SHELLS FROM CANADA.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 February 1916, Page 4

SHELLS FROM CANADA.

TWENTY MILLIONS ORDERED. COST EXCEEDS £76,000,000 a statement of the shell buain** thn has been transacted in Canada on tehalf of the British Government since (lie out break of war was given lo The Toronto '«lobe last mc.ith, showing that i],p M nave been cr.!. ; r 3 given to CatocU for 22,800,000 spoils,.,ud that only CrHKl.fMo shells out of that number have fcone'flr. ward to Britain. • The cost of all the component pari* r»quired in the manufacturing of that many shells, including the machinify and assembling is estimated at ever £70,000,000. In addition there, hate been orders from the War Qm\» f<Mt cartridge cases, primers, forging*, etcamounting to £5,000,000. making a totlj slightly exceeding £75,000,000. EIGHT MILLION SHELLS .S,..*rfip, The actual shipments of ammunitiln that have gone forward to Britain frbm the factories of Canada have amotiHt«d to 2.000,000 "fixed" and 0.000,000 "unfixed" shells. Tliis total ontfiut el 8,000.000 shells out of 22,800.000. contracted for represents «n aotual expenditure to date of £16,000,000. The lattat available figure also show that there ar« some 422 plants engaged in fillinf tontracts at the present' time under tfc* direction of the Imperial Munition* Board. , > DIFFERENT KINDS OF AMMUNITION. The different kinds of shells that are being manufactured for the British G»vernment in Canada are described §» fal-lows:—ls-poundev shrapnel empty, 18pounder shrapnel empty. 18-potmder shrapnel fixed, 18-pounder'high-exp'.nsiva empty, 18-pounder high-explosive fixed. :4.5 howitzer empty, 4.5 howitzer fixed (except loading), OJO-pounder high-explo-sive empty, 6-inch high-explosive ernptv, R-hich high-explosive empty, O.&iuch high-explosive empty. It should be explained that a projectile to which have been attached or "fixed" a cartridge case containing the propelling charge, constitutes f'ilxed" ammunition, whether the shell contains the bursting charge »r not.

! CONDITION AWKWARD IN CANADA. 0 The natural conditions under which these different kinds of shells have to j be manufactured in Canada make it extremely difficult to send forward to [Britain in a steady flow a huge volume of "Uxed" shells. Each of these shell' !has its vital requirements, which ni"«t he met in the minutest detail. For instance, the "18-»ounder shrapnel fiifed ammunition" contains the following parts in addition to the special machining and I assembling that have to he done In I connection with the finishing of each shell: Forgings, copper hands, brass lubes, tin cups, steel disc, brass sockets, plugs, bullets, buckshot, resin, grub screws, paint, , cartridge cases. nrimers, clips, cordite, pellets, powder fuses, loading, and 4 rd. botes. 1 . ) NUMBER OF PARTS VARIES. The nrnvW of components, of criurm 'varies. The "18-pdunder shrapnel empty" contains onlv the follower •lumber of parts: Forginga, eopsev bajtds brass tubes, tin cups, steel discs, brasf* sockets, plugs, bullets, buckshot, resin grub screws, paint, and six rd. boxes. , MUNITIONS BOARD'S BIG TASK. The other shells also vary in the!'/ number of components from ten to I'ishtoer. But the two instances nnotf'l are sufficient to show the number »f processes which have to be by the 422 manufacturing plants hefora a complete shell can be turned out, whether empty or fixed. Add to the complex nature of this shelt Industry the fact that the plants engaged In filling British Government contracts In Canada are scattered at various intervals right across >thp continent, with no one plant able to do all the work essential to the complete manufacture of one piece of ammunition, ami the magnitude of the task assigned to the Imperial Munitions Board becomes fairly plain. ANXIOUS TO DO F.ASIEST THINGI. In England in the regular muni" tions factories an 18-pounder 6i*i shrapnel shell would bo turned out complete in one place. In Canada probably twenty different plants, scattered over a distance of two or three thousand miles, are busy making that same shell, And nnturally, up till recently, every plant has been anxious to do the easy thing—namely, make the steel ca*o of the shell. The result has been, as (he Hgures show, that only 2.000,000 flxfd pieces of ammunition have gone forward, us compared with O,OO»,O00 unfixitl pieces.