The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-04-14
SHELLMAKING AS
seen BY NOTED
BRITISH AUTHOR
Arnold Bennett Describes Visit to
One Of Many Projectiie Fac
tories in Britain.
WOMEN WORKING WITH men
sSix-lnch and Nine-Ineh Death Dealers
Are the Produet-Present Output
10 Monument to Brains and
Energy Of Country.

Energy Of Country.
London.-Here is an article written
by Arnold Bennett, with the approval
or the ministry Of munitions, with the
object Of inspiring the British public
ITO still greater exertions In the manu-.
1acture of munitions of war. The ar.
lficle, entitled, IN. p. F.: A Working
Example Of the New Phenomena" fol.
lows:
BY ARNOLD BENNETT.
You see these letters on the doormat
OF the office. They stand for National
ProJectile Factory. 1 know not how
many N. P. F.'s there are In Britain.
Perhaps Mr.. Montagu, the minister of
munitions, knows. This particular
factory is very large one. 1t has over
III acres beneath a single roof. A
FARMER can visualize a ten-acre field,
but to the man in the industrial street
nm acre is mere term. Imagine an
area OF one mile long by a hundred
1eet broad. That is roughly the area
or the factory, though naturally it's
shape is much nearer q square. Over
1000 Hands" (the more spiritual Rus
SLAMS would say "souls') are employed
There, and of these very considerably
over half are women, of whom large
part are young or youngish and
attractive, and possess husbands in
the army.
Now, you can observe N. P. f. In
various aspects. There is the human
aspect of its picturesque adjuncts. For
instance, the canteen (under its own
separate roof, with a prodigious
veranda for the al fresco), SURPRISING
fown halls in size and supplying all
the diverse cooking and eating accom-
modations which young women who
know on which side their bread ought
TO be buttered require. There are the
women's dressing rooms and lavatories.
II never saw before and do not hope
20 see again so many white faience
basins with hot and cold water, rows
and rows, and rows, and scores In
row. There Is the ambulance station
with every device, and a nurse always
waiting In the secret expectation Of
major" case and rarely getting any
thing better than a scratch or cut.
There are the women In the roof con-
trolling the overhead travelling cleo
trio cranes that command every foot
of the floor space. Each has rope
TO slide down by In an emergency, and
Cor practice sake she is obliged to slide
down that rope at least once a week.
There are the other women who drive
The electric carriages on the floor IT.
Felf-miles of line sitting In sort
of easy chair and tickling levers. (Six-
inch and nine-inch shells are not to be
Eighty thrown about. The latter
weigh more than man, and 1t takes
either electricity or two men to shift
them to and fro; electricity does 80
per cent Of the shifting).
There are still other women In peg
top trousers. These last piquant crea-
lures start with two minute points
near the ground and very often finish
near the top with an elaborate white,
lacy corsage or flowing, glowing
scarf. The phenomenon looks queer
On a factory. 1t ought not to look
queer. 1t ought to be far more preva-
lent.. liked to see a girl checker deli
cately rolling nine-inch shell over
with her fashionable glace-kid boot
that peeped out beneath the yellow
overall. These things, happily, win
peep out. So will the vase Of flowers
and the strange personal belongings In
the wire cage cupboard Of which each
machinist has one near her machine.
There are the long queues of women
In variegated street attire at the pay
desks. ("Pay from 6501-702O" is one
Of the signs.) There are the war saw
ings desks-astutely placed next to the
pay desks. "War Savings Certificates.
They are subscribed today In THE |
section. Are YOU subscribingY. Well,
N rule. Ehe was.
The Manufacturing Aspect.
So rdght continue with the human
picturesque aspect but must turn to |
the manufacturing aspect; for, after
all, this fast rumbling maze of wheels |
and women and men exists for shells.
And. like the men, all these women,
Aowever nice and happy, are conscious
~ engaged In the preparation of the |
means Of destruction and slaughter.
Steam Is at the bottom of this affair
Ia row Of boilers and furnaces. Step |
anside the power house and, behold, the
steam has been translated into cleo
4x1city-three units Of 750 kiiowatts
each and three more Of $50 kilowatts
each. A little further. and much Of
the power has become hydraulic. You
can see the huge hydrauiic accumula-
tors rising and falling according as
the creation Of power here overtakes
or - overtaken by the dissipation Of
power In the factory.
Having grasped this. you may enter
me factory. You there discover an or
dinary railway wagon behind row
81 FORCES. The wagon Is full OF steel
angots which have made long jour