotiations for air landing rights under the “Fifth Freedom”
provisions of the Chicago Agreement have proven disastrous. It turns out that
its negotiating partners want something in return!
Fortune, September 1946
Leaders
“What Do They
Mean, Enterprise?” The Republican Party is always telling the American voter
that it is the party of “free” enterprise. But what would that really mean?
This issue of the paper profiles the late Henry Simons, a professor at the University
of Chicago who used to argue that a successful system of free enterprise
actually took hard work on the government’s part to ensure competitive
conditions and regulate the boom-and-bust cycle. Looking at recent developments
in Congress, the paper says, Republican leaders could stand to pay attention.
The paper then takes Bob Taft out into the alley bats him to death with a baseball bat labelled "tariffs," thrusts the bloody instrument into Dick
Byrd’s hands and makes a quick escape through Congress, naming names as it goes. The paper has opinions about who should be the GOP nominee in 1948, and it is not Taft.
“A New Start in
Germany” Merging the American and British zones is big news, but it is boring,
administrative news, and I do not need
to read two series of leaders followed by substantive articles about it.
“Reconversion,
U.Ss. Style” Rich Americans are celebrating like it is 1929. Needless to say
what comes next! (And this was written before the stock market crash!)
This weeks Fortune Survey is about the “battle of
the sexes” at work. The survey shows that it is not as bad as all that, with
the exception that attitudes held by both men and women hold women back at
work.
“The Politburo”
Russia isn’t just run on Comrade Stalin’s say so. It actually has a “Politburo”
of fourteen members. The paper explains who they are, what they do, and what
kind of table they sit around. (Green baize.)
“Revolution in
Rayon: A Continuous Process for Viscous Yarn, Spurned by the Competition, Has
Made High Profits and History for Cleveland’s Industrial Rayon Corporation”
Hiram Rivitz, of Cleveland’s IRC, has made a lot of money.
There is some question as to how much
the patent was actually worth in the early days. Presumably, there is some reason that Courtauld didn’t
license it in the United States, for example
 |
| Fortune seems to be grossly simplifying the task of producing commercial rayon thread. Here is a glam shot of someone supervising thread warping at the Courtauld's works, from this awesome collection of archival photographs. |
, and it may be that the license fee
was too high in the early days, when the main advantage was a reduction in
manpower, and Industrial Rayon was mainly known for cheap, spool-run thread.
“The Armed
Forces: After the Greatest Rout in Military History, the U.S. Has a Surplus of
Weapons, 2.2. Million ‘Bodies,’ And a Two-Year Job of Training and Reorganisation”
The idea that the rapid draw down of the army’s strength was a “rout” has been
around –did I pick it up in Time? I’m
not quite sure what the point is.
“Fowler
McCormick: Self-Made Man” Fowler McCormick is the grandson of John D.
Rockefeller and Cyrus McCormick. He is the chairman of the family company,
International Harvester, and by all accounts a somewhat eccentric former
companion of Dr. Jung and an aficionado of exotic Oriental religions. (You
know, the kind that actual Orientals are entirely unaware of.) If the
“self-made man” thing isn’t completely a joke, it refers to a stunt in which
Fowler worked in the company incognito for a few years before being made
chairman.
 |
| The special look of a man who has never learned to shave himself. His father, Harold, has recently shown up in these pages directly as the husband of Ganna Walska, and indirectly much earlier as one of the recipients of Serge Voronoff's animal endocrine transplant operations. |
“The Testament of
Henry Simon” Henry Simon is introduced with a quote from his “devastating
critique” of the Beveridge Plan. He really didn’t like socialism, it turns out.
Rather, he was a “libertarian,” whatever that means. He thought that capitalism
was best, but only if monopolies were controlled, and monetary policy were effective
in checking booms and deflations. He hated the New Deal, and believed that
monetary reform would have sufficed to bring America back from the Crash. Government
should aim to keep prices stable (or increasing at a low and predictable rate),
rather than aim at keeping unemployment low, or, indeed, at any target
whatsoever. Instead of public works spending to counter business depressions,
it would be just as easy for the government to cut taxes without cutting
spending. He thought government borrowing wrong, and hence his proposal for a
system that consisted solely of dollars and “consols.” He was hostile to
trade-unionism as a particularly pernicious kind of monopoly, liked the British
Empire, and died before he could tell us what he thought of the peace.
“Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company” The paper puffs the P and O.
“Thrust” The
paper’s enthusiasm for aviation is charming, but we’ve heard all this before.
Pistons, then turboprops, then ramjets, then rockets. Faster and higher, to the
stars and beyond!
 |
| They're talking about spaceships. In Fortune. In 1946. |
“Jet Propulsion”
The U.S. Is Behind” True!
“57 Street” The
paper describes New York’s art market, which is headquartered on 57th
Street. This is a much longer and more detail-rich article then the one about
jet engines, and I spent a lot more time on it. Unfortunately, there’s not much
reason for me to tell you about it here!
 |
| So the reading room for UBC's old technical and business journals is also its Fine Arts Library. True fact! |
Shorts and Faces
Douglas Leigh[!],
the “Boy Sign King,” bought three blimps from the Navy with the idea of using
them as aerial billboards, only to discover that they were expensive to
operate. However, he managed to sell his space, and is now on the market for 13
more. The SEC is taking aim at the highly irregular business of the sale of
American Engineering, Inc. Clifford Pascoe’s line of business in Artek-Pascoe
Finnish-designed furniture is doing very well. So is Motty Eitington’s fur
business.
The Farm Column
Ladd Haystead
asks whether farmers can afford their new machines. Farmers do not actually use
their bright, shiny new equipment very much. For example, an average Iowa
tractor plow is only operated for 16 days in the year, and a regular tractor,
the most intensively used, 79 days. Keeping capital costs down requires being
efficient in machinery purchases. Tractor attachments make more sense than
specialised equipment, with a manure spreader the current best seller. As a
result, manufacturers insist that tractors will have to be redesigned to make
them sturdier –and more expensive. One new attachment worth noting is a kind of
forklift, used, for example, to stack pallets of fruit boxes in the California
orchards. Hmm. . . Allis-Chalmers and Massey-Ferguson have both hit on another
way of selling tractors, by making them more comfortable.
 |
| I guess this is where the nitride-case-hardened transmission gears come in. |
Business Abroad
Westinghouse is
trying to “cartelise” Mexican electrical engineering through its relationship
with Industria Electrica de Mexico. Foreign bonds are selling well on Wall
Street, including Japanese, German and Imperial Russian(!) bonds. The Middle
East is entering a business recession, and there is good money in selling used
cars in Britain.
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