U.S. Business: Personalities: Feb. 14, 1964

ALONG with the other paraphernalia on his round marble-top executive desk, Union Carbide President Birny Mason Jr., 54, keeps both a crystal ball and a slide rule. The crystal ball, a gift from Predecessor Morse G. Dial, is a conversation piece. The slide rule helps onetime Research Engineer Mason keep track of finances in the nation's second largest chemical firm, which last week announced earnings of $160 million on 1963 sales of $1.67 billion. Another figure that enters into Mason's current calculations is $200 million—the amount that Union Carbide intends to borrow from...