Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-12-31

! cilities. So, in 1917 when the
United States did declare a state
of war to exist. the r. e. V. plant
was ready to take on the new con
i tracts which soon were awarded.
/ 1t undertook fulfillment Of two big
/ contracts for S-inch gas shells. and
! the second was rapidly nearing
/ completion when the close of the
war came The shell shop is now
! practically through it's work. and
+ It probably will be converted rap
/ idly into a plant for the other pro-
! ducts OF the company
Ordnance Plant.
/ With a record for achievement
/ in manufacture of shells the com
pany was invited to undertake
/ manufacture of naval ordnance. II
! took a contract for mounts and
! sights for six-pounder guns. Then
! it Joined with the Wagner company
in the organization of the r & V
! Wagner Ordnance company, and
took contracts for 3-inch mounts
and sights, and later contracts for
1000 4-inch guns and Tor one
/ FOUNDER guns. A new plant was
! necessary.
On May "a, 1917. ground was
! broken. The ordnance building is
706 feet long, 100 feet wide, has a
| large balcony floor. and contains
$50, coo square feet of floor space.
/ To equip the plant more than four
| hundred machine tools, ranging
from the largest engine lathes to
the most deIicately adjusted small
tools were installed. The plan.
| represents an outlay of 81 500. 900.
/ 1t is one OF the finest and most
complete factory buildings in this
/ part of the country.
For more than a year the plant
worked day and night, turning out
| guns, sights and mounts. and it
made a record for production
{ which brought forth many fine
complimentary expressions from
/ the navy department authorities in
/ Washington. 1t far outdistanced
all other private manufacturers Of
guns of this class through the
whole of the last year. Just at the
/ time the armistice was signed the
! government was completing details
of another immense contract to the
! company for 4-inch guns.
women Workers.
| Women played a part of great
| Importance in the war activity of
/ the r & V. plant. They did MT
enter into the shop work Till a year
ago. The women proved their
worth in the factory They made
good in every place where they
were tried. Finally the tool room.
the sanctum of the mechanic arts
tOCrat, the department where IN or
I binary times only the arch me-
/ chaniC holds a job, found women at
/ machines. TOOlmakers under whose
i supervision they worked said they
/ proved as adept as the average
male worker of moderate exper-
+ fence. When the plants were at
their high mark in production Just
before the signing of the armistice
with Germany there were approx
( imately five hundred women en-
pIOyed These women workers Just
about Offset the loss of male en-
plOyes who entered the service OF
. the government. High wages was
an attraction to them, but il nearly
+ every instance there vas a pat
riOtic motive which prompted the
woman TO enter the shop and eX-
change skirt and waist for bloom
/ erals and cap These women real
lZed that they were releasing mel
for other jobs for which women
were not suited, and so they cheer
fully and faithfully devoted them
] selves to their tasks
Farm Tractor Motors.
While the r. & V. plants had
hundreds OF men and women work
ing on munitions and ordnance ami
the products that were directly
/ related to the military phases OF
prosecuting the war, there was an
other department engaged in pro
duction Of a peace-time product OF
emphasized Importance in war
the motor for farm tractors. Food
and the most efficient methods o
producing il were vital clements II
+ the war. and so the tractor motor
/ became a thing Of special import
anCe Though strainlng every en-
ergy toward high production marks
IN the shell and OTdnance plants.
/ the company maintained 4 rate OF
production in the motor depart
ment of several thousand four anG
six-cylinder motors each month
These motors have been put to
I the test of long use and have
proved entirely successful The
merit they have found with the
tractor manufacturers is indicated
/ strongly by the signing, within the
/ last few days, Of a new contra CT
for an immense number for a com
pany which had already been fur
nished with many thousands OF
these motors This new order viii
mean capacity output for he motor
department of the engineering
/ plant for a long time.
During the war the production OF
the Moline Knight auto, which had
previously been one of the leaders
Of the industry, was greatly cur
tailed In accord with the wishes
of the government the company
mad prepared TO cease the manu-
/ facture of pleasure cars early in
! the new year. Early in the fall tie
auto department activities had been
so reduced that this work -epre-
scented only about per cent OF
+ the output. and, as tractor motors
/ were classified under the heading
/ of war essentials, the whole estab-
1 Ishment was operating on basis
/ of % per cent war work, Auto
manufacture is now on the in
/ crease again, and may soon reach
/ its pre-war basis.
Plans for Future.
With the close of the war came
/ a readjustment of the company $
!