Bisbee daily review., 1918-12-18
MUNITION SECRET BARED ID PUBLIC
 BY ITS DIRECTOR
Program of 800 Guns per Month Would Have Been Realized by June; 500 Is Limit Now
cBy Review Leased wire)


 WASHINGTON, Dec. 17.-Faced by per month without disturbing the flow of guns to the allied nations or the nayys prior right, the ordnance bu- reau of the war department had achieved an output of about 500 guns month when the armistice ended hostilities. By June of next year, production would have been in full swing.
 These facts were revealed today by Assistant Secretary Crowell, director ofmunitions in personally conducted trip to the new proving ground at Aberdeen, Md, where all types of guns were demonstrated for MT. Crowell's party, and American-built tanks and tractors were put through their paces.
 MT. Crowell said the United States had looked upon the allies as the first line of defense when this country entered the war and formulated it's munitions plans so as not to inter- fere with the gun and ammunition contracts for France and Great Britain. Many American gun forg ings and completed guns have been poured across to Great Britain and shipments to the French armies had reached a total of 1000 guns month.
 The needs of the navy, as the second line of defense. also gave its priority and the shipping board came next in the list for steel and other commodities needed to carry out the huge program mapped out for the American army itself. This placed the American ordnance program fourth on the list.
 A striking feature of what was ac- complished, it was shown by officers at the proving grounds, was the fact that in the 155 nm. howitzer program, an output had been reached that ex- ceeded the estimated needs of the American forces even on the basis of 4,000, 100000 men in France and 600 howitzers were sold to France as ex- cess.
 The demonstration today covered all the trench warfare weapons and the field artillery. It took in also the first public demonstration. of the giant guns mounted on railway carriages, solid ranks of Finch, 14-inch and 16- inch weapons hurling projectiles over the range.
 Among the guns fired were 16-inch mortar and a 16-inch howitzer. Both were mounted on specially designed railway carriages. A 14-inch rifle of extreme range and power, also rail way-mounted, and so designed that the recoil is taken up in the backward movement of the whole massive car riages along the tracks, also was fired. It is a purely American output and is the first of the great mobile sea coast batteries to be added to the defenses of the country.
 The tank demonstrated today was the 3-ton 2-man type of American de- sign. A production of 100 a day of these would have been reached early next sprin, supplementing the 6-ton tank program upon which the United States was working jointly with the British MT. Crowell said that 5000 of the big tanks were fin process of manufacture in the United States alone. All the working parts of many others were built in the United States and shipped to England for assembly.
 A whole fleet of American artillery tractors also was demonstrated as were two new types of guns deyel- oped in this country. One was an S. inch howitzer mounted on a tractor which plowed over rough ground or through heavy woods. knocking down trees at fl went. An American gun of 75 nm. caliber. the present stand ard American light field gun, mounted on a two and half ton tractor, showed
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