GOING METRIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85-00988R000400060055-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 55
• Publication Date: December 1, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN

A
Goin
For Rele2001/08/09 : CIA-RDP85-00988R000400060055-3
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Legend has it that the yard was established as a standard unit of measure by England's King Henry I. It seems
to have been the distance from the tip of his nose to the tip of his thumb when his arm was fully extended. In the
next several years, however. Americans will be forsaking King Henry's yard and adapting to the metric system. The
following tables may help make your personal shift from ounces and feet to'grams and meters a little less traumatic.
The Metric System and Equivalents
Linear Measure
I centimeter = 10 millimeters = .39 inch
1 decimeter = 10 centimeters = 3.94 inches
1 meter = 10 decimeters = 39.37 inches
1 dekameter = 10 meters = 32.8 feet
I hectometer = 10 dekameters = 328.08 feet
I kilometer = 10 hectometers = 3,280.8 feet
Liquid Measure
1 centiliter = 10 milliliters = .34 11. ounce
I deciliter = 10 centiliters = 3.38 fl. ounces
1 liter = 10 diciliters = 33.82 fl. ounces
1 dekaliter = 10 liters = 2.64 gallons
1 hectoliter = 10 dekaliters = 26.42 gallons
1 kiloliter = 10 hectoliters = 264.18 gallons
Weights Square Measure
1 centigram = 10 milligrams = .15 grain 1 sq. centimeter = 100 sq. millimeters = .155 sq. inch
1 decigram = 10 centigrams,= 1.54 grains 1 sq. decimeter = 100 sq. centimeters = 15.5 sq. inches
1 gram = 10 decigrams = .035 ounce 1 sq. meter (centare) = 100 sq. decimeters = 10:76 sq. feet
1 dekagram = 10 grams = .35 ounce 1 sq. dekameter (are) = 100 sq. meters = 1,076.4 sq. feet
1 hectogram = 10 dekagrams = 3.52 ounces 1 sq. hectometer (hectare) = 100 sq. dekameters = 2.47 acres
1 kilogram = 10 hectograms = 2.2 pounds 1 sq. kilometer = 100 sq. hectometers = .386 sq. mile
1 quintal = 100 kilograms = 220.46 pounds
1 metric ton = 10 quintals = 1.1 short tons Cubic Measure
I cu. centimeter = 1000 cu. millimeters = .06 cu. inch
l cu. decimeter = 1000 cu. centimeters = 61.02 cu. inches
I cu. meter = 1000 cu. decimeters = 35.31 cu. feet
Approximate Conversion Factors
To change
i
h
To
Multiply by
To change
To
Multi
l
b
nc
es
centimeters
2.540
centimeters
inches
p
y
y
394
feet
meters
.305
meters
feet
.
3
280
yards
meters
.914
meters
yards
.
1
094
miles
kilometers
1.609
kilometers
miles
.
621
square inches
square centimeters
6.451
square centimeters
square inches
.
155
square feet
square meters
.093
square meters
square feet
.
10
764
square yards
square meters
.836
square meters
square yards
.
1
196
square miles
square kilometers
2.590
square kilometers
square miles
.
386
acres
square hectometers
.405
square hectometers
acres
.
2
471
cubic feet
cubic meters
.028
cubic meters
cubic feet
.
35
315
cubic yards
fl
i
cubic meters
.765
cubic meters
cubic yards
.
1
308
u
d ounces
milliliters
29.573
milliliters
fluid ounces
.
0
pints
liters
.473
liters
pints
.
34
2
113
quarts
ll
liters
.946
liters
quarts
.
1
057
ga
ons
liters
3.785
liters
gallons
.
264
ounces
grams
28.349
grams
ounces
.
035
pounds
h
kilograms
.454
kilograms
pounds
.
2
205
s
ort tons
metric tons
.907
metric tons
short tons
.
1.102
Approved For Release 2001/08/09 : CIA-RDP85-00988R000400060055-3
Army Logistician
November-December 1975
 qC:_J1NGveXR
?or quarts and pounds, the
d is now in sight. U.S.-last
ajor holdout-is on the way
going metric. The latest
netable-
'Metrics," as it is now commonly
led, is starting to take hold across
3 U.S.
9is one top executive puts it, Ameri-
a industry "already is centime.tering
way into the metric system."
The rest of the nation, too, appears to
ve accepted as inevitable the fact
at quarts and pounds are to be re-
aced by liters and kilograms-yards
:d miles by meters and kilometers.
Big impetus for conversion now, ex-
ains Malcolm O'Hagan, executive di-
ctor of the American National Metric
auncil, stems from the nation's biggest
;porting firms. These companies are
sder the gun to shift their basic mea-
trements to conform with those used
the rest of the world.
