Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-01
LOCAL INDUSTRIES
REWARDED BY u. S.
Official Recognition for Service
Rendered During the
World War.

| Recognition from the government Of
| the war services of Wilmington industries
| was extended, in the form of certificates
| presented 10 representatives of the com
panies, at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon in
| the Council chamber of the Public Build
| ing. The presentation was made by
! Colonel George w. Biegler, commanding
officer of the Twelfth United States
| Cavalry. Mayor William G.. Taylor
presented Colonel Biegler, and at the
close of the exercises expressed his
qualification that Wilmington has So
many people who deserve the gratitude of
the government for their services during
/ the war.
In making the presentation Colonel
| Biegler spoke OF the vast army of manu-
| facturcrs necessary TO keep the fighting
| forces in any war equipped and condition
ed TO keep up the light. No war can be
won, he declared, by soldiers alone. The
skill and industry of manufacturers is
| equally necessary and this service he
asserted, has become of increasing irn-
portance as the technical element in war
fare has replaced men TO some extent with
material. Patriotic service may be render
cd in this work, he concluded, as well as by
shouldering q gun
Certificates were presented to the fol-
lowing concerns. Joseph A. Vogel Co,
represented by +. A. Webb: pusey &
Jones Co, represented hy Nisse karfve;
Hercules Powder Co, represented by J. T.
Skelly; Artillery Fuse Co, represented by
w T.. Slower: L. l. du Pont de Nemours
Co, represented by Col. u. G. Buclener;
Charles Warner Co, represented by W. r.
Hazard; James B. Oberly; du Pont
Engineering Co, represented by III. NJ
ta1 nv
Harry r. Speakman.
Certificates were also on hand for the
Brosius & Smedley Co. and the Atlas
Powder Co. and for the Delaware Terra
Gotta Gotta Co, which had no repre-
sentatives at the meeting.
ACHIEVEMENT OF pu roNT CO.
Colonel f. c. Buckner represented T. /
iu Pont de Nemours Il Co lie is vice
president and director Of that corporation
and was in charge ol the military sales
department all during the period uf the
European war. The results achieved by the
du Pont Co. IN the manufacture of ex-
plosives for the United States govern
ment and the Allied nations are regarded as
remarkable Its factories produced | =
ACC, 761, ,2l9 pounds of military explosives
Of all kinds The Importance Of this work
is better realized from the fact that thus
output is estimated at more than 40 per
cent of the amount Of explosives made
throughout the world for the Allies during
the war The number Of men employed
in the military factories alone reached
maximum of A7,p1i, an organization built
,lp from a total Of $500 employed in all
departments Of the company before the
war. Prior To the war the company had
made comparatively little powder for
foreign nations The sudden call of the
allied governments required the fitting
Of its form of powder, then almost un-
known abroad 20 guns designed TO use
other ammunition This necessitated
development of 40 different powders for as
many guns.
In addition 10 the foreign powder. the
United States government needed for
army and navy use. 90 different powders.
all produced under strict specifications
Many changes in the ballistic require
ments Of the guns made if necessary 20 re-
establish the characteristics Of the powder,
a change that was equivalent TO the fitting
Of entirely n CIV guns.
Although the output Of standard mill
tarv products was very large, the pro-
duction Of special explosives and of count
less accessories. such as caps. fuzes, igni-
ton pellets. and the loading of explosives
for Use In the field, was also Of extreme inn
portance In the cap works and loading
department alone the number OF employees
increased from 225 before the war to more
than 4 500 in November. 1918.
Do poNT ENGINEERING CO.
Harry NJ Pierce, director and chief
engineer of F. |. du pont de Nemourg &
Co. and vice-president of the du Pont
Engineering Co, represented this latter
company. The du Pont Engineering Co
was organized for the purpose of segregat-
ing the work undertaken for the United
States government in the construction of
the Old Hickory powder plant, near
Nashville, Tenn, and the shell loading
plant at Penniman, Va The construction
of the Old Hickory plant was generally |
recognized as one of the really great en- |
gineering feats of the war Ground was |
broken, March s, 1918. The contract |
called for the erection of factory capable |
of producing 900.o pounds of military |
smokeless powder in each day of "a hours, |
the plant to be divided into nine complete |
units of 100000 pounds daily capacity |
each. Finished powder was granulated |
l16 days after breaking ground, and I2l |
days ahead of contract requirements. At |
the signing of the armistice the factory |
was 93 per cent completed, or 96 days |
ahead of schedule time. The considera- |
ton for the construction of this plant was |
81
From the beginning of the war, con-
struction work for military purposes cost |
ing S220, 600 900 was executed by the /
engineering department Of the du Pont /
Co There were at times as many as As |
600 men employed in this organization, /
which was built up from a nucleus of |
about 500 employed in the department |
during the six months prior to the war.
The construction work involved much
that was peculiar to the explosive busi-
ness for which designs, layouts, etc,
nearly all were prepared by du Pont men,
being unobtainable elsewhere The mill
tarv powder factories constructed by T.. !. I
du Pont de Nemours & Co and its sub
sidiary, the du Pont Engineering Co,
covered 9,025 acres IA square niles, |
equal TO twice the built up area of Viii |
mington. Their annual capacity was $685.
900, 600 pounds of explosives or in car
loads, sufficient to extend from Baltimore
to New York in continuous line. At the
height Of the work the rate of yearly ex-
penditures was three times as great as
that of the construction of the Panama
Canal
Injured by Fall.
Edward Mathogel, aged 53 years, 1901 /
Market street, employed on the construct
4