Evening star., 1918-12-01

partly erected locomotives ON It, The
last case Of parts for the first" engine
came off on Wednesday night. and
those engines were all in service, by
the following Saturday morning. They
worked siXty-flvo men In two ten
hour shifts. overlapping: The men
often work fourteen or fifteen hours
per day when busy. and when less
busy they make 1t up to them. fine
They just go off and take solid rest"
Again VIC thread endless warehouses
and tracks.
Some claim that the greatest wonder
of this whole place (but remember
America has other places in France.
much like ii. equally deemed Wonders)
Is the setting up of the motor trans
port shops in six months. Maj. Brown
was vice president of an automobile
company. He got a wire from WASH
ington. asking him to come here and
take charge of assembling motor We
hicles. A month later we were turn
ing over ears to the Army from these
works.
was here year ago and / cannot
recognize the ancient little stone cot
tages which formerly dotted the road.
now masked by immense construc
tions of brick. glass, structural steel
and cement In the park" as far as
eye reaches, stand ranks and files OF
vehicles ready to go off.
They are vast shops and they have
Il feeder.
''rhese trucks" said Lieut.. Mayer of
Flmira, n. y, in charge of the pro-
duction, "are unloaded from boats and
at the docks they have subsidiary
plant, TO permit them to be towed
here and be completely assembled,
finished off and tested"
Inside a glass-and-stccl shop
watched II soldier-mechanic perfect
Ing wheels of ammunition trucks.
chiseling out plugs and greasing and
easing. Another. erect on what seem
ed tiny box-platform on wheels.
rode around on it, steering it so rapid
ly round sharp corners and in every
direction. backing, advancing. going
bias, that the thing seemed crazy
4. i;
ITS an electric shfter," said Lieut..
Meyer See him fetch out that chas-
sis and take it where he wants it. 1t
pushes or pulls. stops in three inches
and is IN instrument of precision
Here they turn out fifty trucks per
day and fifty other automobiles. In
the yards chassis are everywhere in
Il maze of huts for the sleeping, cook
ing, etc. of the personnel
can enlisted man invented 4 hoist of
much value. Formerly to- place. a
body on n chassis it required fifteen
men to lift the body. Now one man,
in kind of crate suspended from
overhead rails at the ceiling. let's
down this hoist and three men place
the plates underneath the body, which
is lifted. carried where you please
and let down on the chassis-just like
that. The one man, up in the crate
hoist does it all by hand power turn
ing crank.
Curious appliances are attached to
vehicles. Here is a hoist or crane
mounted on heavy truck. 1t Is taken
anywhere for lifting cars. trucks,
bodies. case goods, structural meta -
anything. Here Is peculiar auto
mobile ambulance. 1t carries no
N-raS apparatus. but outside, at the
height just above the wheel. racks
for holding stretchers can be let down
and emergency cases are examined
and photographed behind curtains
equally let down.
All these new cars go out loaded.
carrying freight to their capacity. by
their own power, ten TO sixty cars 7"
the convoy. 1 counted ESQ big tour
ing cars all ready and go little black
lowed to estimate the aviation trail
ers, but there were many there. MOTOR
cycles and sidecara without eho'
Above 10000 motor vehicles have beem
turned out of this works, which, SIN
months ago, was empty meadow ia'io'
And now YOU don't know half.
Have 1 told you word about MAJ
Green and his vast tonnage pfoplen,.
competing like joyous giants WIN
rival American bases, Joshing Dack
and forth and keying up the boys 10
win their u. S. medal, just as II the!
were shooting rifles or throwing gre
nadcs-and they'll get them pe1ore
Christmas?
x !:
Base and wonder are separate
although adjoining.
Perhaps the greatest wonder or all
is the modesty of these men, many OF
whom were important business chiefs
at home and whose immense achieve
ments in France are unknown.
In reality this is the victory fac
tory.
And, we must always remember.
there are others like it in France.
This is how Col. Sewell puts it. He
was vice president and general man
ager of the Alabama Marble Company
"All this construction work has been
under charge of the --th Engineers,
he said. "and most of the important
projects were suggested by them
Ihey suggested the wonder. They
suggested the Encouragement Of the
tracks around the basin to handle
more freight. They constructed the
big hospital at S.. On their own