BIG MUNITION WORKS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 147, 18 February 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

BIG MUNITION WORKS.

"WHERE MILLIONS OF SHELLS ARE MADE. As Minister of Munitions, Mr. Lloyd George is the greatest employer of labour in the world- He controls 1,679 munit on factories, employing a million workpeop'e. * * * The whole kingdom is mapped out in eleven munition areas, seven in England and Wales, two in Scotland, and two in Ireland. The areas are subdivided into a varying number of d stricts, and each district has a local board of management, acting under the Ministry of Munitions. * * * The boards of management have drastic powers for taking the lathes, engineering equipment, and factories in their areas. At the Ministry of Munitions is an official for each local area. * * * At one factory in Birmingham 7.000.000 rifle cartridges are turned out every week. Of the 7,000 employees at the factory, over 4,000 are women, each earning from 30s. to £3, and even more, a week. * * * In the Leeds area there was not a single munition factory at the beginn'ng of the war. Now there are 500. The National Shell Factory at Keighley turns out thousands of shel's a week. * * * So keen is the competition between the munition factories in Yorkshire to break records in output that they hare a challenge shield for the best shift, the competition being a weekly one. * * * In Scotland is to be found the 'arjest munition factory in the kingdom. In size it is second only to Krupps. It is at present directly employing abjit CO,OOO persons, including (5,000 wonuu. Some idea of the varied requirements of modern warfare may !>c gained from the fact that at this Scottish factory seventy-seven different varieties of shells are made. * # * The champion of the factory is a girl who is machining the copper bands on shells. Her record is 1.014 in a ten-hour shift, or, say, 01 an hour. She earns £-3 a week. * * # The munition factories in Scotli.id have been given names tha; h;:"e Income famous in the war, such as Ypres, Albert, Liege, Maine, Anzac, Mons, etc. Tho patriotic enthusiasm of the Scottish munition workers may be gathered from the fact that a new factory covering 200 acres is nearing completion, although it was begun less than two months ago. The secret of this lightning speed is perhaps the best thing of all. The contractor is doing the work for nothing, and the men, inspired by his lead, are playing an equally patriotic part. At one small Scott r sk factory there are 320 girls, with onh eight skilled men to look after them. They are making high explosive shells and they turn out many thousands a week. Most of the girl munition workers wear khaki overalls and caps, while each bench or lathe "sports" its national flags. * * # Leeds was the first in the field in "West Riding, and now has a munition factory in which 1,200 men are employed.