The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-09-21
[CIever CTS Constructed Bases
|of Serop-wood> Packing Cases
ny HARRY GRAYSON
NEA Staff Correspondent

RUNNING - In India, Bur-
ma and China, the American CT
hss built everything from show
er baths to . modern mainten-
ance line for huge C-54 trans
bort planes. Out Of practically
nothing they have built saw
mills. foundries, ice plant and
cold storage units and what-not.
You should see some of the bars
In clubs for enlisted men, non
CONS and officers. They're made
out Of broken airplane parts and
packing cases.
At Tezgaon, $50 miles north
east Of Calcutta, Col. Andrew
!. Cannon's record wrecking
Bengal Wing built much OF the
equipment for Its modern pro-
duction maintenance line for c.
04s out Of old bed springs. pipe
and plane parts. There IL no
better plant in the United States
Or one doing more work.
BUILD EQUIPMENT
The men built their own
three-deck, adjustable platform
for making repairs and clean
ing. They built and put up their
own flood lamps for night work.
In upper Assam Province. In
dia, from whence planes took Oft
for the hop over the Hump, the
transportation of vital supplies
in adequate quantity was an ad-
.ditionally arduous task without
the increased problem Of build
Ing equipment. Warehouses and
sheds were built a. much as pos
sible of bamboo, but in this mon
soon focal area, complete pro-
lection from weather Is needed
for many items.
T/Sgt. Stirl Hatfield of Ran
som, KY, was a lumber con-
tractor in his pre-khaki days. He
was provided with 81 inch
circular blade, and behold - a
saw mill!
With what nature endowed
the valley, the scrap heap and
other such sources of supply, he
parlayed that 54-inch circular
blade into the Assam Saw Mill
turning out 5000 feet Of lumber
per day. He has ID loggers on
full time in the jungle. Tons of
supplies have been preserved as
. result.
Edward r. Dillen. Of Cleve-
Land, discovered a sand mixed
with molasses that produces the
proper molding solution for his
homemade foundry at the Gen.
,tral India Air Depot. Since that
humble beginning, he continual
~ has developed the foundry
until today there are 500 diff
,ferent parts being cast by it.
With a compressor and con-
,denser as his original equipment,
T/Sgt. Charles E. Hankes, OF
Dubuque, drummed up an Ice
xalant and cold storage unit In
slightly tepid Assam. Since am
snonia was being used as the re-
.frigerant, brass fittings would
have been useless even were
they available. Iron fittings were
not available. So T/Sgt. Hankes
experimental on welding on
high pressure lines and with i'm
prbvised supports, the solution
was at hand. Expansion coils
were devised from tubing In the
scrap-pile.
CRAZY QUILT ICE PLANT
To a refrigeration engineer
the contraption may appear to
be on the crazy quilt side, but
the ice plant produces 5000
pounds of ice, and the food
epoilage that resulted from the
intense heat and humidity Of
the Assam Valley was hurdled.
When the air warning system
at the Central India Air Depot
broke down because a water
pump would not function and
the worn parts were fireplace
able, S/Sgt. William w. Lamke
of Chicago redesigned the ma
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