The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 6, 1928, Page 16

THE BISMARCK ‘TRIBUNE ‘THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1928 Editor's Note: This is the last of a series of three articles on Prosperity, as reflected in the annual report of the Depart- ment of Conimerce. (By NEA Service) Washington, Dec. 6.—No Depart- ment of Commerce report could be expected to get very far without a plunge into statistics. The one issued this fall, setting forth the cause-and- effect status of the various factors in our national prosperity, is no ex- ception. But its figures dusty rows of digits and ciph have a background of living inter- est. They depict, graphically, the advance in material well-being which has come to the American peo- ple in recent years. To begin with: in 1914 the coun. try contained approximately 97,000,. 000 inhabitants. This population had increased to 118,000,000 by 1927.| Silhouetted against those two to-| tals are these figures: | ee As recently as 1921 there are| 2,413,000 young people in high! schools and 598,000 in colleges and universities. Last year there were 4,053,000 in high schools and 1,037,- 000 in colleges and universities. In 1919 there were 415,496 bal tubs sold in this country. In 1927 the number was 1,101,000. | In 1914 there were 543,679 auto-| mobiles sold; in 1927 the figure was| 2,939,191. In 1914 there were 44,000 wash- ing machines in use in America. In 1927 there were 5,681,000, As late as 1921 the number of electric refrigerators sold annually was so low as to escape tabulation. In 1927 the number of sales was 365,000. In 1914 there were only 122,000 vacuum cleaners in use in the coun- try. Last year this total had risen to 8,498,000, In 1914 there were in use 1,711,000 automobiles of all classes—trucks, pleasure cars and the rest. Last Peed the total was slightly over 000,000. eee Such figures, by themselves, don't mean a great deal. But back of them it is possible to read a veritable rev- ,olution in the life of the average man and woman. Greater leisure, release from drudgery, an increase in luxuries, a widening of horizon-— these are the things indicated by these statistics. The natural question, of course, is: how did all of this happen? What did the Department of Commerce have to do with it? It has already been shown how the increase in individual produc- |tivity has enormously increased the country’s output and made it a | vastly better market for its own |wares. Now the department points lout what it, itself, has done to help j matters along. | The one word that the modern |business man and industrialist Ishudder at more than all others lis the word “waste.” And it is lthis word that the department has | entrated on for years. The |phrase, “elimination of waste,” jbecome a by-word around the com- merce building. There is, for instance, the mat- ter of standardization. The depart- [ment has brought manufacturers to- |gether and induced them to stand- lardize their output. During the past ar 9,754 separate firms accepted ggestions from the department along that line. For example: in the sale of com- position blackboards, there were formerly 90 lengths, 18 widths and three colors on the market. The de- |partment has brought this down to 13 lengths, eight widths and one color. There were formerly 718 varieties of binders’ board on the market; now there are 10. A few years ago there were 160 different styles of hacksaw blades in produc- -| tion; now there are 38. Whole columns of figures like that could be produced. They do not sound impressive—until you realize that each reduction makes for more efficient manufacture, lower costs and the elimination of duplication and lost motion. ee The department has also turned its attention to the utilization of natural resources. It has pointed out valu- able by-products of coal and oil which formerly were going to waste. It has developed new methods of ore refining which have made valuable large deposits of low-grade ores in the west. By introducing a new type of wire saw into the slate quarrying indus- try it has helped to eliminate the huge wastes which old methods in that trade entailed. It has cut down the waste in the wood-mill trade by finding uses for waste pieces hereto- fore burned or discarded. In the fisheries it has devised new nets, issued forecasts on the prob- able abundance of various kinds of fish, helped to restock depleted wa- ters and made more efficient the work of the government hatcheries. Jobs of this kind are not spectac- ular, and one has to wade through long pages of type to find out about them. But they are important. They are helping to raise the standard of living and promote the happiness of all of us. el —— ,_INNEW YORK | a New York, Dec. 6—Little trage- dics of the war still recur. Listen: Near Grand Central Terminal, in West Forty-fourth street, is a little cafe. There ar? numerous inter- esting photographs hung about here and there, many of them pictures taken in France during the war, showing French troops in trenches and in action. A man who served with the A. E. F. came into the place the other night with his wife, whom he met in France. The woman became in- terested in the photographs of the French soldiers. Suddenly she cried out: “My father!” In a photograph of a machine- gun crew she had recognized her father, who had been killed in ac-|@ tion. She never had seen a photo- graph of him. The picture was