THE HOME NEWS
EDITED IN THE INTEREST OF McCRORY AND WOODRUFF COUNTY
VOLUME 2.
McCRORY, ARKANSAS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER, 22, 1916
NUMBER 21
Some Trip
Mr. J, H. Crossett, Willys
Overland booster of McCrory,
who was one of the 5,000 who
visited the great Toledo plant in
connection with the immense
convention held recently, ac
counts his experiences in this en
tertaining letter to the editor:
Some action!
Nothing was ever so impress
ive as our tour of the great plant
that turns out Willys-Overland
cars.
Our Pullmans all parked in the
of the company yards. There
was room enough, for there
are seven and three-quarter miles
of track within the plant.
Each man got a card contain
ing a picture of Mr. Willys and
an autographed message of wel
come from him. Next thing I
knew we were lined up on the
steps of the stunning new ad
ministration building getting pho
tographed.
Elevators shot us to the com
pany’s own restaurant on the
sixth floor. There we had a
corking breakfast. At each plate
was a copy of a live new Willys
Overland house organ “The
Starter.” It mapped our day’s
program.
Then started our tour of the
plant.
Our guides were carefully pick
ed men. They knew the plant
from end to end, and the parties
were small so that each member
of the party could have his
questions answered.
Nobody ought to try to sell
Willys-Overland product without
knowing this plant. You can’t
grip the immensity of the prop
osition till you do.
It is no piker business.
$25,000,000 are tied up in land,
buildings and machinery, not to
say a word about the stock of
parts and raw material.
From the roof of the wonder
ful administration buiding, which
stands out like a state capita1,
you get a panaroma of the plant.
You can then readily believe that
jt occupies 103 acres, with 4,486,
80 square feet of floor space in
aily use and a production ca
pacity of 1,000 cars per day.
You can appreciate the growth
rom 250 employees in 1908 to
1-7,300 in 1916.
1,000 persons, more than the
entire manufacturing force of
“fn.y a company, work in the
administration building alone.
ims structure, 375 feet long,
as every facility for rapid work,
c uding dictaphones, its own
egraph and telephone system
and a mail handling department
that does about everything but'
write the letters.
388 persons can be fed in the
restaurant at one time.
But this is nothing to what hits
when you cross into the shops.
It is a whirl of action, yet all is
system.
Parts by the untold thousands
are here, with a value into the
millions of dollars. There are
lines of motors. I never saw so
many crank shafts together.
Our guide said 6,000—I’d have
believed 60,000.
There is stock in bins, stock
in yards, stock along the walls,
connecting rods, frames, fenders,
mudguards, hoods, rims, spings,
axles, torsion tubes, transmission
gear shafts, brake parts, steer
ing rods, pedals—is is an unend
procession.
Every thirty days sees an av
erage of 1,000 tons of steel come
in. It is handled by a magnetic
crane that enables two men to
do a work that formerly required
thirty.
I here are amazing machines.
The toggle press, for example,
held us all. This monster, with
its pressure of 1,000 tons, shapes
cold steel like cardboard. A
piece of metal fed to it comes
out as a side frame. It can
make 2,000 of these in an eight
hour day.
Other mighty machines stamp
out radiator shells, fenders, cowl
dashes and doors.
You take off your hat to the
drop forging machines. Down
comes the hammer and the fiery
piece of iron is beaten into shape.
The complete drop forging of the
front axle can be accomplished
with one heat.
Every kind of part requiring
strength was drop forged while
we looked on, axles, crank
shafts, brake assembly rods,
brake and control rods, spring
shackles, gear blanks and brake
rod sectors.
We saw the company’s accu
rate system of die making. It
calls for a special workman on
each detail. One works on the
shaper, another on the planer
and a third on die sinking.
The multiple spindle drill in
one operation drills all the holes
in the front axle. This is a
guarantee that each will be in
right relation to the other.
