ONE-ARMED WORKERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1921, Page 2

ONE-ARMED WORKERS.

A TRIUMPH OF MECHANISM

NEW ZEALANDER’S INVENTION.

London, March 24. Until brought into the limelight by the Ministry of Labor at the recent Effb ciency Exhibition, held, at Olympia, Mr. P. M. M‘Kay, the New Zealander, whe is doing so much for the one-armed exsoldiers, had never given a thought to the publicity of his ingenious artificial arms invention; but somehow his fame* spread tq Central Africa, with the result that a young girl has been brought to England to be fitted. Up to a short time ago Mr. M‘Kay had eon-« fined his attention to manufacturing

with sfteel and aluminium, but the new: civilian demand has caused him to bring

into use a lighter material. This ia formed from about a dozen layers of fabric cemented and hardened with a mixture known as certalmid. It is fin-* ished off with celluloid solution and celluloid varnish, and can be shaped an<i colored like the human arm.

I have had the privilege of going over the factory in Blackfriars-road, where Mr. M’Kay now has 100 one-armed men carrying on the highly technical work of manufacturing his successful type of artificial arm. It is a wonderful sight, and certainly the only one of its kind in the world. There are certainly a few men who have the use of two natural hands, but on inquiry it turns out that} most of those are legless or one-legged men. One of these was Mr. W. H. Pittj who was with the Auckland Regiment* and was wounded on the memorably 25th September, 1916. when in support of the attack on Switch Trench al Flera. As the result of his wound hd lost his left leg. He has remained with his people in England, and has beeij working with Mr. M’Kay for sound . time. His intention, however, is M I return to Auckland in due course.

There is nothing awkward or slow in the work done by these men, who art affected with severe disability. The delicate steel work, the lathe turning the filling, plating, vulcanising, rivetting,* all are carried out with amazing dex-< terity and dispatch. Indeed, their unfrtih ing concentration on their work and their enthusiasm for it would put to shame many au unafflietfed man, whose dilatory ways and lack of interest are the cause of frequent conn ment. Mr. M‘Kay’s place is essentially a factory for efficient work, and is ran on a business basis. It undoubtedly proves that with the aid of mechanism, ingeniously contrived, these victims of the war can be made almost as useful in mechanical trades as they were befor< they paid the penalty of military vice. The proof of this is easy to findtj The Government provide the man-* many of them previously without < trade—Mr. M‘Kay gives them six monthsl tuition, and after that guarantees them £3 ids per week. The guarantee is low, but no one in the factory who has proved to be worth keeping after six months—and very few fail—is earning less than £4 10s to-day. Most ard earning a great deal more, and some are making £0 10s a week. It was upon as a joke to employ these men atj first. Now it is merely a business pro* position, carried out by a business man. Sir James Allen, at whose suggestion and by whose aid Mr. M’Kay came to England, has heard with great intereelj of the success which has so far achieved, and he is hoping soon ta gd over the factory himself.