pre- sented to her ceremoniously by the proprietor. She carried it tenderly away. Threads parted at the other side of an ocean, strangely joined again; the world is such a very small place, after all. . Fifth avenue at Forty-second street is busy enough. But from 7 to 9 o'clock at night, the world’s tightest little corner is Fifth avenue and Forty-third. At this corner au- tomobiles and taxicabs carrying thousands bound for the amusement belt, turn toward Broadway. Two hours of mad squealing of brakes, of bumps, of light after light,’ of swishing and hurrying. Then, after 9, just like Uncle Eb’s @rocery store at Vine and Com- mercial streets, back in Wapahasset. Fame comes tothe corner briefly. The cold descends like a blight and Sends scurrying thousands without overcoats, without homes, without friends. . . . Among the most popu- Jar refuges is Mr. Zero’s tub... . The bums and some who are far from bums begin gathering for their “mulligan stew” and hot coffee. A strange person is Mr. Zer ence and fortune. i) gone daughter I once watehed in artist’s promenade » before the in Paris. ss A und and social sym- +. - A man who knows that there’s something wrong somewhere, and is trying to do a slight some- thing to help his fellows pints Als LITTLE JOE Odes sro 1s wees S1 BE OP IN ARMS And so he serves hot coffee and mulligan to the jobless and finds them a warm place to sleep, if and where he can. ‘ * Reuben, the man who “turned a sandwich into an institution” who names most of i after Broadway celel keeps a scrapbook in which the lit- erary and drama folk scribble a few lines. The other night a wag was asked to write something in it and put down, “May your tripe increase!” Jack Osterman, the “nut come- dian,” wrote: “To the finest man I ever owed, GILBERT SWAN. (Copyright, 1928, NEA Service, Inc.) ——___—¢ | AT THE MOVIES | ———@ CAPITOL THEATRE When properly handled, the news- paper theme is one which is most po- tent for the making of really excit- ing screen fare; and “Freedom of the Press,” which opened at the Cap- itol Theater yesterday, is such a pic- ture. Motion picture critics, being news- paper writers, always look for tech- nical flaws, “Freedom of the Press,” despite the fact that most of it con- cerns a newspaper, has no flaws so we were able to judge the picture from the standpoint of entertain- ment alone. _ It is really one of the most thrill- ing films to come to the Capitol i many months. It is capably directei and has a strong story. Lewis Stone is the star and that means, immediately, that the rest of. the cast must be good, too, Stone gives a powerful picture of an un- derworld leader who is a respected member of society, giving parties for his ward and donating large sums to charity, while at the same time being the boss of the crooked political intent on a land grab of a big reeline D larceline Day is appealing as his ward and the other half of the love -|interest is supplied with feeling by Malcolm McGregor, son of the news- A|paper editor who has set himself | against the boss. The editor is played by Henry B, Walthall a role Perline | AGAIN - THE SAME Meee EYE CONFRONTS ERE 1S aan Ny}, ER yy SHH /] L THE GUMPS—-A WOMAN SCORNED — hes toby 0 -To FORGET HIM Living ate E'S OU ~ I'VE WATCHED OVER YOU ALL THESE ||] CANT YOU SEE TWAT A YEARS = LISTEN. YO. YOUR MOTHER-}| YOURE BREAKING Yo SHE KNOWS BEST = MOTHER'S HEARY; IN HIS LETTER HE SAID HE WE Alt LOVE YoU- HAD OYHER INTERESTS IN UFE=]/| THERE IS NOTHING WE HE SAID, GOOD-BY FOR ALL YIME-\| WOULDN'T DO YOU'LL DRIVE YouR PooR MomeR}| FOR YOU- TO THE GRAVE IF YoU KEEP THIS UP— . COME NOW, pap DEAR. PUT ‘TOM CARR HENRY AUSSTINN 'SON THE PHONE - HE'S GIVING A THEATRE PARTY TONIGHT ING Ol OOP ERA cLus. AFTER WARDS— TELL HIM I'd BE * DELIGHTED TOGO |; OW I'VE BEEN A FOOL Att ALONG NOTHING MATTERS NOW OUT OF YOUR _LIFE= d CHOOSE WISELY — Freckies and His Friends “~"T WONDER IF WILLIE WASNT TRYING To FOOL ME WHEN HE SAID THAT OSCAR AND HIS GEE? TS Is WHERE IS AIRPLANE GAT- ITS AIRPLANE WERE GONE 7? why, I DON'T THINK TWAT THAT AIRPLANE OF JIS COULD ENEN FLy.’ ©: BND @ ON FOR SOMETIME MOM HAS INSISTED THAT “THE FAMILY GAS-GOBBLER HAD OVERRUN I's QUCTA OF MILES AND, NOW Tat IT WENT DEKD ON WER Snes DECIDED To START A CAMPAIGN, FOR ANEW OW ONE we JETER OFFERING] 25 FOR THE. BEST NAME FOR 22's BLIMP, Sam RECEIVED THousancs OF SUGGESTIONS AND FINALLY PICKED THE WIN- NER- THEN HE FLEW AROUND [TOWN WHT HaLe | He CeTrers oF jwe NAMEON ONE |/7E |SIDE OF TRE BLine} {ONE Day, AND’ OTHER HALE ON THE Other Sto, THE NEXT- SusT , To Get We \- \" ebsetitice Psi cel Don Mellett, the slain editor of C: ton, Ohio, WELL. TH FELLING CAN ALL GO COO CoO CHER Ui VF THEY Waal | nt of that played in real life by| an ELTINGE THEATRE VE TLL Go DOWN AND WRONG. WITH TE OLD } ( Laceez AN’ GENTS! KEPT “YOU GUESSIN’ WERE GONNA MAKE KNOWN “TH SUZALEM'S BLIMP. ON THis Si NOTice EVERY OTHER & one ne TO ARABIA IN His RPLANE ” 4 MeN, MISTER S “LETS Ste- (ISNT A SHORT. “WE WIRES ARE ALL RIGHT EVERYTHING « SEEMS OK. EXCEPT THE STARTER — GET (T.1Ts gust > SHE'S AS DEAD HUM. THERS WIGHT AS A LAST YEARS } d BE SOME MERIT SRZL RECORD - TO THIS NEW CAR (DEA OF Moms AFTER ALL A Full Name at Last ————o, ANO NOW, | WILL PAINT THE .| LETTERS “THAT ARE ON THE. OTHER. SIDE, ON THIS, AN’ THEN PAINT TH’ CETTERS “THaAT ARE ON THIS SIDE ,ON THe OTHER— WE EFEEL Hat We Have) ( WHILE ON THIS, You CONG ENQUGH- T'DaY S€e EVERY OTHER Name oF ce - LETTER OF TH Name —