It was hard to drag us away
from the automatic turret lathe
that surfaces and finishes fly
wheels. It works as though
somewhere within its metal vitals
a brain was concealed. The work
man has only to put on rough fly
wheel, adjust the first set of
tools, push the lever, and let the
machine do the rest.
The cast iron is peeled off as
readily as wax. Sometimes four
or five operations are performed
at once. When one set of cut
tings is done, the machine stops
automatically, and the next set
of tools come automatically, into
place. Twenty operations are
performed in fourteen minutes.
26 pounds of metal are removed
from the wheel. One man can
watch three of these machines.
The vertical cutter of gears on
fly wheels almost matches the
turret lathe with interest.
Moving up and down, the cut
ter at the same time slowly re
volves, the fly wheel turning in
the opposite direction. By the
time a complete revolution of the
fly wheel has been accomplished,
all the gears are cut.
We all fell for the aluminum
foundry and for the machines
that finish the aluminum parts.
The multiple spindle drill bores
81 holes in the crank case in one
operation. This is a proof of the
superiority of matching process
es, for the holes must be in the
right relation to each other.
Another machine smoothes the
surfaces of the crank cases, fin
ishing seven in nine minutes.
Diamonds, real diamonds, are
comsumed with apparently reck
less indifference in the grind
room. Placed in small tools they
are used to true the emery wheels
on which are ground the bearing
surfaces of the crank shafts.
They are bought in $15,000.00
lots.
We looked on while whole for
ests or lumber were being turned
in bodies in the wood work de
partment. The lumber comes in
by carloads. As 214 feet of wood
is required on a small touring
car, we could readily see why so
much was required.
You make this round and *you
can understand this company's
immense consumption of materi
al—18,000,000 pounds of solder
annually, 2,500,000 pounds of tin
and lead for smoldering, 10,000,
000 pounds of brass and copper,
12,000,000 feet of steel tubing
and 125,000 tons of steel.
But what impressed me more
than all was the department in
which materials are tested. They
have to know a thing is right be
fore it goes into a Willys-Over
land car. That’s how they safe
guard the public.
Tests in the physical and chem
ical laboratories are made in two
1 ways. Completed steel parts are
' subjected to terrific tests. Axles
are twisted like rolls of taffy
candy. Small bits of steel, six
inches long, cut from completed
axles, are attached at both ends,
and literally pulled apart. The
registering machine shows 220,
000 pounds to the square inch
necessary to accomplish this,
whereas a resistance to 125,000
pounds would be proof of ample
tensile strength. Springs are
tried for their resistance.
Steel articles are also put
through both heat and chemical
tests. The former determines
the amount of carbon, an import
ant factor; the other determines
the chemical composition of the
(Continued on last page)
High School Notes.
We sometimes wonder which
is the greater nation, imagination
or procrastination.
All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy—and when he
plays, a great deal of the benefit
depends upon the kind of appara
tus used.
Rev. Lark, the new pastor of
the Methodist church was a visi
tor to the school Friday after
noon. Upon invitation he ad
dressed the high school student
body, and his remarks gave evi
dence of a minister of vigor and
purpose. As a pastor he is cer
tain to prove a dynamic force for
good in our town.
rriaay, uec. id, ueuaie: rve
solved: That Arkansas should
have compulsory education. Af
firmative Roger Fakes and Char
lie Cook; Negative Rukin Jelks
and Nudy Arnof. Vote of the
judges: Affirmative 1, Negative
2. These high school boys have
made excellent progress in de
bating lines during this semester.
To the patrons and friends of
our high school: We want to
build SUBSTANTIAL playground
apparatus—not weak, temporary
affairs to collapse inside of a
year. No well regulated school
is without these means of physi
cal culture. We have on hand
over $25.00 now, but to make
the right kind of structures will
demand more than twice this
sum. We want you to help. We
are not advocating the benefits
of playground apparatus—this
would insult your intelligence—
but, we are advocating the
ERECTION of playground appa
ratus. So in this move we ask
you as friends of vigorous youth,
robust manhood, and strong wo
manhood, to boost all you can
and GIVE all you can.