Facts, Figures

Going Home. Since Jan.1, more than 16,000 of the 120,000 shipyard and war workers at Portland, Ore. have headed for home and jobs with more postwar security. Result: boomtown Portland reported last week that newspaper ads listing houses for sale had doubled in number, real estate prices had dropped sharply.

Bad News. Cuban experts estimated the island's sugar crop this year at 4.0 million tons v. 1944's outsized 5.7 million. Shocked by this news, U.S. sugar refineries planned to cut their operations. Candymakers and other industrial users looked for another cut in their sugar allotment--to 50% of the sugar they used in 1941. In the sugar trade, the best guess was that the shortage would last until 1947.

Still Risky. Marine insurance underwriters reduced their war risk insurance on most transatlantic routes, hoped they would not get too many costly losses from drifting mines.

Information, Please. Along Manhattan's shipping row on lower Broadway, shipping men were badgered for information about transatlantic passenger sailings and reservations. Britain's Cunard White Star, Ltd. cheerfully registered the names and addresses of prospective travelers, hoped to offer limited accommodations soon. Three deluxe, air-conditioned, 18,000 ton liners are under construction for the United States Lines, may be ready for service by Labor Day.

New Boom? All Florida was stirred when the Humble Oil & Refining Co., drilling in the muckish Everglades, brought in the state's second oil well and first important producer. Estimated production: 500 to 1,500 barrels a day.

Profit Sharing. Financial circles buzzed with rumors that commercial banks may pay higher interest rates on time deposits. Reason: last year's profits earned by 13,268 banking institutions were embarrassingly high--$751 million, up 18% over 1943.

Help Wanted. Leo T. Crowley's Foreign Economic Administration bought the entire exportable surplus of Argentine linseed and linseed oil, estimated at 1,000,000 tons. Reason: U.S. paint manufacturers were faced with a cut of 50% in production this summer due to a lack of linseed oil.

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