Facts & Figures

Perk Up. The ailing domestic airlines perked up a bit. In the twelve months which ended June 30, reported CAB, the 16 domestic carriers had trimmed their losses from $22,435,489 in 1947 to $15,494,310. In the profitable (spring) second quarter, they had rung up a $3,262,837 net v. $2,754,724 last year. As usual, Eastern Air Lines, Inc. was the healthiest; and last week it reported a nine-month net of $762,578 v. $409,809 in the 1947 period.

Humming. The automobile industry was heartier than ever. Chrysler Corp. reported a record nine-month net of $59,887,601 (up 25%). Packard's net for the same period was $9,488,336 (v. a $131,478 loss in the 1947 period). Kaiser-Frazer turned in $8,253,451 after deducting $5,900,000 in taxes (v. $6,089,000 in the 1947 period, when no taxes were paid. K-F's earnings were tax-free because of a carry-back). But K-F's third-quarter net of $2,058,000 was almost 74% below tax-free 1947-Divorce. A federal district court approved Howard Hughes's proposal to split RKO's picture-making organization from its theaters, create two separate companies (TIME, Nov. 8), in effect setting a pattern by which Hollywood's major companies could make their peace with antitrust (TIME, Oct. 11). RKO will sell its interest in all but 30 of its 241 partly owned theaters, and keep most of its 80 wholly owned theaters. But Hughes will sell his controlling interest in the theater company within a year.

Cut Rate. Harry Franks, treasurer of Boston's Richard Clothing Manufacturing Co., noticed that customers always like to test cloth by feeling it. To make this easy to do--and increase sales--he put bolts of cloth in his window, shoved their ends through slits below the window, and provided scissors with which passers-by could snip off samples.

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