The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-20
BRIDGEPORT AN AMERICAN ESSEN Manufacturing of Fire Arms Raising City to First
 Rank.
(New York T4rnes.)


 for the city and speaks of it as fol- lows: -
 The attention of industrial America has just been turned upon Bridgeport becaus of misunderstanding and rumors of rnisunderstandings- cipally the former-between the man ufacturers of that city and numbers of their employees growing out of the alleged efforts of European agents to bring about interference and disturb ance in the manufacture of muni- tions of war. With the growth of the discussion came the information that the quiet. homeIke little New Eng land city is bidding for world fame as Mars's workshop.
 There is little or nothing in the physical aspect of the pretty Com .necttcut city to indicate such a condi- ton of affairs, yet Bridgeport issEnak- ing such strides in the manufacture sof arms and munitions, war motor trucks, and war machinery that it is upon the very threshold of becoming the American Essen.
 Today it's. light artillery Is to be found upon nearly every battlefield of Europe and is a feature upon, the smaller naval vessels of the world; Bridgeport rifles are winning infantry battles daily; Bridgeport bayonets en- joy universal faIne:s Bridgeport shells and cartridges are going forward to
  sands, while Bridgeport automobile transport troops and supplies throughout the various war zones, from frozen Archangel to the sunny slopes at the head of the Adriatic.
 Tn orderd to turn out these nili- tary supplies Bridgeport has shifted temporarily from many of it's varied Industries, it's few unemployed have gone to work, an army of artisans from outside have ~drifted to town and found employment, and there is. work for many more who will be brought from less favored industrial centers. Already the tip has gone from coast to coast: eff you want work, write the Bridgeport Manufac4, turers' Association Predictions are freely heard on all sides that unless some unexpected check is encounter ed Bridgeport will grow by leaps and bounds to a city, of half a. million pop ulation within Athe next few years. , The sociological and. psych ologica1 changes that are being wrought in the evolution of community of widely diversified manufactured pro extremely interesting. Bridgeport is as yet on the half-way road between a small town and nletrop olis. There. are no slunns, no long rows of &conn- .pany houses" or cottages, and no ten. ements.s Neither is there any marked
 
 man ufacture CT and the worzin grnan. Every one knows every one else, and there is a general understanding that every one is Boosting for the perma- nent growth and development of his home city.
 but the city, occupying comfortable homes. nestled among the trees that abound everywh ere. Tn ey have taken root, bought their own homes, and belong to Bridgeport quite as much $ the boss does. The foreign born population is so smallO as compared with the whole that it's members have become ama1gamated with the com nnunity instead of drifting into dis unctive settlements The only sug- gestion of the old world is found in the typically Slavic architecture of the Greek Catholic churches, the Ori- .ental dornes of two or three syna- gogues and Hungarian Eand Polish signs over assembly rooms.
 Again, Bridgeport has the provin- eial aspect of. the stsn1al1- time com munity through the fact that Satur- day, night is shopping might and the stores all remain open until late. But thiss overtime is made up to the em- ployees by. closing early throughout the rest of the week. On these days 5 o'clock is the closing time recog- nized by the stores. both large and small
 In the past Bridgeport has content ed itself with making sewing ma chimes, talking machines. cabinets, clock cases, eorsets,, cutlery and tools, electrical machinery and supplies, light hardware automobiles and auto parts, motor boats, and all sorts of odds and ends up to and including steel bullets made without ore from the, trimmings, etc, from it's many metal working establishm ents. Since F1-, f I,-7s< a big cartridge and rifle plant, so with the development of the present situa- ton in Europe it was not strange that military contractors turned their att tention toward Bridgeport First came orders for an, increased output of rifles and ammunition, and the local machinery manufacturers were called upon for the special ma chinery necessary. Foreign agents saw they were able to turn out the fnachinery speedily and satisfactorily that managers and workmen knew just what they were about-and pIac- ed orders for such machinery for ex- port. Then, one by one, came orders for motors, shells, cannon, and bayo- nets and all manner of military sup plies. Then everybody commenced to get busy.
 As the home of the Lake Submarine Torpedo Boat Company, Ahe Union Metallic Cartridge Company, the American and British Manufacturing Company, makers of rapid fire guns. aIhmunition fuses, etc, and the Remington Arms and Ammunition Company, Bridgeport already had a fair start in it's career toward be- coming the American Essen. As the transformation gained impetus, the i proud boast, Bridgeport contains 1 the largest body of skilled artisans of any city of it's sfze,' was put to a se- 1 were test Little by little almost every plant in town found it's business af- fected to a greater or less degree by the demand for military supplies, and l their employees were compelled to demonstrate their adaptability.
 It is a far cry from corset making or tyepewriter making to shell manu- facture, yet that is just what happen ed. Some form of military necessity