INDUSTRY ON PARADE

what domestic airline flies almost entirely over water how long does it take to make a potato chip industry on parade a brand new look at our America produced on film each week by the National Association of Manufacturers [Music] with the diesel izing of American railroads the railroad fireman as we used to think of him shovel in hand is pretty much passing out of the picture but on at least one diesel I strode the Atlantic coastline there are a lot more firemen than there used to be the kind who can deal with this sort of situation the new type of fireman carries an extinguisher instead of a shovel and specializes in putting fires out rather than in keeping them burning they don't ordinarily go chasing fires on non-railroad property but in this case they couldn't resist lending a helping hand all the lines employees are given comprehensive training in firefighting techniques by veteran instructors like Bob coozer who is indoctrinating a class in the use of extinguishers at the company shops in Rocky Mount North Carolina Bob explains that baking soda is one of the most effective extinguishing agents yet discovered when it hits the fire it generates a blanket of carbon dioxide gas that cuts off the oxygen necessary to maintain combustion now they're going to try their hands at putting out an oil fire that's the kind that can actually be made to spread and burn more vigorously by turning a hose on it let's see how it reacts to bicarbonate of soda [Music] we don't ordinarily think of railroads made largely of steel as having any serious problems with fire but active protection of the traveling public and of an infinite variety of goods in transit is in immense 24 hour a day job in preventing fires cleanliness and good housekeeping are essential railroad shops too can offer many hazardous conditions unless great care is taken as it is here by its vigorous program the company has cut losses from fire by many thousands of dollars a year and prevented who knows how many deaths or injuries but in spite of all the precautions fires still do occur then the problem is to get them under control but fast when the whistle blows out they come machinists welders electricians steam fitter switchmen they're firemen all looks like a volunteer fire department at work and that's about what it is for fires in remote areas the road has a specially equipped fire car complete with water supply pumps hose extinguishers everything you'd find on a big city fire truck no how is another key factor in firefighting and that too is applied promptly to make sure the railroads passengers and freight will continue to reach their destination safely and on time Americans are living in an age of spiritual cultural and material advancement but our present achievements do not compare with what we can still accomplish in our own lifetimes by 1975 in the years ahead industry believes that we Americans stand at the gate of a new era of progress an age of scientific and technological revolution we can create more products better products for all 160 million of us for our children and for the nearly 220 million of us who will occupy this country in 1975 an ultra-modern pin Factory in Janesville Wisconsin of a weekend the array of complex expensive machinery lies silent idle unproductive but is the Parker Pen company completely shut down no for a company is made up of people and the human mind never really shuts down take Luverne Henson five days a week he polishes nibs for fountain pens one at a time here we find him in his basement workshop wrestling with the question why not polish the nibs ten or twelve at a time in a simple holder and Laverne comes up with just such a holder Monday morning back at the plant Laverne doesn't write out his idea and drop it in the suggestion box the company has a walking suggestion box in Charlie carpenter a human blotter when it comes to absorbing schemes for improving on the efficiency of even this the last word in factories Charlie works full-time on nothing but the ideas of employees for doing things better and less expensively men and women like Fey Bart's aware that the company is ready not only to accept but to pay well for common-sense suggestions have taken to converting minor irritations into hard cash a spilled work tray and a couple of dozen pins that now have to be re-inspected produce an idea for metal corners that will allow the trays to nest securely together Charlie gets all the details which he will write up for submission to plant engineers on the assembly line where ballpoint cutters are put together Viviane Hall has been thinking it would be better if the line were made into a circle then a pen assembly could go round and round until it had all its parts the work would go faster there'd be less stop and go and well it would also be pleasanter working that way Vivian's drawing comes before the engineers who wastes no time in getting to work on the technical complications the proposed change would create but solving all problems is their business and it isn't long after they're convinced of the practicality of the plan that the circular assembly line is in operation and it's everything Vivian said it would be thanks in part to employee suggestions thousands of factories are becoming ever better more productive and consequently more profitable places to work [Music] Honolulu International Airport 3 a.m. what's being shipped out so urgently at this early hour its bread bread and rolls and newspapers 2 perishable items for consumption today all over the scattered Hawaiian Islands the islands are a unique section of America and Hawaiian Airlines has a unique job in tying them all together hauling unusual cargoes like this yellow fin tuna the planes cargo and passenger fan out in all directions eastward to Molokai southeast to lanai Northwest to Cowie the Islanders have come to look on airplanes as we on the mainland regard buses trucks and trains until recent years the chief communication between the islands was by ship transporting produce taking business trips visiting relatives on another Island only a hundred miles away might involve several days travel now Waikiki Beach as seen from the air is a thoroughly familiar landmark to a surprising percentage of islanders they take for granted the fact that no matter where in the islands they start from they can reach Hilo easternmost terminal of the airline in less than four hours incidentally this is the only domestic airline that flies almost entirely over water [Music] here at Hilo some of the bred male newspapers another cargo from Honolulu are offloaded and outgoing shipments take their place in loading equipment as in aircraft the line keeps right up to date even though it commonly carries items you wouldn't expect to find traveling at a couple of hundred miles an hour pigs fish goats newborn calves and the like fortunately do not ride in the same planes as human passengers who enjoy all the customary comforts and conveniences these human passengers also enjoy the knowledge that the airline in a quarter of a century of operation flying hundreds of millions of passenger miles had not a single fatal accident for 25 years in a row it has received the annual aviation award of the National Safety Council in Hawaii perhaps more than anywhere else in the world does the airplane intimately affect every phase of life the free movement of people products and ideas which is helped make our nation strong and great is very much in evidence in these islands to welding them into a true social economic and political energy through the years Americans have learned that machines create jobs we know that machines have shortened ours raised wages and made it possible to manufacture the things we need for our standard of living at prices that people can afford to pay machines make life easier for everyone they do the work and remove the strain they call for greater specialization that gives workers a chance to use more mind and less muscle and to develop new skills in short it makes the masters of the machines operators inspectors and supervisors you the potato fields of Maine another bumper crop of the vegetable that has carried the state's name to all parts of the world these are still too small for baking purposes but they're just right for a very specialized use to which many of the very best potatoes are put the making of potato chips at the modern plant of John II Kane company in Cambridge Massachusetts the spuds have been cured for from one to five weeks before starting through a fast-moving operation that will transform them into packaged chips in just 15 minutes here's how they're peeled by abrasion wouldn't this side to an old-time army Katie's heart good during the peeling the potatoes get the first of a series of washings that eliminate much of the starch this is especially true after they've been sliced at the rate of 1,500 slices per minute they moved right on to the cooker we're a blend of vegetable oils at a temperature of 350 to 400 degrees turn them a golden brown as they emerge from the cooker they're sprinkled lightly with very fine salt then drop on to another conveyor belt for a trip past the color inspector to the packing room a constant stream of freshly cooked chips is fed into sensitive weighing machines that drop just the right amount into moisture proof subtle fame bags [Applause] here's a gal who doubles in brass the bags are heat seal to ensure a completely airtight package that will bring to connoisseurs even weeks later and hundreds of miles away the crisp fresh delicious product they have come to expect when they open a bag of potato chips [Music]