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Vol. 4 April 1, 1950 Number 7

THE BANK'S MONEY AT WORK IN BRAZIL

One of the projects being carried out in Brazil with the aid of the Bank loan to the Brazilian Traction Com­pany, Ltd. is the Aparecida Frequency Changer Station. This project, which is being constructed by the Sao Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company, Ltd. (a subsidiary of the Brazilian Traction Company},involves the erection of a frequency changer station at Aparecida for conversion of 50 cycle power produced by the Lages Power Plant (which serves the Rio de Janeiro system) to 60 cycle power for transmission on the existing 230 K.V. Serra-Lages transmission line. Atthe present time energy can be transmitted to the Rio de Janeiro system from the Serra power station (which serves the Sao Paulo system) only by slowing down one of the Serra units to operate at 50 cycles. When the Aparecida station is placed in operation, it will permit trans­mission of power in either direction between the Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo systems.

The first picture shows the site of the project in August 1949 and the picture below, taken during De­cember, gives a good idea of the progress made.

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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS OF THE STAFF

LOAN DEPARTMENT

Mr. Alfred E. Matter, formerly with the United Nations Secretariat, Lake Success, New York.

ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT! Office Services

Mrs. Geraldine A. Lacy, formerly with W. J. Baum­bach, Inc., Arlington, Virginia.

INTRA-MURAL TRANSFERS

Mrs. Sue C. Lechner, from Treasurer's Department to Administration Department, Personnel.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Mrs. Edward Hsu and her son, Cyril, are here from Hongkong. Mr. Hsu is in Manila at present.

ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

Miss Margaret Slavich has returned from a two week holiday inMiami where she visited her brother Mr. Wil­liam Slavich.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Raborn, (Catherine, formerly of this department) are proudly announcing the birth of their baby, Kathleen, on March 10, 1950, at Memorial Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina. Her aunt, Mary Bobco, says the baby weighs 6 pounds, 3-1/2 ounces, and has the" prettiest navy blue eyes".

THE TENNIS CLUB

It must be spring because the Tennis Club members have gone into action and have had their first meeting of the season. They have elected Mr. Mekin Onaran, Executive Director for Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey as their Pl'esident; Miss Grace Werring, Secretary and re-elected Mr. Herman Nijhoff as Treasurer. Everyone in the Bank is eligible and all are invited to become members of the Club. Members may play on courts at Friends School on Wis­consin Avenue for 2 hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on Sunday afternoons, for 27 weeks.

The membership fee is $10.00 for the season which represents a considerable savings in tennis budgets. Many have already indIcated their desire to belong. If you wish to join, please call one of the officers or the Staff Relations Office, Ext. 2130.

FASHION SHOW OF HATS FOR BENEFIT OF OPERA GUILD

The Washington Opera Guild will stage a fashion show of hats created by Madame Camille Chautemps, Thurs­day afternoon April 4, 1950,at four o'clock at theMardi Gras, 1730 L Street.

The purpose of the Opera Guild is to present musical artists to a representative and appreciative audience. Tickets may be obtained from Staff Relations Office ­Room 1208.

THE BANK WILL SURELY GO OVER THE TOP

Under the direction of Mr. Eugene R. Black, Chair­man of the International Agencies RedCross Campaign, and Mr. J. Burke Knapp, Vice Chairman for the Bank · we are nearing our quota for 1950. The Drive will en, March 31.

The Chairmen and Keyrnen of the Campaign are: Department

Department Chairman Keyman Executive Directors L.Doucet J.Wells Office of President F.Lockhart Legal V.Morsey A.Foley Secretary's L.Doucet M.Eddy Treasurer's H.W.Riley M. Timmins Loan O.H.Folk J.Van Gasse Economic M.Ross A.Friedman Public Relations R.Fuller Administration F.R.Poore D.E.Lawton

M.Dougherty Following is the report of progress as BANK NOTES

goes to press: Collected

Department Quota as of March 22 Executive Directors $ $ 220.00 Office of President

and Vice President 90.00 115.00 Legal 105.00 75.00 Secretary's 70.00 39.00 Treasurer's 200.00 169.00 Loan 330.00 209.00 Economic 320.00 335.00 Public Relations 50.00 74.50 Administration (except

Office Services) 174.00 158.00 Office Services 116.00 74.00 Executive Directors

Staff 35.00 8.75 $1,490.00 $1,477.25

A VISIT TO THE POTASH MINE By Robert F. Skillings

(Assistant to the Representative in Paris)

OnMondayMarch 6, Mrs. Skillings and I were invited to Mulhouse in Alsace to visit one of the nationalised French potash mines. We were first given a complete set of old miner's clothes, special boots (Sally's were too big, mine too small), helmets and lamps. We climbed to the top of the building over the shaft leading down to" Anna" mine, slipped into a cage which has just been evacuated by a couple of tons of potash, and were plunged 1600 feet underground.

