The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-10-26

subject. The few who knew It thor
oughly have had the double task Of
furnishing ideas and perfecting de-
signs and of imparting their knowl-
edge to others. They had to be work
ers and teachers in the same day.
The old ordnance department of less
than 100 officers was split up into q
gun-carriage division, cannon tlivi-
sion, a small-arms division, and SO on.
each division being charged with the
design and production Of some part OF
ordnance material. Manufacture OF
ordnance material was carried on al
most entirely In government arsenals.
The problem of production was not
difficult. A few officers could follow d
gun through from the day that 1t was
first sketched out on paper until 1t was
turned over to q field artillery regi-
ment. But when the ordnance depart
ment was called upon to put through d
program involving expenditures and
contracts totaling more than $4,50O,-
100000 In single year, the old way of
uOlh6 UAoAACSS 44tAA " CAlO tiLlu Tie OiQ
form Of organization had to be aban-
doned.
Organized the Forces.
To meet the new problem, most of
the ordnance experts-the regular
army officers-were assembled In what
Is known as the engineering bureau OF
the ordnance department, and to this
bureau was given the task of design
Ing ordnance material. How much de-
signing work there Is to be done in
the ordnance department Is suggested
by the fact that 10000 blue prints a
day are turned out In Washington
for the information of manufacturers
of ordnance material.
The next big task of the ordnance
department, after designing the ma.
terial, was to place contracts and pur-
chase orders. 1t was extremely diff
cult to find plants where ordnance ma
terial could be made, and in great
many cases 1t was necessary to have
factories built, or to have them equip
ped throughout with new machinery
and tools. Sometimes the ordnance de.
partment could not find anything more
to begin with than group Of men who
knew manufacturing methods. 1t
would persuade them to undertake the
making Of some part, would finance
them In building plant and In buying
machinery, and then would set them
at work manufacturing the thing need.
ed In the war program. 1t is clear
that the work Of placing contracts and
orders on 80 large scale Is an I'M
dustrial rather than a military func
tion Consequently an almost entire
ly civilian personnel was selected for
the procurement division, men who
were experienced In the lines of In
dustry affected, as. for instance, ex-
perts In shell industry, In explosives,
machine tools, textiles, etc.
The orders placed, 1t was next nee
essary to follow them up In each OF
THO more than 1,0aamna,lnitian sus
tories engaged up0y u rk.'
To do this, and to force quick produc-
ton, q production division was organ
lied which has representatives In every
plant and which Is responsible for all
production of material. This division,
too, is made up almost entirely of
civilians commissioned for the period
of the war. An inspection division has
the duty of making sure that guns and
shells are up to specifications. After
the material has been manufactured,
Inspected and accepted by the United
States government, 1t Is next necessary
to supply 1t to troops In the training
camps in this country and to the Amer
lean expeditionary forces in France.
Numerous Articles Required.
The extremely difficult problem of
the supply division of the ordnance de-
partment is readily understood when
1t Is known that there are more than |
100000 different articles which must |
be furnished to our fighting forces and |
which must be distributed under the |
most difficult circumstances without O
hitch. These 100000 articles range
from the small striker or firing pin Of |
a rifle or little nut or bolt to q NAM
moth railway mount for a 16-inch how |
itzer. Some Of the artillery carriages
have as many as 1000 parts and it is
the duty Of the ordnance department |
to repair and maintain such material. !