After we received these instructions there was great uncertainty here as to the quantity of each item that should be produced; and this matter was not settled until August 5, 1918, when an enormous program of requirements was issued. At first it seemed that the Government itself must build new factories to take care of these needs, but a careful examination showed that the existing facilities could be expanded to take care of the production. The placing of contracts in this undertaking was under way when the armistice stopped the work.
The following table indicates the size of the pyrotechnic undertaking and also what was accomplished. All of this production came from the plants of the four companies which have been named. In addition to the fireworks themselves, accessories were produced by a number of other concerns. The Japan Paper Co., New York City, manufactured and imported from Japan approximately 3,000,000 paper parachutes. The Remington Arms Co., New Haven, Conn., built about 2,500,000 10-gauge signal-pistol cartridges, except for the stars they contained. The Empire Art Metal Co., College Point, N. Y., produced nearly 2,000,000 Very pistol cartridge cases. The Winchester Repeating Arms Co., Bridgeport, Conn., supplied nearly 5,000,000 primers for these cartridges. Rose Bros. & Co., Lancaster, Pa., produced 65,600 silk parachutes for Very cartridges. Cheney Bros., South Manchester, Conn.; D. G. Dery (Inc.), Allentown, Pa.; Stehli Silk Corporation, New York City; Sauquoit Silk Co., Philadelphia; Lewis Roessel & Co., Hazleton, Pa.; Schwarzenback-Huber Co., New York City; and the Duplane Silk Corporation, Hazleton, Pa., produced a total of 1,231,728 yards of silk for parachutes to float airplane flares. The parachutes themselves for the airplane flares, a total of 28,570 of them, were manufactured by the Duplane Silk Corporation; Folmer-Clogg Co., Lancaster, Pa.; and Jacob Gerhardt Co., Hazleton, Pa. The Edw. G. Budd Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, built 41,020 metal cases for the airplane flares.
| Articles. | Ordered. | Completed to Nov. 8, 1918. | Completed to Feb. 1, 1919. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal rockets | 615,000 | 437,101 | 544,355 |
| Position lights | 2,072,000 | 1,187,532 | 1,670,070 |
| Rifle lights | 55,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 |
| Signal lights | 3,110,000 | 2,661,008 | 2,710,268 |
| V. B. cartridges | 1,215,000 | 110 000 | 673,200 |
| Very cartridges, 25-millimeter | 300,000 | ||
| Smoke torches | 500,000 | 31,000 | 188,102 |
| Wing-tip flares | 112,000 | 70,000 | 100,865 |
| Airplane flares | 50,083 | 2,100 | 8,000 |
We also contracted for the production of many thousands of Very signal pistols. Before the original program was canceled the Remington Arms Co. had produced 24,460 of the 10-gauge pistols in contracts calling for a total output of 35,000.
In August, 1918, we let contracts for 135,000 of the 25-millimeter pistols and for approximately 30,000 of the 35-millimeter pistols. The A. H. Fox Gun Co. completed 4,193 of the smaller pistols and the Scott & Fetzger Machine Co. turned out 7,750 of them. Other concerns which had taken contracts but had not come into production when the armistice was signed were the National Tool & Manufacturing Co., the Doehler Die Castings Co., the Hammond Typewriter Co., and Parker Bros.
Considerable experimental work of an interesting nature was carried out looking toward the development of incendiary devices. Three types of flame projectors, flaming bayonets, an airplane destroyer, incendiary darts, and the smoke knapsack were among the projects undertaken. