Reparations for Henry

During the war, Germany's Aluminum-werke Tscheulin turned out aluminum foil used by the Nazis to confuse Allied radars.* Last week, the plant's machinery--1,350 tons in 1,100 crates--lay on San Francisco's docks; it had been shipped to the U.S. as reparations under the Potsdam Agreement. The buyer, Henry J. Kaiser, moved the machinery out on 60 flatcars for reassembly at his Permanente Metals Corp., at Los Altos. By January, he hopes to begin turning out 500,000 pounds a month of foil for cigarettes and gum.

The U.S. has found few other takers for its share of reparations, small though it is (8.9% of what is taken out of Western Germany). Most U.S. businessmen do not think they are worth buying. Much of the equipment is worn out. Though the German plants are cheap, U.S. buyers must pay the high transportation costs to the U.S. Three companies submitted bids for the aluminum plant and Kaiser got it for only $203,000. The cost of moving it was another $100,000. Before the plant is producing, Kaiser will have spent an estimated $1,000,000. But Kaiser, who would have to wait months to get foil machinery in the U.S., thinks the German plant will be cheaper, and in operation much sooner. So far only one other U.S. company has bought German machinery. Philadelphia's Resinous Products and Chemical Co. got a chemical plant for $103,000.

* Dropped from a high-flying plane, the strips of foil, called "windows," reflected radar waves, giving the false impression to radar operators that large formations were aloft.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.