Waco Grounded

Tail Spin. Waco Aircraft Co., of Troy, Ohio, famed light-plane builder, joined the long list of manufacturers who have abandoned plans for making personal planes. It discontinued work on its four-place Aristocraft, blamed increased costs for its "reluctant decision." Waco will build trailers, stay out of the airplane field until "suitable" designs can be found.

Customers Lost. Two hundred savings bankers from the State of New York dutifully looked at pictures of four buildings in Manhattan's Yale Club. Two were banks, two undertaking parlors. They could not tell them apart. Advised Industrial Engineer Peter Schladermundt: banks should stop looking like mausoleums; it scares customers away. Banks should look like smart retail shops.

Cash in Hand. For the second month in a row, more Series E savings bonds were cashed in May than were sold. Cash-ins were $329,015,000; sales $305,062,000.

Vanilla Please. When a drugstore and a grill in Riceville, la. offered ice cream at the cut rate of 20-c- a pint, competitors lowered their prices to 15-c-. Soon the price war reached the point where ice cream was being given away. One store finally posted a sign: "One cent paid to those asking for a pint of ice cream and taking it out of the store." The war ended only when ammunition ran out.

High Ball. Railroader Robert R. Young's plan for merging the Pere Marquette Railway Co. with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co., which has controlled the Pere Marquette since 1929, was put into effect last week. The Pere Marquette, whose main lines are in Michigan, will hereafter be known as the C. & O. The new railroad system will have 5,000 miles of main-line track, be the seventh biggest in the U.S. in operating revenues.

Timesaver. CAB issued the first helicopter mail-operating certificate to Los Angeles Airways, Inc. The helicopters, windmilling over Los Angeles between the municipal airport and postoffices, will save as much as 24 hours on airmail deliveries, CAB estimates.

Earring Aid. Minneapolis' Maico Co., Inc. put on sale a hearing aid disguised as an earring. It matches an earring on the other ear. The earring is connected to a 7-oz. instrument which can be concealed in the bosom. Price: $45.

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