The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-07

company. To ally such fears il Il
Wen to point out that prior to The
European war the company had been
engaged in commercial business for
( lib years OF which eight and one half
years only might be termed war
years. Therefore, Its history Is not
one or military establishment.
preparation for the great struggle
just ended was made under conditions
of peace.
After liquidation of mun;tion bus
ness The company will hold about
s1oV,vvo,0vu VI asses from wh!en.
Under normal conditions earnings VI
IA A-1 per cent are TO be expec,ed as
ms was The average maintained tor
many years before The war. THESE
earnings, S23,u0u.oUp, compare favor
ABLY with present dividend require
mems OF + per cent on Depen .ure
STOCK ana = per cent on The common
SOCK or $i4.z50.Vu0. Military pow
der business prior TO the war amount
ed 10 about s per cent of the gross
earnings of the company SO tina, The
compiete loss OF munidon orders can
not prove very serious blow 10 The
future of the company"
The munition business has been al
most completely limited War con-
tracts amounting to $2s0.O00. 600 have
been cancelled. The working forcs
has been reduced from S5,83S to es,.
! 600 and the company has settled
down to the development of it's com.
mercial business
| A very interesting section of the
report deals with the way prices were
reduced during the war. There was
no increase except at the beginning
] when 1t was necessary, in order to dc
the work quickly, that the foreign Gus.
| toners should pay O price to cover tho
cost or plant construction. Even this
price was an increase Of only about
rs per cent over the peace-t time prices
An analysis of the sales, the report
says, shows that In spite OF this early
advance, th< average cost to the
United States government and the al.
lies for powder contracted during the
four years, l9l5-l9l8. was Q II per cent
/ higher than the price hxed by con.
gress for several years prior to the
war. The contracts with the United
states government, made in the years
1917 and 1918, were at prices i0.7
per cent lower. and for 1919, 1873 pei
cent lower than that prevailing be-
fore the war. At all times a uniform
price was made to the United States
and the allies. Inquiry has failed te
reveal another case where a war es.
sential has been sold below pre-waI
price 1t must be remembered thai
during these four~years the cost of al
raw material has advanced tremen
dousfy During the last year OF this
war their cost was 132 per cent higher
than for the year prior to the war"
These reductions In prices were due
very largely to the development o.
new methods and new sources Of sup
ply for materials used In the manufac
lture of explosives. The report point,
out that revolutionary changes adopt
ed resulted In a rapidly" increasing
output as well ms an economy OF timt
and labor The 1913 output required
the employment of $4,000 men lesl
than the proportionate number neces
sary under pre-war conditions. Op
Grating methods developed during tn,
war work resulted In O calculable say
ing of s74,000,000.
The chemical and mechanical re
search departments effected larg'
economies. In one case alone, tina
of reduction In consumption of alec
Isaving of 100000 bushels of corn
The total expenditure for experiment
and research during The four year
Iamounted to $4,000 900.
The traffic department, which wa
Irresponsible for the delivery of mate
trials. including nitrates from Chire
made saving which the report est
mates at siS.700,000.
War Work Figures.
Many of the figures dealing will
war work, as given In the report, ar
startling.
j Construction costing 1890, 0o0. oG
has been executed by an engineerin,
department expanding from 500 t,
As 600 men at the peak. This con
) struction included:
/ Power houses Of 100000 boile
horsepower.
/ Pumping stations with a capacity o
30b.Q00.000 gallons per day. exceed
ing the combined daily water con
sumption Of the cities Of Philadelph!,
and Boston.
/ Filtration plants Of 17S.ooo. 600 gal
Ions daily capacity.
pacfty of s,3s0.000 pounds OF ice pc
day equal to the consn. nption of tn,
city OF Chicago.
4 One hundred miles of standard rail
road and 20S miles OF narrow gaug,
railroad, with classification yards ca D
able OF handling 1900 cars at on
time.
/ Storage capacity for 500. 900 tons o
coal. OF which the daily consumption
was l0,700 tons.
Individual dwellings were built {,
the number OF 1870. These. together
with tho accompanying hotels. board
ing houses, etc.. are capable Of hous
inR- oS.oeo petoona. 4 Il ,-
\ 0ommuAlty hn1t1in0A 49, - q. y