Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-04
MUNITIONS OF WAR
Preparing for the Slaughter That
Precedes a Peace.
At ARSENALS AND PRIVATE FIRMS
Army of Workmen Busy Night
and Day.
MODERN SHELLS AND RIFLES

Written for The Evening Star.
| A good-sized army of American workmen
! in two-score different towns and cities is
working night and day to make ready the
missiles which, it is expected, will NOW
| down Monaghan hosts in the war which
seems about to be precipitated. An indus
trial force equally large is engaged in the
preparation of the explosives which are to
drive the metal messengers on their mission
| of destruction The United States War
Department did not find itself particularly
well off in the matter of ammunition sup
ply when the present trouble in China cul-
minated in actual hostilities.
The situa ton was no.. to be sure. rs seri-
Gus in some respects as that at the out
| break Of the Spanish-American war. but
nevertheless the blue-coated fighters in the
| Philippines have fired a good many car
tridges during the past year and the coun-
| try's reserve supply has also been prevent
! ed from reaching the proportions which Ii
would otherwise have attained. 1t has been
| known all along that if actual warfare is
| precipitated in China it Will of necessity
| be on an extensive scale, with great bodies
| Of troops engaged. and thus at the first
| hint of impending trouble the government
| officials sent messages to the various am
munition factories holding contracts with
| of them being Immediately placed in opera
ton twenty-four hours per day
| Although the government has large and
splendidly equipped arsenals at Washing
| ton and Watervliet, where all the great
| guns, siX-inch and upward. as well as the
| siege and field artillery, are made il must
IN an emergency, such as the present. rely
| largely upon private firms. That absolute
| dependence may be placed upon these cor
porations was. however. most convincin.-ly
| proven during the Spansh-American con-
! fiict. Not only does the circums stance that
| we are rapidly coming to be nation of
iron masters eminently qualify our indus
! trial population to supply munitions of war
at snort notice, but the further fact that
there are in each particular line number
OF firms. all actuated by keen rivalry in
sure the most expeditions work possible
mere are for instance. a number of firms
ntted for the manufacture of gun carriages
of all kinds, half dozen large pianfs GOV
the manufacture of arms and about zen
powder makers.
Deadly Modern Rifles
IL slehtseer were whirling with he
speed and ease of neet-winged bird FRAN,
one to another Of these gigantic and vi4o-
ly scattered buildings, each peonIed with
hundreds or thousands of busy artisans If
Is quite possible that he would tarrv long
est at some of the plants where are heinz
produced the deadly modern rifles which
may yet perform destructive work on Tho
plains of eastern Asia. 1t will nav To take
a peep INTO one of these giant armorie,;
Where LOGO men are now enplnved FROM
dawn to nightfall and another LOCO work
steadily on through the hours of darkness
ana where more than 100 rifles are turned
our complete and ready for the use of
Uncle sam soldiers each day in the week
An output of 10000 firearms per month
seems a big aggregate for a single factory
even uu,Ing the rush hours of prepara-
ton for great war. when every employee
is keyed Up to the highest tension II is
all the more wonderful however xs-hap
see how many different stages the weapon
must pass through before 1t is ready 10 be
consigned to the commissary department
OF the United States army. The making of
the forgngs, the first step in the task is
itself delicate work, and then the gun
barrels must be rolled, bored, turned, rifed
and tested.
With these preliminary preparations COM
pleted the component parts are ready for
assembling into the finished weapon The
receiver ana magazine are to be attached.
the wooden stock Joined and the finished
gun given its final proof. 1t is all done
with the system of clockwork. and very
rapidly moving clockwork it is. too. just at
present, but nevertheless keen ewes watch
every stage OF the work. and that they do
their work well may be imagined from the
fact that as rule not a dozen rifles will
be rejected by the government inspectors
out of months product of a plant the
size of the one referred to above.
Some engineers are prone to declare that
the United States government has much to
in this country. but this is assuredly not
true in the case of rifle manufactures. The
Springfield armory is not only fitted with
a full equipment of the latest improved
labor-saving tools. but the works are actu-
ally operated as economically as any in the
country.
The Intricate Details.
The intricacies of rifle making may well
be imagined when it is stated that the re-
ceiver of the rifle, which answers to the
breech-boX of the big gun and is the most
expensive single part of a weapon, al
though it weighs at the start only a little
over six pounds, during its transit through
the mandatory is submitted to upward of
$50 different operations 1t is highly i'm
portant, however. that the receiver should
be carefully made, for into ii the barrel is
screwed, and it must be designed to with
stand the repeated shock and jar of hasty
loading and unloading, which will, in all
probability be necessary during the opera
lions in China.
When the new rifle is pronounced COM
plete a final searching examination is made
by experts. Even the bore is examined by
means of tiny mirror which is slipped
into the receiver at the base of the barrel |
and thus presents an excellent image of
the bore. The stee. Of which the barrel is |
made has already been proven capable OF
withstanding pressure of th!rty-fve tons |
on every square inch of its surface and the |
selected walnut of which the stock is made
carefully scrutinized when il first ar |
rived at the factory.
The same air of business which charac-
terizes the rifle manufactures is to be |
found al the factories where millions of |
cartridges will be turned out during the |
next few months if the firms live up to their |
contracts with the government. Just to il |
--.-t-ctc - NICE TT which this part of the |
work is gong rol .i:1 j. =; - -cted that |
hundreds of men have been added To the !
pay roll Of the arsenal at Bridgesburg,
near Philadelphia and the entire force is |
working overtime. SO that the regular out
put OF 5000 cartridges per day will be