New High for Higgins

Way down yonder in New Orleans they had plenty to cheer about last week. Andrew Jackson Higgins, their No. 1 boatbuilder, money-maker and hoopla artist, had practically landed one of the biggest single transport-plane contracts in U.S. history: about $180,000,000 for 1,200 huge, twin-engined, all-plywood troop-and tank-carrying planes. This was good news for Louisiana's Andrew Higgins--the man who took ribbing aplenty when his much-touted Liberty Ship contract was canceled last summer. It also meant that Higgins had stolen a march on his friend and archrival, Henry Kaiser, the Wizard of the West Coast. (Kaiser has contracts for only three prototype planes.)

The Razzle-Dazzle. Andrew Higgins stole the march by using a double dose of Kaiser's own technique--rough & tumble action plus fortissimo publicity. Right after Higgins lost his ship contract, he raised enough rumpus to start several Congressional investigations, to snag thousands of headlines, and convince many people that he was a victim of the Maritime Commission. When things slowed down Higgins bought full-page ads in leading newspapers, boasting "World's largest builder of boats."

Things stirred when the President toured U.S. war plants last month, spent more than an hour in the Higgins yards, left impressed. Upshot: a fortnight ago the President directed WPB, the Maritime Commission and the Army to find some use for Higgins' abandoned $10,000,000 shipyard--and find it fast. First result: the huge plane order.

The Goods. The surprise is that Higgins is better prepared to build airplanes than people think. Hipped on aviation for 20 years, he has actually built two experimental monoplanes. When war broke out, he thought about planes whenever he had a minute, quietly hired aeronautical experts and engineers. Last week he came up with a spotty-looking aviation staff: Colonel John Hamilton Jouett, ex-World War I pilot, ex-president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce, who will supervise Higgins' new aviation division; Inventor-Manufacturer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca; Aerodynamics Professor-Engineer Dr. Max M. Munk; Curtiss-Wright Designer-Engineer Alfred Victor Verville; three other expert airmen.

Besides this staff, Higgins has some plant, some materials and some promises. The plant includes a $100,000 shipyard structure which could be used for an aircraft layout room and office building; the materials are a three-year supply of lauan teakwood and pine lumber for plywood; the promises are that the War Department will supply most of the needed machinery. A. J. expects no labor shortage, plans to hire 80% women (50-50 white and colored). Lastly, he has a bagful of tricks which have already helped him win the Army & Navy "E." Samples: To fill a rush boat order he roped off the streets, built his boats on the pavement; to get huge Navy landing boats from New Orleans to Norfolk in time for test runs, he shipped them on flatcars, tore down and rebuilt eight railroad bridges which were too small to let his boats through.

With all this up the sleeves of his dark red shirts, Higgins figures he will have his first plywood plane in the air six months after the Army gives him the final O.K.

The Pay-Off. Biggest production question : whether the War Department can really deliver Higgins the vital machinery. Biggest policy question: whether it makes sense to set up a new aircraft plant when some builders are running at only 70-80% of capacity because of material shortages. Biggest gain: Higgins' drive and energy will be put to work.

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