Show Henry Mclemore Says BUFFALO N. N Y This This is my first day in Buffalo and already I wish Adolf Hitler were with me He wouldn't like any part of Buffalo It is is' a city that would make him completely miserable It throbs with defense activity The smoke you see to your right comes from chimneys of a plant turning out machine guns The stream of cars moving to your left is carrying night shift workers to an airplane factory The flares you see against the sky in the north come from steel mills turning out the plate for tanks and guns Within the space of a few months Buffalos Buffalo's industries have been geared to production for forthe forthe forthe the battlefields A shock absorber absorber absorber ab ab- plant now deals in guns A windshield wiper factory turns out instruments to guide pilots home after bombings of the invasion coast of France I wished particularly for Hit Hit- her ler and Mussolini when I visited the Wright Curtiss-Wright company Last April men and machines moved onto a soaked mud-soaked field and started the a building whose blueprints called for square feet in working space Exactly days later that vast building was completed and the manufacture of fighter ships was begun I saw that plant in operation today With commendable showmanship showmanship showmanship show show- manship a Wright Curtis official official official cial led me through ordinary off office ice building halls and without without with with- out any words of up build-up opened a heavy door and walked me straight onto a balcony bakony The sight that greeted me was terrific It had the impact of a Louis fist on the chin Below us on fJ a working floor that spread four acres was the gigantic cradle of the Curtiss- Curtiss Wright P 40 one of the finest fighting ships in the world The din dm was overpowering Automatic Automatic Automatic Auto Auto- matic hammers sang their super song of the woodpecker Drills screeched Seven thousand menthe men menthe menthe the the day shift shift moved moved efficiently efficiently efficiently effi effi- through the inferno Fountains sprayed paint As Asfar Asfar Asfar far as the eye could see there were airplanes and parts of air air- planes The strange camouflage of the British blended with the olive drab of the U. U S. S army paint job Row after row of fuselages and engines and wings Some with the circle insignia of the British British- Some with the star of this country's air force Inthis In Inthis Inthis this corner old and knowing men worked at complicated machines ma ma- machines chines turning out precision tools for the use of the workmen workmen work work- men a a. few aisles away Across the way from the old and knowing knowing knowing know know- ing men youngsters were going to school to learn how to become master craftsmen Overhead giant cranes rolled on noiseless tracks to pick up finished jobs and carry them to the testing hangars Test pilots strolled a about b o 0 u t parachutes strapped to their backs On this line machine guns were fitted into wings On another line propellers were fitted to the noses of planes and on still another another an an- other gasoline tanks were slipped into place instrument panels f fastened and armor plate bolted down I walked down from the balcony balcony balcony bal bal- cony and wandered about the unbelievably vast plant Overhead Overhead Overhead Over Over- head fluorescent fluorescent- lights which are never turned out cast their weird glare Twenty-four Twenty hours a day the workmen the come and go And off the lines roll machines that will fly the skies of Europe and challenge the might of the dictators One hears heard so much of the e ef efficiency efficiency ef- ef of the dictator nations A democracy where men are free has no chance to compete on an equal footing Propaganda pure and simple Here in Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo falo a city that next to NewYork New NewYork NewYork York must be the nearest thing to a melting melting- pot of the world free men have answered the challenge of the slave labor that must work without expression In seven years of planning Germany never produced a factory factory fac fac- tory more efficient than the Cur Cur- Wright plant in Buffalo Everything that goes into a fighting ship is at the fingertips fingertips finger finger- tips of the workmen Everything Everything Every Every- thing for the comfort of the workmen is at the fingertips too too- A complete hospital Two cafeterias A sports pro program ram Locker rooms which provide a locker equipped with combination combination combination tion lock for every worker And this above all the American flag flies above every everyone everyone everyone one of the assembly lines The flags were not bought by the company officials nor were were they hung on orders from the gov gov- The flags were bought by money voluntarily contributed contributed contributed contrib contrib- by workmen nickels dimes and quarters from themen the themen themen men who are keeping em roll roll- ing Hitler and Mussolini have said we came in too late My first day in Buffalo has convinced me they spoke too soon |