A MAI{UEACTURII{C MIRACTE that takes place in the Heart of a Forest

By the JOHNS-MANYfLLB ROVING RDPOBTBR

nNcE upon a time-and not so very long ago-there \,7 was in the State of Virginia a large tract of pine forest that was considered of little value as a building material. It's a different story today.

Only a few weeks ago I went to Jarratt, Virginia. There, in the heart of the forest where once had been a tiny Virginia village, I saw the impressive outlines of a modern industrial factory. The place hummed with activity. Men and women streamed in and out the doors. Day and night they work at specially designed machines changing the pine trees into a remarkable building material Johns-Manville fnsulating Board. This factory is the type of factory that is building a new South. Here agriculture and industry meet, for the trees are harvested much in the same manner as other farm products. The farmers are tausht how to harvest only those trees which will not destiov their wood lot.

Because tJle trees matule rapidly-in about eighteen years-these famers are assured a continuous source of income and never damage their land.

I wish'you could see that factory. I wish you could watch the "manufacturing miiacle" that is accomplished there every day by the people living in the surrounding countryside. t

With a Johns-Manville engineer as my guide, we went inside. In size, the factory is enonnous; we stood at one end and watched thousands of pine logs being fed into huge "achines which grind them into a pulpy mass of tough wood fibers, retaining all the strength of the stalwart pine. Tlren follows an ingenious arangement of drums, rollers, conveyorn and dr5rens where the fibers are felted, interlaced, pressed and rolled into flat homogeneous sheets.

We walked to the other end of the plant and there I saw these sheets of Iruulating Board-12 feet widecome rolling out on a conveyor in a steady stream. They are cut into convenient sizes for handling. In a few days on a few weeks some Johns-Manville dealer will deliver these sheets ofJ-M Insulating Board to a carpenter.

Perhaps they will find their way into army barracks, a dairy barn or poultry house, or they may be used to convert a waste attic into a modern, Iivable apartment in a crowded war center. Used outside-this J-M Insulating Board provides a structural sheathing naterial with a remarkable degree of insulating efrciency. Used inside-in pre-cut, pre-finished, convenient sizes and sbapee, it provides beautiful walls and ceilings at lower .eost than ever before.

Enterprise atVork

I asked ilthey thought it possible to develop other use' frrl products from these Virginia pine trees. They showed me-samples of a few that had recently come from the Researcl Laboratory. "We can't let you talk about them yet," they cautioned. But they ghowed me several of the things they have coming along for the post-war period. And then' as they explained how these new proditcts-so-e nearly ready for the market, others stil in the test-tube stage of development-would make home building better and less costly in the future, I realized that here indeed wan a striking example of the enterprise and ingenuity of American bwinessmen.

That's what I saw at Jarratt in Virginia . . a demon- stration of the wondens men of vision can work. Ttris project was conceived by J-M researc,h gagneerg. It reauii€d courage and capital to prove that their ideas *ere sound. Millions were invested before a dollar was returned. -

JOHN$MANVILLE fnsulating Board ia a homogeneoua board rnade in a varietv ofaiz€s and tAipkneasee. It has a remarkable degree 'of insulating "d.i"o.y. It providee one of the mogt vereatile and practieal interior lffnisf,ss for walle and ceilings of both new and existing homee and other buildings. It is aleo widely uged ag a s[e61hing material. Johne-Manville Insulating Qoard builds, decorates, inaulatee. It it a ttructural builfing material that improvea on Mo.ther Nature hereelf.

Today this ent€rprise is guccessful. The agricultural regions of Virginia have gained a t'rbriving new industry. New jobs have been created and anothen product of countless uses has joined the ranks of America's many manufacturing marvels, britg*g new opportunities for sales and profits to Johns-Manville Building Material Dealers ever5rwhere.