With Britain substantially converted
metric, and Canada beginning its for-
ial shift this year, the U.S. is left as the
)le major nation still on an inches-and-
riles system. The next-largest country
Al using this system exclusively is the
;land of Barbados.
A beginning. Already, pilot programs
sing metric measurements have been
egun by multinational U.S. compa-
ues-including the major auto firms,
iltis IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar
tractor, International Harvester, Levi
'trauss and Seven-Up. All the large air-
:raft and aerospace firms, such as Lock-
iighway speed-limit signs in metric are
tdded by city of Redondo Beach, Calif.
heed, Northrop and TRW, are shifting
now, as well.
The National Park Service is placing
signs showing metric distances on road-
ways and footpaths in all federal parks.
Its brochures and maps are similarly
marked with kilometer distances.
Four States-Illinois, Ohio, Alabama
and New Jersey-are putting up high-
way signs in metric language. Many
metropolitan areas in other States have
road signs in both miles and kilometers.
Plans are for all States to be teaching
the metric system in their schools by
1978, with such projects already under
way in California, Illinois, New Jersey,
Maryland and New Mexico.
Radio and TV stations in some areas
are starting to report weather tempera-
tures and other data in "Celsius"-the
metric counterpart of Fahrenheit-
from conversion information supplied
by the National Weather Service.
In recent weeks, both U.S. Steel and
Bethlehem Steel have announced that
they will produce raw steel to metric
dimensions. This is considered a major
breakthrough in the conversion of
American manufacturing firms to the
metric system.
Free rein. Congress, meanwhile, ap-
pears to be on the verge of passing
legislation that will make the shift to
metric official. A bill has been approved
by the House and is scheduled for a
vote in the Senate not long after
Thanksgiving-with its prospects con-,
sidered "favorable" there. The bill sets
no deadline for complete conversion;
instead, it gives free rein to those who
want to switch.
The probable timetable for spreading
the metric system around the U.S. now,
Tools with metric measurements are be-
coming common in Detroit factories.
according to Robert Hopkins, editor of
the American Metric Journal, is this:
First to shift to widespread use of
grains and liters will be food packagers.
Then by January, 1979, all U.S. firms
which do business in Europe will have
gone metric. Reason: They would other-
wise be shut out of Common Market
countries, where all products must he
metrically marked by then.
Petroleum will come next, with gaso-
line sold by the liter-which is some-
what larger than a quart. Agricullural
products, because of their role in export
trade, also will be marketed in metric
terms. All U.S. wine will be sold by the
liter, rather than by the quart or fifth.
By- 1980, Mr. Hopkins believes, most
packaging and canning will be mea-
sured metrically. Paint manufacturers,
for instance, will probably raise the size
of their gallon containers to 4 liters.
Within five years, thus, Americans
would be using metrics extensively.
As of now, the changed system of
weights and measures is appearing in all
parts of the country.
The industrial Midwest is out in front,
Schools in Maryland suburb now teach the sys-
tem. By 1978, all States will be teaching metrics.
 Approved For Releaoe 2001/08/09: CIA-R P 5- 098 -
00
n "METRICS" as will a new design o (, s er s tch to metrics. fire rea
1 fined b Fred IIe~*i a Cooper
a
[continued from preceding page;
with conversion to metrics well under
way in the auto industry and sparking
the change in others.
General Motors has been the most
aggressive. in making the shift. The new
Chevrolet Chevette, with components
made abroad, is the first U.S. car to
have nearly all metric measurements.
Other GM models are scheduled to fol-
low next year. Meanwhile, thousands of
GM employes are being trained in met-
rics. About 15 per cent of the total
payroll are getting some training, and a
third of those receive specialized
schooling in the technicalities involved.
Ford also is moving ahead in metrics,
though at a slower pace. Officials there
say that any completely, new part is
designed and built in millimeters now
rather than inches, while remodeling of
old parts usually is kept in inches.
Chrysler is at about the same stage at
the moment. A new subcompact car
scheduled for 1978 will be all in metric,
y
turbine engine designed for use hi son, exp
smaller autos. executive: The firm's sales in metric
A Detroit suburb-Wayne, Mich.- measuring devices accounted ha- 10s,
has procla=imed itself "Metric City, than 1 per cent of total sales i:i 1974.
