Facts & Figures

High Light. The U.S. electric utility industry reported that its first-quarter profits had broken all records. With earnings in from nearly all major companies, net profits were estimated at $202 million, thanks partially to higher rates and lower fuel costs. Previous high mark: $196 million, in the first quarter of 1947.

Down & Up. In a big week, Packard Motor Car Co. cut prices 4 1/2% to 8 1/2% on six models and reported a net income of $3,911,033 for the first quarter of 1949, three times its net for the same quarter last year. The auto price cuts nipped from $26 to $194 off list prices. Furthermore, equipment formerly extra will be included in list prices, so Packard figured that the reductions will actually be from $103 to $246. Prices of a few models in Packard's super line were raised.

Have a Chair. The famed Hitchcock chairs, sold from door to door by Yankee peddlers more than 100 years ago, were back in production. In the rebuilt original plant at Riverton (formerly Hitchcocks-ville), Conn., enterprising Furniture Makers John Kenney and Richard Coombs were turning out rush-seated Hitchcock crown backs, turtle backs, button backs and plain slat backs, for sale throughout the U.S. The price: $39.95.

Big Brass. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce elected a new president: the Bridgeport Brass Co.'s big, friendly President-Chairman Herman W. Steinkraus, 58. As boss of Bridgeport Brass's 5,000 employees, Steinkraus has not had a strike or a work stoppage, has been so successful at labor relations that other employers often seek him as a speaker on the subject. He succeeds General Electric's Vice President Earl O. Shreve.

*Alexander C. Nagle, president of Manhattan's First National Bank; George A. Sloan, publisher of the Southern Agriculturist; William A. Irvin, ex-president of U.S. Steel; Counsel Nathan L. Miller, onetime governor of New York; Chairman Olds; President Fairless.

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