THE "KNOCK-OUT" IN THE WAR WORKS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3044, 3 April 1917, Page 7

THE "KNOCK-OUT" IN THE WAR WORKS

1 ' GERMANS BEiiTM v ; / VICKEKS DIRECTOR'S VIEWS ;There is. at presont a very intare'sU ing visitor m Australia in the parson of .Mr. Charles- J. ]VlacMahoHj 'a director,' with Mr. Albert Viokers and Su' Vincent Caird,. the famous armament works' of" Viokers/, Son/ and .Maxim, and of tho: hydro-electrio;:• company's works' in Norway and Sweden for' tho manufacture of carbido of calcium and cyanathide.. ''From the carbide of «ali ctum is manufactures .tie cyanannHdy I oxplained Mr. MaoMahon to a renre'sontairro of :tho "Sydney _ Mormiag i Heram)" ''and this ls~aono by picking I up tho atmospheric nitrogen.; Tho cyanamide forms thebase for. .the anir monia for tho production of nitrate of ammonia and nitric acid for explo-sive-purposes." , ... 1 ■ ■:, In Mr. ; MacMahon's opinion, Gormany is already -beaten-in the war. ''I must speak with reserve," he said, i "becauso it. would not ■be to - the interests of\ tho. British Empire to tall all,:I f know. Still, I think I may say that there is no doubt that at the present moment ah absolute supremacy has been established by the British and French munition workers generally, oyer; the Germans, both as.regards ordnance and also high explosive.- This fact is already apparent in the dread which, the' Germans have exhibited in the face of reflenfc hombardaaents." Ho has no doubt of the moaning of the German retreat in tho West. At the suggestion that the : retreat was merely in accordance with a great strategic plan devised, by Hindenburg, ho shrugged his shoulders and said: "No; it means a gobd deal more than that. They wero afraid of the attack' which they knew was .coming—afraid that they /would be unable to sustain it. Although tho' retreat-may ,for the moment hold: off the great offensive,that offensive is sure to develop as soon as the necessary supplies of matorial and gunß can be brought up. Tho result is certain, inasmuch as they will be subjected to bombardments so terrific that the offensive .on': the Soinme. Will be only a, minor matter in comparison. If it had not been for'tho.fact that'the : Germ'ana had established huge works at Lud- . wigshaven, in Westphalia, . for tho manufacture of atmospheric nitrogen, the war would never have been fought, as the German was far too clever a man to. have gone into a war of this magnitude with the knowledge that the supplies of tho" raw material would be cut off, as they have been, by,the Britnah •

Mr. MacMahon said that the change hat had come over Great was vonderful, and it was not surprising ,hat the Germans were anxious for leace, for they knew that from' this jut their position would continue to grow worse and worse. "Why," ho lidded, "there aro some firms that are omploying an army of workpeople—over 100,000 each—at the present time in the manufacture of guns and explosives in Great Britain, to say nothing of tlie munitions factories established liy the British. Government itself. But, perhaps, I had hotter not go into the matter more fully."