The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-05-22

for manning the rapidly enlarged
plants which were necessitated by the
tremendous scale Of operations ror
supplying war needs, and the addition
al labor required was easily trained
by these skilled forces in the dyestuff
plants.
Furthermore said the Major,
Germany, stands today practically as
efficient as ever, because she had all
of her manpower registered and CLASH
fed in accordance with her pre-war
system, and was able from the outset
to avoid the mistakes made particu-
larry by the British and French, and
by retaining for these plants the high
est type of trained labor to insure
maximum efficiency of operation. This
labor has been carefully conserved
throughout the war period.
The Germans utilized to full ca
nacity the equipment already on hand
suitable for the manufacture of high
explosives and Intermediates, and rap
idly constructed in the vicinity of the
IllONICl Dldlll lHc hCNCoodBy z
ings and equipment to increase their
production on a tremendous scale. 1t
has been the popular opinion that Ger
many was so crippled by her war &C.
tivity that many building operations
could not take place, but frequently I
saw in these plants recent develop
ments, in fact as late as the spring of
1918, for increasing the comfort and
convenience of workmen to ar extent
which would be considered luxury in
war time.
AT one of the principal plants the
Germans had previously been some
what reluctant about the manufacture
of high explosives, but under the
stress of war conditions and the influ-
ence of the Berlin administration Gas
they described it) they erected a large
plant for the manufacture of T. N. r.
in the near vicinity of their dyestuff
works. This plant operated very sue
cessfuiiy, turning out a large produc-
ton, having the advantage of the
u L pei ollilC III IlCll pidlJ' HIS
is quite illustrative of the general con-
ditions l saw in the chemical indus
tries in Germany.
'These new explosive plants resem-
bled su~bterranean dugouts, barely
more than the roof showing above
ground, the storehouses were protect
ed from air raids, and entertainments
were placed about the various build
ings to prevent the distribution of
disastrous explosives.
Despite the repeated reports cir.
that air raids have produced consid-
cradle damage in these plants, there
is no apparent destruction or damage
which | could observe. In several iso-
and slight damage has been done, but
no destruction on a large scale. Par
ticularly at the largest of these plants,
in Ludwigshafen, they were well pro-
tected with large anti-aircraft forti-
fications, and most of the damage re-
ported was done in the city of Mann
helm, across the river.
"Rumors were circulated that the
Germans were giving up their poison
gas warfare on account of the destruc-
ton of their chemical factories pro-
ducing poison gases. There is no ap-
parent confirmation of n such de-
| otr,,ctinn IN fhoca 70 nfnrinc hOunyar
and the real reason was probably due
to the change of the type Of warfare
from trench warfare to field opera
tions, and the fact that they did not
have enough gas to cover the much
more widely extended operations.
"In these chemical plants, with the
use of standard types of machinery,
it had been a simple matter by slight
adjustments to utilize the equipment
already there for the manufacture of
mustard gas, di-phosgene, and other
poison gases on a large scale.
with possibly only one exception
the methods Of preparation and man.
ufacture used by the Germans were
inferior to those in practice in the AL
lied plants, but the Germans had the
distinct advantage of having their
equipment practically all ready to op.
crate, with a w~ell-trained personnel to
handle it.
"In the plants themselves" said Ma
jor Sill, 'there is no marked superior
ity noticeable as far as equipment and
layout are concerned. Having had the
advantage OF the last four years of
turers and machinery builders have
benefited by their experiences and
lessons learned, so that their plants