Bags for Bottles

When Coca-Cola's meek, mild Vice President and Secretary George T. Adams got a mysterious call from Washington, he examined his conscience, found it clean. Like many another U. S. businessman, he nonetheless half-expected a scolding. Instead he received a pat on the head. Said the Army Ordnance Department: "We want Coca-Cola to build and manage a bag loading plant."

Coca-Cola first thought the jump from bottling to bagging incongruous, suggested it could work better with drugs, foods or chemicals. But the Army stood pat. It had made a study of management, found Coca-Cola on its first preferred master list, must put Coca-Cola to work at once. Coca-Cola saw the moral--no industry is exempt from defense--and concurred.

The $14,394,000 contract signed last week calls for a loading station adjacent to the Government's Du Pont-built smokeless powder plant in Childersburg, Ala. (TIME, Feb. 17). Through a wholly-owned subsidiary (Brecon Loading Co.) set up overnight, Coca-Cola will spend $1,091,000 on equipment, use the rest for operating expenses. As for profits, Chairman of the Board Robert Winship Woodruff (whose experience with gunpowder has hitherto been confined to his notable quick-triggery in the hunting field) explained: "We don't expect to make any money."

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