The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-08-19

Il According u report submitted
- TIE war Aepaffmsnt by Colonel
D. n. King. commaudant Of the
! Rock Island arsenal, made public
today, the plant had just reached
its maximum production on Armis-
is16e Day.
figures submitted By Colonel
King, indicate thst the arsenal
IstandB - one OF the greatest in-
s1eitutions Of IT. hind in the world,
~ In some branches has NO equal.
sau6tyled the sEsssn" Of America,
thS var plant rivals the famous
Kru4p works Of Germany In the
opinion Of the commandant.
Coming down from its tremendu-
fOus operations Of the World war,
~ ~ now on . peace organization,
and . measure Of comparison be-
tween its peace time activities and
y ~ war efforts 70 now available.
~ During the war the government
spent more than SIS, 100000 at
Rock Island, exclusive Of the vast
gums spent by manufacturing COM
spanies which worked there during
the war. On the day of the armis-
.tics the plant was employing a.
.,778. Of whom 1900 were women.
In the three years before the
United States entered the war, the
government spent nearly $4,000
BOO. This expenditure Of 100000
q year compared with $89, 900 900 in
the war, indicated the great ex-
bansion during the emergency.
When the country entered the
war, there were $500 men and
500 women employed at the ar
senal, which had been increasing
its personnel as the result of dis
turbances on the Mexican border.
During the war the number of en-
ployes increased at the rate Of 300
month. No women shop workers
were employed until May 20, 1918.
III Expansion Remarkable.
The war emergency caused the
government to expend $17,341,487
on new buildings and increased
facilities. This was twice as much
AZ had been spent in building \the
entire ARSENAL from the time Of Its
founding in 1862, up to the Span.
ish-American war.
1.-THE arsenal now rs equipped fol
the manufacture OF artillery car.
'rfages, caissons. timbers, battery
and store wagons, rifles, canteens
cups, meat cans, arm racks, cart.
ridge storage cases, targets. chests
of various types, bayonets, bolt
and saber scabbards, haversacks
shells, harness and almost every.
thing an army requires. The plan
also can produce many commercial
articles for the peace time activi
ties required by various depart
sments of the government.
1.-The harness manufacturing de
partment is the largest in tn,
world. said Colonel King. Durinl
the war 24,212 sets of artiller!
harness were made. and 74,207 set
were assembled. There were man
ufactured $50 75-milemeter gul
carriages. 1914 4.7-inch gun car
riages, six 3-inch gun carriage
and two 6-inch howitzer gun car
lriages, during the period. GU
lcaissonss numbered 121, gun an,
forge limbers 446, battery and stor
wagons 225. In addition the ar
semi furnished to the supply de
paftment and to various othe
manufacturing concerns 264 4.
Irecoi1 cylinders and 9,71S artiller,
vehicles.
sThe manufacture Of rifles wa
ohe OF the principal tasks through
out the war. Almost $500 men an
women were employed in the SINAI
arms plant alone. An equivalen
OF 1850 rifles were mAnufae
ttred. and assembled or furnishe
at repair parts. The high waite
niafk was reached in Octobe,
1e1S. when parts sufficient for 80
As5 rifles were made.
Personal Equipment
There were 16g, 1876 1N1mm. how
itssr steiis loaded. Approximate
10000 complete sets Of person;
etiipmens were manufactured il
EEding 1872 100 bacon cans, :53
40 knives. 94,457 cups, 85S,31
haversacks snd l09,256 pack cal
kiefs.
~ K LAWN SOCIAL-SUPPER.