Word: coppers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...with red tape that he pulled out. Washington friends persuaded him back; he became boss of WPB's power section. He took the job when it was a cyclone center: Harold Ickes was fighting for control of public power; the big new aluminum plants needed more power fast; copper for new wiring was short and the Army & Navy were screaming for all that was in sight. "Cap" Krug came through the test with colors flying: he did not completely avert power shortages, but he kept the huge new aluminum plants and all other war industries turning. Now he runs...
...Copper, zinc and nickel are cruelly short, with about one-fifth of the U.S.'s essential third-quarter needs going begging. On zinc, in fact, WPB still has no adequate estimate of what over-all requirements really are. And despite Canada's overwhelming share (80-85%) of world nickel production, war industry is gobbling it up so fast that would-be users are being shifted to other metals...
Steel is almost as bad as copper and zinc. When WPB made its allocations for the third quarter of this year, it was able to meet only 85% of the demand for plates and less than that for shapes and rails. More than 50% of the U.S.'s gargantuan steel output is now going into direct military uses. Just over 25% is going into Lend-Lease shipments and new plant construction. The rest is being chewed up by repairs and maintenance, plus essential civilian consumption...
Meanwhile copper continues so scarce that even the Army last week recognized the shortage, let WPB order curtailment of uniform insignia production in order to save perhaps 300 tons of copper a year (just over 1/100th of 1% of the U.S.'s expected copper supply this year...
...Last April the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that copper, lead and zinc smelting and refining workers averaged $35.18 a week while metal miners averaged $37.28. This compares with $40.22 for steel workers (before their recent wage boost), $45.94 for aircraft workers and $53.30 for shipbuilders...