THE HEART OF THE 'PLANE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 60, 4 December 1917, Page 3

THE HEART OF THE 'PLANE

THE ARTIFICERS. In pre-war days it was just a coalyard; now it lias becomo a factory where men in blue and women clad in overalls work night and day making pistons for aeroplanes (states M. Torin in the "Daily News").

"A piston is such an important part of any machine. It is so good, when you- see an aeroplane overhead, to feel that one of our pistons may be whirring insido it," a woman worker confided i to me. "We've helped to make pistons for some of tho fastest machines—and it's lovely work, for you can never be quite certain of your core until you've turned him out!"

At tables ranged on either sido of a. long light room some twenty women were modelling the cores of pistons from a sand and sawdust preparation. This mixture is built up ligntly and firmly into wooden boxes, in which it is necessary to "plant" several small bits of metal. These act as chills to the molten miralite (an alloy of aluminium) when it is poured into the steel moulds at a later stage. .

_ The workers have quaint and affectionate nicknames for these metal fragments; they allude to the various shapes as "noses," "sofas," and the like. In order to bind these chills more firmly into the mould a kind of mud from the river bottom is used, and is known throughout the workshops as "body."

Tho sand must be tightly packed into the boxes. Various tools are pushed down into the core in order to make ventilation spaces;'and then, when the sand is level with the top of the box, the piston core must be turned out— a ticklish job for the beginner. The centre framework —a somewhat spidery arrangement, - whose points are apt to break the delicate edges of'the mould, although they .have been previously damped with a small brush—must be picked out, and tho piston core stands perfect, its queer protuberances corresponding to the indents required on the finished piston.

Haying got bo far the worker moves across to a centre table, where she paints her core, discussing many things meanwhile with the other workers who are at the same stage of the work as herself Thus the centre table, where the paint liquids dwell, forms a sociable kind of club, which every worker must of necessity visit several times in the cour,se of an eight-hours' shift. As many as forty-six cores have been made by one worker in a day. When tho cores have been painted over with the hardening liquid they resemble rather solid blancmanges in appearance. That is the end of the women's work in this department; thereafter on the men's side of the works, where are the immonse furnaces, the molten metal is poured into steel moulds containing the cores; and after certaiii processes the finished piston emerges, owing its creation in the earlier stages entirely to women.

In this particular branch the educated women invariably do tho best work, since if eye and liand are to act in harmony a certain amount of intellectual training is desirable. At the placo of which I am writing a doctor's wife'was the first lady to undertake the work, and she has gathered about her an ever-growing band of loyal helpers.

The workers come hero for a week to learn the job. After that pay—and very good pay, too—begins on factory lines; so much an hour for beginners, increasing as the worker's proficiency dovelops, with extra money for overtime.

Contributions to tho Countess of Liverpool Fund have been received from the following during the past week:— Inglewood Patriotic League, Miss Stella Bell, Waverley Ladies'. League, per Miss Oheyne, Khandallah Guild (Mrs. Dale).

SUPERFLUOUS HAIR.

Extract by David Walsh, M.D.- (Edin ) Senior Physician,' Western Skin Hospital, London"The only treatment of any use for the permanent, removal of superfluous hair is that by electrolysis. It is largely in the hands of unqualified persons, who, by their specious promises and unskilled methods, have done much to bring into disrepute a method wliieb, despite its difficulties, is the only one yet discovered by medical science." The following is a testimonial received by Mrs. Rolleston, Specialist in Electrolysis, Diploma, Boston, U.S.A.:—

"Having, as an old lady nearly 80, undergone a course of electrolysis l>y Mrs. Rolleston for the removal of superfluous hair, I have very great pleasure in testifying not only to its perfect efflcioncy, but also to.its comparative painlessness."

All treatments are given personally by Mrs. Rolleston by' her special pnicce. Fee, 10s. per i.nif-ltour troiV.nne.it. Appointments necessary. , 256 Lambton iluay— Alvt.

Boys' liats in boaters, pedal straw, Panama, or washing hats, aro showing at prices ranging from Is, to 10s. Gd. Goo. IWHs, Ltd., Manners Street.— Advt.

All parents are hereby cordially refiuested to encourage Stationers and Storekeepers to push tho sale of "Thinker" Brand Writing Tablets and "Thinker" School Exercise Books for tho nation's good—Bannatyne and Hunter, Ltd., wholesale agents for the "Thinker." —Advt.