The sun., 1900-08-12
MODERN MUNITIONSOF WAR
THE DEMAND FOR THEN MAKES
BRISK WORK NOWADAYS.
Turning Out weapons and Ammunition by
Day ant NiKht-WOrk at the Armortes-Ths
Tremendous Execution Of Modern Arms.


| Tremendous Execution Of Modern Arms
From the Washington 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 Mongolian hosts
in the war which seems bout to be precipitated
| An industrial force equally large Is engaged In
| the preparation Of the explosives which are to
drive the metal messengers on their mission oi
destruction The United States War Depart
ment did not And itself particularly well of In
the matter Of ammunition supply when the
present trouble In China eliminated In actual
hostilities.
The situation was not. TO be sure. as serious
in some respects as that at the outbreak Of the
Spanish American War. but nevertheless the
blue-coated fighters in the Philippines have fred
| a good many cartridges during the past year.
and the country's reserve supply has also been
prevented from reaching the proportions which
1t would otherwise have attained. II has been
known all along that II actual warfare Is pre-
cipitated in China 1t will of necessity be on an
extensive scale, with great bodies Of troops en-
gagged, and thus at the first hint OF impending
trouble the Government officials sent messages
to the various ammunition factories holding
contracts with the Government, which resulted
IN many OF them being Immediately placed in
operation twenty-four hours per day.
Although the Government has large and
splendidly equipped arsenals at Washington
and Watervliet, where all the great guns. 6-inch
and upward. ~ we'll as the siege and field ar
tillery, are made, 1t must In an emergency.
such as the present. rely largely upon private
firms That absolute dependence may be
placed upon these corporations was. however.
most convincingly proven during the Spanish
American conflict. Not only does the circum-
stance that we are rapidly ccn,ing to be a nation
of iron masters eminently qualify our industrial
popua ton to supply munitions Of war at short
notice, but the further fact that there are In
each particular line a number OF firms. all
actuated by keen rivalry. insure the most ex-
peditous work possible. There are. for in
facture of gun carriages OF all kinds half a
dozen large plants for the manufacture OF arms
and about ten powdsr makers.
and ease OF a fiest-winsed bird from from one to an
other OF these gigantic and widely scattered
buildings. each peopled with hundreds or thous-
he would tarry longest at some Of the plants
where are being produced the Geadly modern
rifles which may yet perform destructive work
take eep into one OF these giant armories.
where 200 men are now employed from dawn
to nightfall, and another 1000 work steadily
more than 400 rifles are turned out complete
and ready for the Use OF Uncle Sans soldiers
each day in the week.
An output Of 10 900 firearms per month seems
a big aggregate Tor single factory. even dur
ing the rush hours" OF preparation for great
war. when every employee Ia keyed up to the
however. when YOU see how many different
stages the weapon must pass through before IL
Is ready TO be Cousigned 70 the tommisssry
making Of the forgngs. the first. step, In the
task. IA itselfa delicate work. and then the gun
barrels must be rolled. bored. turned. riied and
With these preliminary preparations COM
pleted the component parts are ready for as
sembllng into the finished weapon. Tho re-
wood wooden stock joined and the finished Sus I'd given ven
Its final proof. 1t Is all done with the system OF
clockwork, and very rapidly revolving clock
az out
that they do their work well may be imagined
from the fact that as a rule not a dozen rifles
will be rejected by the Government inspectors
the one referred TO above.
Some engineers are prone TO declare that the
United States Cover nment has much TO learn
from the aggressive private concerns in this
case OF rifle manuiactori.s The Springfield
Of the latest improved sbor.savns I ftossn toofs but
the works are actually operated as economically
as any In the country,
The inricacies OF rihs making may we'll be
imagined whom II II stated that the receiver Of
the rifle, which answers to the breech-box OF
the big gun and Is the most expensive part Of a
weapon. although IL weighs at tho start only a
little over six pounds. during its transit through
III. manufactory Is submitted to upward Of 1850
different operations. 1t s highly important,
made, for into II the barrel Ia screwed, and Il
must be designed 10 withstand the repeated
shock and jar OF hasty loading and unloading
which will. In all probability be necessary dur
ing he operations in China.
When the new rifle IL pronounced complete
final searching examination IL made by ex-
perts. Even the lore Is examined by means Of
tiny mirror, which Is slipped into the recsiver
at the base Of the barrel and thus presents an
excellent image Of the bore The steel Of which
the barrel Ia mads has already been proven
tons on every square inch OF its surface and the
selected walnut. Of which the stock Is made
was carefully scrutinized when IL first arrived
at the factory.
The sam. air Of business which characterizes
the rife manufactures is to be found at the
factories where millions OF cartridges will be
turned ont during the next few months II the
firm lives UP to their contr acts with the Govern
ment just 10 Illustrate tho pace at which this
part Of th' work il going toward II may be
noted that hundreds OF men have been added
near Philadelphia and the entire force is work.
ing or''tme, so that the regular output Of
5000 cartridges per day will be greatly in
creased so urgent Is the demand for the
ammuntir that the cartridges made during
IN dav are packed and started on their Journey