GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 15, 21 December 1915, Page 6

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

'■nv« ■■■ . , lf . . „V ” , .London,, December 19. t ? le ' j London press are ■ attracting atten("tron? declares that England’s share is i 'nq|; niiderstood,on the dontinent, even * bj,thV .Continentals do not ap'pfeciafe ihe work of the navy, and as ' ’the'Kerman navy is not yet defeated they fail to comprehend the tremendous importance which lias resulted from sea ppwer. They are also struck by the short British front in Flanders. Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden likewise believe that the individualism render ‘them macapaliie of co-ordinate effort, .but they Ittle knbw what England is doing' The writer continues: “I have just cypssed Great Britain from one end to the other, and have visited innumer- ' able, towns and cities, i Britain at last ’ is' mobilisediand this achievement fay ' surpasses the wildest German idea of what is colossal. I have seen factory after factory working steadily for tweiity-fdur hours a day arid on seven

days a Week, employing thousands of men and women in making shells, ' shells, shells. I have seen factory af'ter factory making aeroplanes ; I have seen guns being forged of the stoutest' steel, requiring sixteen hours in a. blast fiirria'ce. to heat; I have seen motor lorries and staff automobiles iij row upon row, and motor ambulances waiting to be sent to the front; I Have seed shell cases pressed out of a living ingot in less’ than five minutes; I have seen shells forged at. a speed thrice as great as formerly. I have j seen smaller; shells, chiefly eighteen pounders, turned on a lathe by young girls of lb to .1.8 years, many of whom are frail and slight, alul for whom it is. a. difficult life. It is heavy metal, yet the shells are piled, grouping in pyraiai(|S. about them in every avail- . njjle , space. ,1 have seen young girls turning put fuses of aluminium and hxesj}, .forking steadily without looking up from the lathes. Men are wprkiug great forges where gun parts are cast, straining every muscle to accomplish ,'tlje" difficult task of handling gjreat ditmps, of'red hot metal w ’Ath ‘by’‘the- hupdreds, rifles by c ‘ t ul • workmansliip apd finish. 1 have seen mile upon mile of khaki cloth reeled q|f lopms by the thousands of yards; prepared white woollen cloth for wta-PPing propelling charges ; and paifsi of Knit khaki puttes patterned by a single kpife-cut, and fist ipight be extended indefinitely.

The whole north country is turned into one vast; .arsenal f . .and all this means that England has at last turn- ( | ed her full energy to her mighty task. The entire industrial output ia Great Britain is under Government control, not as in Germany, where there is a | transformation of industry,, such as a lead pencil factory being mobilised , to make-shrapnel bullets. In' England, I old plants arc at work on the usual products, while guns, shelly, acrco-j planes, and all other necessities of the war are being made, in many cases, in | new factories, which are springing up with mushroom growth all over the country. No more striking example of national energy, directed, consolidated, and centralised under direct Government control can be found. r ihe master mind behind this gigantic industrial enterprise has created a compulsory system stronger and more powerful than any hitherto devised, even in Germany. Employer and employee are merged into the State; the servant is now awake and has chosen the path to victory.”