Facts & Figures, Jul. 19, 1948

Less Cash. In the first quarter of 1948, according to SEC, privately held liquid assets (cash and bank accounts) fell off $4 billion, the first such decline since 1942. Meanwhile there was a $2.5 billion increase in securities holdings.

Up in the Air. In its five-months-old dicker with the striking Air Lines Pilots Association and International Association of Machinists (original cause: the firing of a pilot), National Airlines, Inc. showed “immaturity and lack of responsibility,” said a presidential emergency fact-finding board. It recommended the immediate rehiring of the 445 striking employees.

Down to Earth. After nine years of research, H. A. Brassert Co. of New York City came up with a new trick in reducing ore to iron. By using anthracite instead of coke, Brassert can produce pure melting stock at $21 to $26 a ton (current average cost: $40); from the waste gas Brassert will make solid CO² (Dry Ice) at $15 a ton (present retail price: $35 to $65). In a new $1,250,000 iron-ice plant at New York, Brassert hopes to make enough the first year to pay off half the construction cost.

More Fax. Western Union drew a bead on 3,000 U.S. business offices: its new Desk-Fax (for facsimile) machines, now in production, will send and receive messages in a direct tie-in with the nearest Western Union central office.

Off the Ropes. ECA Administrator Paul Hoffman offered U.S. business inducement to help get Europe off the ropes. The Government, he said, would guarantee (up to $300 million) private U.S. investors in ECA countries against arbitrary currency restrictions (but not against ordinary business risks).