The Meeker herald., 1917-10-13

up near the roof. Back Of the fur
naces you look down into . dark
cavernous shop, where . great trav.
cling crane moves the four-story
urns into which the milk-white iron
runs when . furnace is tapped.
1 saw one of these tappings. 1t
would take . Dante to describe II
effectively. Through blue glasses,
which protected me botl, from blind
ness and from having my eyes
scorched, 1 saw first . trickle Of soft
liquid appear on tho runway, then .
coursing food that sent up lovely
stars by the millions-lovely stara
that lodged.
Then down in blue grottos, where
smoke arose on all sides, came .
series Of sizzling splashss.
This was the first operation In the
casting Of . 1b-inch gun that they
call "Frits's round trip tickets, !"
meaning, Of course, from Hades to
Hades.
KAISER speakers" Is the name
given to the great stampingmachines.
We call them trip-hammers, 1 be-
ilieve, in America. These devices give
the cannon their first shapeing. The
larger ones mash more slowly, but .
single blow of a l5OO-ton hammer
will fiatten the largest rolled blocks
by several feet. These stampers
range down to . battery Of devilish
rapidity that, with several blows a
second, crudsly fashion long, slim
anti-aircraft guns.
The stacstto choral roar of this
aggregation of steel mashers was
battlelike.
And In this heat and CRIME and
thunder these men spend eleven
hours daily, not being allowed the
hour for lunch or the fifteen minutes
for tea. They eat while at their work.
And they have tea, too-between
ingots.
Half of the employees at these war
establishments are women. A great
many Of them had had factory ex-
perience before the war, but never at
the big machines they now operate.
It Is said that these women are stand
ing the strain of long hours, swift
work and the great clatter and
clangor, with remarkable fortitude.
The plant hospitals get few cases
of breakdown among women. One
shift goes on, to cite an example, at
8 q. m. and quits at p. IN. After an
hour of housecieaning At the works
the second shift comes at p. M,
working until =. m. One shift has
an hour at noon for dinner, the other
an hour at midnight. There also Is q
15- minute period for tea at p. m.
and 4 .. m.
In spite Of all, most of them have
. womaniy interest In pretty things.
i saw hundreds of girls at stamping
machines, pressing cartridges into
shape, who were almost As tiday as
American shop girls though they did
hOV W0nh AOu6 COAOtiC0o 0PkOub Auu
oily gloves. Their hair was we'll
taken care of; they smiled in a COM
Portable. independent way, not too
brilliantly and not meekly. know
now where lot of our American
smiles originated.
When the Tommies come back
from the trenches they will not sup
plant all Of these girls. The superin-
tendents have found that the "fem-
mime touch" has meant better work
and less wear and tear on machines.
The most delicate stamping opera
tions will always be entrusted to
women In the future, was told.
This munitions region is not to
make the Midland desert Of empty
shops after the war. was told that
not new building was erected, nor q
machine installed, that did not have
a peace time function anticipated.
Rails are to be turned out by miles,
aud bridge building girders by the
to accomplish the recon.
struction of Europe in the smallest
possible time., However, the domi-
nant idea of the Midland is
swim the war!''