Norwich bulletin., 1912-07-17
A. c. WRIGHT DIRECTED
 EoUIPPfNG AUSTRALIAN PLANT,
Government Small Arms Factory Is
 Successfully Opened.

Through A. c. Wright, formerly su- perintendent of the Hopkins and Allen Arms company factory here, Norwich makes a contribution to Australia over which this great Pacific commonwealth is just now birding itself, in the erec- tion at Lithgow, N. s. w.. of a $650, 900 government plant for the manufacture of small arms.
 MT. Wright resigned from the Hop kins & Allen Arms company here to take position with the Pratt & Whit ney company of Hartford as their manager upon the contract of equip ping this factory for the Australian government.
 Copies of Australian papers tell of the very great interest awakened by the official opening of the factory on June Sth. The Sydney Herald says:
 The factory Is a short distance out of Lithgow, to the westward. It stands on a reserve of 127 acres. The buildings cost 50,87S pounds sterling, the motive power, made at Coekatoo Island, cost S,026 pounds The plant came from America and cost 128,048 pounds. The normal capacity of the works is fifty magazine Lee Enfield rifles and bayonets in one day of eight hours. The electric generators, switchboard and electric motors were manufactured by a British company
 Time to Turn Out a Rifle. The contract with the Pratt 6 Whitney Co. was signed on August IA, 1909. The commencement of the tests, lasting over three months in the factory. began on February 12 last. Thus the establishment was in working order practically in two | Nva1 nd hU | of individual machines in the factory 1 is 325. The number of gauges-which consisted of three sets of each gauge. | including a master-is 6,370. About 275 hands are at present em- l ployed. The manager for the con- | tractors. A. c. Wright of Hartford, | Conn, U. s. A., gives the hours taken the man hours"-to turn out d rife as follows:
 An Enfield. 72 man hours
 At the Birmingham small arms ! factory, 4S man hours.
 At the Australian small arms fac tory, 23 man hours (actual time 22 | hours. 36 1-2 minutes).
 These times were all taken by off, 1 ciai representatives of the Australian
 government. and Mir. Wright said there ! was no doubt that they would reach V
 Speaking in regard to the length of
 time taken in establishing rifle factor
 les in different parts of the world, Mr | Wright said the Canadian government l had established a factory to manufac | ture the Ross rife; it had taken six | years to establish the factory The ar- 1 senal at lshipoor, India, was six years | in building, and the arm produced wal
 not as satisfactory as those developed
 by this plant At the Rock Island ar
 senal 1t took from two to three year, i to assemble, with the assistance of tht
 original arsenal in Springfield, whicl
 made all the gauges and some of thu
 tools. MT. Wright said while it wa!
 admitted that we had the finest me
 chanical plant for manufacturing
 rifles. still we had not the highly sys
 tematized and trained organization
 of factories such as the Enfield, Bir
 mingham small arms, and London which manufactured the same type o rifle, under government contracts There was no doubt in his mind. h said, that we should, in a conpara lively short time, educate Australia workmen to produce as good if not
 better, arm than any of the factorie
 mentioned. MT. Wright also state
 that, notwithstanding the short tim the plant had been working, they ha 2,500 parts, with more being manu factured, which spoke well for the ef ficiency of the plan in general
 The speeches on the occasion of tn
 opening fill several columns of tn
 newspapers mentioned. The govern , or general of the commonwealth ( |, Australia, Lord Denman. was th v 1 principal speaker.
 s No Plant Like It.
 [ Senator Pearce, who was receive T with loud applause. said he felt vel l pleased to be there that day to see fl { fruitian of the labor of number q people in tine institution ofe this mas n nicent factory, of Which A Austral
 could well be proud. Without boas
 in. he could say 1t was the most ui Il to-date rife factory in the world, b. y cause there was no rifle factory in el > istenee today that had been able - reap the experience of every oth d country. The fife faetefy repressn