Word: traction
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Vital Statistics: Born Jan. 24,1899, in Milwaukee, where his well-to-do father was a traction and power company executive. Grew up in Lowell, Mass., where' his family moved when he was seven; made regular winter trips with his family to Florida. Was always a great favorite of his father's brother, the late Arthur Vandenberg, U.S. Senator from Michigan...
...Goodrich Co. brought out a new tread design on its puncture-sealing, tubeless tire. The tread has more than 10,000 tiny blocks of rubber (16 to the inch), approximately a quarter of an inch deep. When the brakes are applied, the blocks flatten out, giving the tires more traction. On icy pavements, said Goodrich, the tires will stop a car 15 to 30% faster than conventional tires...
Barcelona Traction was developed by an international electrical syndicate long headed by North Carolina-born Dannie Heineman, 79, a globetrotting engineer who has built electric and street car systems all over Europe and South America. At the end of Spain's civil war, during which all currency exchange was blocked, March began grabbing for Barcelona Traction. He got his great & good friend Francisco Franco to continue the ban on the export of the company profits to its Canadian headquarters. Without the profits, Heineman could not pay the interest on Barcelona's bonds, which are all held outside Spain...
...after Barcelona Traction had been charged with "irregularities," such as smuggling out capital in violation of the freeze, March struck the death blow, got Franco's courts to declare Barcelona bankrupt. Since Heineman's group held all of Barcelona's common shares in Canada, the court ordered "duplicate" shares printed in Spain. Last week's court formality at Reus was to auction off these counterfeit shares to the highest bidder. The only bidder turned out to be Juan March's lawyer, who bought control of the big utility for 10 million pesetas...
...pleasure, since he owns all the bonds and thus will pay ?11 million to himself out of Barcelona's fat profits. Spain's Dictator Franco, who would like to get U.S. venture capital to back projects in Spain, has hailed March's capture of Barcelona Traction as "audacious nationalism." It was so audacious it would probably scare U.S. risk capital away from Spain for a long time to come...