We must have walked for over a mile under the ground. first alongside an electric railroad. then past long rubber conveyor belts, and finally (by this time the galleries were less than five feet high and the going was slow) into the chamber where cutting, drilling, blasting and loading of potash rock was taking place. Sally had great fun working one of the cutters (a new American machine differing only slightly from a coal cutter). We were much impressed by the high degrE of mechanization which had been achieved. When the new machines arrived three years ago. itwas the young­est miners - from 17 to 22 - who took to running them

See POTASH MINE - Page 4

All contributions should be sent to the Editor, Roo. 1208. Deadline, noon on the 7th and 22nd of each .onth.

EAST SIDE TERMINAL OF THE NEW WORKS AT THE THE GENERAL VIEW OF THE NEW POWER PLANT

DENAIN STEEL MILL {T1\TDER CONSTRUCTION AT AWIRS

AN OBSERVATION OF EUROPE'S INCREASED PRODUCTION

By A. M. Saitzoff. Engineer. Loan Department

Flying across the Atlantic has become a routine matter. For me. returning to Europe for the first time since the beginning of the war. the 6-1/2 hours hop at 19.000 feet from Gander to Shannon was very different from my 33 day westward bound trip from Spain to New York in 1941. I had just enough time be­tween planes in London to see my sister with her now ~rown - up family and then to leave for Paris where I las met by my wife. who had recently arrived from

New York. Paris was unusually cold. Inspecting the construc­

tion of steel mills in freezing weather is not quite the same as sight-seeing in Paris. I was largely rewarded three weeks later in visiting the Riviera during the carnival. It was a glorious day and the traditional "battle of flowers" in Nice was as gay and colorful as ever.

From France, I went to Luxembourg. Brussels. and Liege where I was among old friends. I visited a number of large steel mills where new projects are under construction with the help of funds allocated by the Bank, The French are constructing the first con­tinuous strip and sheet mill on the Continent. The Belgians and Luxembourgers are also expanding their steel mills in the direction of flat rolled products in accordance with their established export policies. Lux­embourg is probably the only country which exports more than 90% of her steel production. and Belgium 750/0. There is evidence of careful planning to maintain quality and low costs of production. All the new equip­ITlent is of American design and American production methods are ingeniously used to adapt them to Euro­pean conditions of work.

Liege is thePittsburghof Belgium. It has a famous university and is an important. long established in­<iustrial center. The charter of its oldest steel plant

Ltes back to 1791. One of the famous restaurants is located in a house built in 1594 and now classified as a historical building. The free and easy prewar atmos­phere of Liege has disappeared; the people have not yet recovered from an almost continuous bombardment

of the city during the war. The talk is still about war episodes, A true story was told to me at the Linalux Company which is the distributor of electric power for the whole province of Liege. After the invasion. the Germans demanded that the power company supply electric power to Germany. The Belgians pointed out that there was no line for this purpose. so theGerman army built an entirely new power line over 100 miles long for" permanent use", When the line was completed. all of the company's power plants developed mechani­cal trouble and broke down one after another. The Germans. in order to keep the Belgian industry run­ning. were obliged to supply power over this line in the other direction - - from Germany to Belgium. This went on during the war and has been going on since. giving the Belgians time to develop the new project at Awirs now under construction.

SPECLA L AC TIVITIES FOR APRIL

CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL, a Musical Revue at the Watergate, Saturday April 1 at 1 pm and Sunday April 2 at 2 pm. Tickets are $1.00 and $1.25. Im­pressive Water Pageant. Jefferson Memorial Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 pm - no charge. FOLK SONGS. Burl Ives, Constitution Hall. April 1, 3 pm. ELENA NIKOLAIDI. Conc~rt. benefit, Greek-American School, Constitution Hall, Monday, April 3. 8:30 pm. SUNRISE SERVICE, Sunday, April 9, Arlington, Me­morial Cemetery, 7:30 am.

