Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

Author(s): Rauf Ahmed
Publisher: Bhupendra Singh Anand

Page 92

86
PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
Milwaukee, Rockford, Illinois and Kansas City and met them. They were surprised that a young man like me was travelling on company business, but all were very cordial.
While flying from London to New York, we did not realize how cold USA would be during the month of November. It was freezing. The first thing! did on landing was to go to Saks at Fifth Avenue and buy a woollen overcoat for my wife. We were in Chicago on Christmas Eve, staying at Stevens Hotel facing the lake. We planned to visit an Ice Show by the famous ice skater Helen Hays in the evening. No sooner had we stepped out of the hotel and walked to the curb to hail a taxi than our ears were frozen!The cold outside was biting. So early next day I went out and bought ear-muffs.
Bhagwati was scared to stay at Stevens Hotel after hearing that there had been a murder at the adjoining Palmerston Hotel where Al Capone was staying. She was even scared to move about alone in the streets. That night (Christmas Eve), there was a heavy snowfall, apparently one of the highest - quite a few feet. We had to postpone our scheduled trip from Chicago to Milwaukee as the transport system had come to a standstill.Cars and other vehicles and even Rail lines were completely covered with snow. We had to wait for a couple of days before we could go to Milwaukee, from where we were to go to Rockford, which was quite an experience in itself. Since there was no train connection available, we had to take a Greyhound bus at night from Milwaukee and arrive early in the morning at Rockford. We had not made any hotel reservation, so we went straight to the Barber Colman office. They were surprised to see us there. We freshened up and spent the rest of the day there before catching a train at night for Kansas City.
Batliboi did business with Barber Colman in hobbing machines. When | saw, for the first time, the Barber Colman semi automatic winding machine, I felt it would be very suitable for India. However, Barber Colman would not sell us the machines. Then I told them that I would send them yarn from our Shree Ram Mills and if the yarn was suitable for processing on their machines, they could send me two machines. Thus I placed a provisional order for two machines. Things worked, and the machines were installed in Shree Ram Mills and Barber Colman appointed Batliboi as their agents
Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth - Albert Schweitzer