New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
The Story of a
Most Wonderful
War Achievement
How the Dodge Brothers in
4 Months Time Put Up a
Factory and Began Build
ing Recoil Mechanism

Alter war was declared the United
States government started to manu-
1acture the type of heavy artillery
usef by the French. These guns we're
called the 1855 millimetre howitzer and
the 1876 millimetre Filloux rifle. They
had never before been manufactured
in America A certain recojl or re-
cuperatlng apparatus was required for
these guns, but this mechanism had
never been built here. The problem
involved the gigantic task of con-
structing a special plant and the de-
signing and making Of special ma
chinery and tools with the greatest
possible speed. Pershing needed guns
badly, as we'll as men. The seemingly
impossible must be accomplished.
The government investigated every
large munitions plant in the East and
West, but the manufacturers could not
guarantee the required speed
Dodge Brothers advised the War
Department that their resources were
at the governments disposal whenever
needed. The government officials came
to them with their problem. After a
hurried trip for the purpose of in
speeding the French apparatus in OPP
GRAFTON, John F. and Horace E. Dodge
advised Washington that they would
undertake the project, provided the
in their ability to permit them to
manufacture the mechanism in their
own way
On Saturday, October 81. 1917, off
cial word was received that their pro-
posal had been accepted in it's entirety.
The machinery of Dodge Brothers
organization was set in motion, and by
Monday night representatives, Of the City
Water Board. the Department of Pub
nc Works and The street railway com
pany were or the proposed building
car fines. Before daybreak a spur track
from the Detroit Terminal Railway was
laid. and carloads IF building material
were already on the way TO tho vacant
p:ocarty. In a few hours it had been
transformed from an unploughed field 70
q veritable Babe of labor1rs, concrete
mixers. steam shovels, cranes, switch
engines, etc. The concrete and all
steel building, C00XS00 feet. covering
an area Of eleven acres, began to take
form.
The Monday after tine & vernment
contract was approved Dodge Brothers
had the Bethlehem Steel Company on
the long distance telephone. On Thurs
day those great shops began to roll
steel for this new ordnance plant. Con-
struction went on like magic. Within
thirty days all excavations were com
pleted and a concrete flooring covered
the entire eleven acres.
Machinery was being gathered from
every available source. Some had to
be built. 1t was impossible to buy any
in the market. Dodge Brothers auto
mobile works were utilized. One
hundred and twenty-nine special ma
chimes were designed by Dodge Broth
ers and built in their motor car plants
One train of special machinery con-
signed to the Russian government was
caught at the docks and turned back to
Detroit In just four months the bust
ness Of making recoils began.
The recoil apparatus itself is a fine
sample of careful manufacturing. 1t
is known as the hydraulic pneumatic
type, and its function is to prevent the
gun from tearing itself to pieces as it
fires. AS the barrel of the gun recoils.
this apparatus checks the backward
movement gradually, and automatically
returns the barrel of the gun to its
original position. With the gun placed
at an angle of AS degrees. this appara-
tus returns the barrel to its original
position in IS seconds. This is a vital
part, because accuracy and rapid firing
are the tests Of heavy artillery eff
cheney.
Each recoil is made from a solid bill
let of steel. The rife billet received
from the rolling mills weighs 1900
pounds and is feet 9 inches long by
q inches wide by 80 inches high. Fin
ished and assembled, this weighs $3.50
pounds. The howitzer billet weighs
1876 pounds. These massive pieces
Of mechanism must be made with great
care. Each cylinder is bored, ground,
and Tapped to the degree of fneness
customary only in the most delicats
Instruments