... TRIP TO EUROPE
Harry Straus, Jr., F. A. Peschl and L. M. Bauer
sailed for Europe July 14, 1948, on the "S. S.
America”. The purpose of the trip was to study
technical developments in the paper field in
order to determine if new processes or equip
ment had been developed in Europe since the last
visit abroad prior to the war.
In the quest for information they visited
France; the American, French and English zones
of Germany; Switzerland; Italy and England.
Visits were made to 36 paper mills; 13 pulp and
paper machinery manufacturers and 11 miscel
laneous visits made which included European
technical schools, world famous for their paper
studies.
A total of 14,645 miles was needed to com
plete the above visits, of which 6,200 miles were
made on the steamship "S. S. America” going to
and returning from Europe, 7,145 miles by auto
mobile, 900 miles by train and 400 miles by
plane. It is remarkable how even the American
car stands out among foreign automobiles, which
are smaller, not only in size but also in horse
power. Whenever the American car was seen a
crowd of people invariably surrounded it looking
at the dash board gadgets and marveling at the
car radio.
It is interesting to note that they handled
eight kinds of foreign currency, and had
to be careful before leaving each country not to
carry an excess amount of foreign money, since
one is permitted only small sums when leaving
one country to enter another. Very little trouble
was encountered leaving one country and en
tering another with the amount of baggage
which had to be inspected and the automobile
papers which had to be cleared.
The visitors stated that their passports were
required daily and were equally as important as
having money in one’s pocket.
It was gratifying to learn that many of these
foreign mills, with which they had never come
in contact, had heard of Ecusta and of its magnifi
cent plant. Some of these mills had literature such
as Ecusta sends to export prospects and in some
cases they even had samples of Ecusta cigarette
paper. They remarked on Ecusta’s fine paper
quality. The reception accorded Ecusta’s repre
sentatives was also most gratifying, and in most
of the mills the door was open for them to in
spect equipment in detail.
(Continued on page 32)
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