INTERNATIONAL BANK NOTES

Harriet French Editor

Reporters Marion Dougherty--Administration Department Muriel Eddy --Secretary' s Depa~tment Alice FOley --Legal Department Dorothy Lawton --Administration Department Agnes Maher --Public Relations Department Virginia Nemeth --Economic Department Myrtle Timmins --Treasurer's Department :1 . Van Gasse --Loan Department :1eanne Wells --Executive Directors

Edited and"Published on the I st and 15th of each month by the Staff Relations Office . Personnel Division

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

1818 H Street, Washington 25, D. C.

Michael L. Lejeune --Personnel Officer Elizabeth Geib --Staff Relations Officer

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-A ne1D bonnet gives one such a lift!!!"

BANK/FUND TOURNAMENT

Below are the results of the Bank/Fund Bowling Tournament held Saturday, March 25. The Bank alleys were steaming, but the Fund set theirs on fire. Con­gratulations to the Fund for their victory and we are all looking forward to next year.

GamesFUND Won

1. Graphic A 497 504 486 1 2. Graphic B 484 572 532 2 3. Operations B 480 516 468 4. Operations A 506 468 439 3 5. Research S 487 475 553 2 6. Administrative

Services B 505 505 500 3 7. Legal 471 435 439 0 8. Administrative

Services A 466 446 450 2 9. Research M 424 446 456 1

10. Comptrollers 459 472 433 0 11. Secretary's 491 446 509 2 12. Executive

Directors' Staff 470 450 452 3

Won 20 Lost 16 Pinfall 17192

BANK Games

Won 1. Exeoutive Directors 482 506513 2 2. Controllers 495 484 511 3. Office Services 491 515 495 2 4. Transportation 471 454 425 0 5. Administration 519 441 495 1 6. Economic A 478 474 480 0 7. Public Relations 474 480 482 3 8. Economic B 427 445 479 9. Treasurer's Receipts 465 454 425 2

10. Treasurer's Assets 460 480 480 3 11. Secretary's 480 510 481 1 f2. Treasurer's Profits 404 409 431 0

Won 16 Lost 20 Pinfall 16995

INTERNATIONAL COOKING CORNER

Miss Eunice Deister of the Loan Department say Baked Virginia Ham is easy to prepare by following this recipe.

Baked Virginia Ham Soak ham overnight or for about 8 hours. Change

water and allow ham to simmer until skin becomes loosened. Remove from heat and allow ham to cool in water in which it was cooked. When cold, remove the skin and score. Make a paste of 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and black pepper. Cover ham with the paste, patting well. Stick with whole cloves. Place in baking pan and let brown in moderately hot oven.

THE STAFF RETIREMENT PLAN

Did you read the excellent presentation of the Second Annual Report of the Administration Committee on the Operations of the Staff Retirement Plan? It was distri­buted throughout the Bank last week, and if you did not receive one, perhaps you can borrow one from your neighbor.

POTASH MINE - Continued from Page 2

most efficiently. Reaction time must be fast to avoid accidents in the hot, dark, cramped chambers, where the air is filled with the fine and allpervading dust of potash rock and common salt, stirred up by the blasting and by the great lumbering machines.

Great precautions are taken against cav:ing in, but we felt a bit queasy when they took us into a chamber wher successive rows of great wooden props were splintered to bits because the potash had been removed from under layers of soft shale. They told us not to be afraid: we'd have plenty of time to get out if there were any cracking sounds!

Not all the mines can be worked by machine, because veins of potash are not always on the level. N everthe­less, when machines can be used - and French miners have found ways of using them in places even the American manufacturer had not thought possible - the labor force in the mines can be reduced by two-thirds.

After we had emerged and had a good hot bath, we enjoyed an .. aperitif" in the post-war home of one of the young mining engineers. French production methods may change, but French hospitality continues as of old.

GOLF LESSONS

Mr. Treder, the pro at East Potomac Park, who taught golf to several groups of staff members last year will teach again this season - Wednesday evenings pre­ferred.

Fee for grouplessons (7-10 in group) $1.00 per hour, $ 6.00 payable in advance. Register in Staff Relations Office, Room 1208,

THE BANK EXCHANGE

Wanted: To take a 4-6 weeks motor trip to the West Coast and back, this spring or early summer. Wi drive own car which will accornrnodate 3 other passen­gers (one must be a good driver) or would join with someone else who is planning to make such a trip. Please call ext.2130.