USA." It has set up special metric The Houston independent sc hoot ii'-
courses in the schools, established a trict has been including metric instruc-
metric information center, and. erected tion in high-school math ano science
signs giving all distances in kilometers. classes for several. years, and at the
A near-best seller. Elsewhere in the elementary-school level on au experi-
Midwest, the Illinois interstate-highway mental basis recently.
system is changing over to a dual sys- Next year, with the adoption of new
tem of road signs, giving both miles and textbooks, metrics will be taught at the
kilometers. Chicago radio stations are elementary level on a regular basis
offering special broadcasts sponsored by throughout the Houston school system.
the Better Business Bureau on metric In the Southeast, the North Carolina
conversion. Indiana's Seven-Up distrib- State board of education has ordered
utors have converted completely to 1- that all instruction involving measure-
liter containers. ments will be given in the metric sys-
And a Wisconsin publisher offered a tem by 1981. The more familiar English
small 50-cent booklet entitled "Modern system then will be taught only in a
l
i
ff
"
s say.
a
ic
Metric System Explained"-and found "historical context, school o
ra a
fi t ders
itself with a near-best seller.
Typical of many Midwest manufac-
turers, Whirlpool plans to begin conver-
sion in both its freezer plant in St. Paul,
Minn., and its trash-compactor oper-
ation at Danville, Ky., during
A DISSENTING VOICE
From an article by Dean Krakel, di-
rector of the National Cowboy Hall of
Fame in Oklahoma City, in the publi-
cation Persimmon Hill:
"Why are we being slowly converted
to the metric system? Experts in Wash-
ington, D.C., say we should change. It's
more efficient? Once accomplished, our
standards will be like the European and
Communist countries. Again, why?
"Will some sign in the future read 90
kilometers to Deadwood? And what
about the future of our system of land
measurement stemming from our
Founding Fathers; the township, section
and school district? Why change?
"Think of the impact. The cost will
run into billions. . . . The West was won
by the inch, foot, yard and mile; we
milked our cows into pails by the gallon,
quart and pint; we built houses and
barns by the board foot. I'm opposed to
... the metric system.
"Who are the people who are chang-
ing all this-doing away with the histor-
ic names of mountain passes, changing
names to numbers, obliterating records
of past achievement? Are these the
same people who have merged our
small-town and country schools, de-
stroying much of our local pride? How
truly independent are we as a people
on the eve of our nation's celebrated
Bicentenl
Approved For Release 2001/
1976. Full conversion of the
firm's operations will be spread
In the Northeastern U.S., a
survey of leading companies
shifting to metric now. Most
others are tending to postpone
action until they see what kind
of metric legislation Congress
will enact.
Exxon Corporation, for ex
ample, plans to convert its re-
search and design to metric by
January, 1978, according to 11.
B. Glaser, manager of the me-
chanical division of Exxon Re.-
search in Linden, N.J.
Otis Elevator Company has
started building a line of esca-
lators to metric dimensions, wide design and construction firm
while designing a new elevator headquartered in San Francisco, says:
to those measurements. That "In five years practically all our work
firm's aim is to produce all will be in metrics."
newly designed machines in All the top California wine maker,
metric dimensions, so they can are shifting to seven metric sizes fui
be sold or serviced anywhere their bottles, with the transition to be
in the world, says William completed by January, 1979., under net
Edge, an official at its Mahwah, Treasury Department rules.
N.J., engineering center. Just when the conversion to the met
Southwest: slow. The shift ric system in America will he complete
toward the metric system is go- remains to be seen-even if Congr-
ing more slowly in the South.- votes the new bill as expected. There i>
west. Officials there say they a practical problem, summed ups tilt
face "a formidable task of edu- way by B. A. Phelps, a top Bechtel'
cation" before metrics takes official:
over completely. "The greatest challenge in conversic:r
As one example, Cooper In- is one of co-ordination. Nobody go='-
dustries, a Houston-based firma metric alone. Our change must 1r
/O"hxd61ARQR$~ii0*$800~53'i' that of others in t'-`
pates that it will take at least in ustry-and with client demand."
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Dec. 1, 1-`-?'
t
Right now, even rs g
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools are
taught to. measure in centimeters-a-
part of a five-year program of intensive
metric training in its third year.
Celotex, a building-materials firm in
Tampa, has been making ceiling tile for
the European market for years to met-
ric specifications, says M. M. Hambrick,
vice president for production. Yet, he
adds, the building industry here is wai.-
ing for federal legislation and guidelines
before making a major shift.
As Pomona Products Company, a can-
ning subsidiary of Stokely-Van Camp in
Griffin, Ga., makes required changes in
its labels, it plans to include dual mea-
surements, reports President Hugh
Hunt.
Far West faster. In the Far West
things are moving even faster. Within s
few months, Rockwell International's
automotive division in California will be
using metrics on all new designs and on
major redesigns.
An engineer with Bechtel, the world-