USING UP OLD SHELLS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1923, Page 1

USING UP OLD SHELLS

!>,R ITRI.i AMMI'NITKIN HF.ST. LONDON, duly til. Mr r. N. Hil'kett. who during the l:i-t three years has been hreakingd,,wn ."itltl,ooo tons of British, I'T-cttch. American. Belgian, Oeriimn. and Hus--ian ammtiniiion in Frame. will lecture on his experiences to an audience ~l British iillieers at the .Kolian Hall oil Wednesday next. Mr Pickett told a Daily Mail reporter that. British ammunition was the best in the world. That used during tlm war was so well made that it would have stood exposure to rain and hail weather for a great number of years, but the derm an was highly dangerous to handle lifter it had been exposed for some time. The (.*cit ll :i n tuii In" Lies made miscaleulai ions in their design of fuse. They used what was known as the powder pellet I use. and in Afr Pickett's opinion it was far more dangerous to the army using it than to their opponents. Mr Pickett said the British methods of -toting ammunition were equally successful fur -mall or large dumps. Those engaged in the work of breaking down poison gas shells had found new and better methods of combat mg poison gases, which would he of great as-istance to the Army authorities in any future war.

The steel from the broken-down ammunition i- being sent to steel works and converted into rails, girders, ship plates and tin plates. The T.X.T. recovered has been used extensively in blasting operation- in quarries, while the ammonium nitrate has been used as a fertiliser. Some of the material from the poison gas shells is being used for medical purposes, and large amounts of iodine have been recovered.

There have been remarkably few accidents during the work, in the course of which temporary towns, with complete drainage and lighting systems and railways, have been constructed. The wooden houses used for the workers are being sold for erection in other parts of France.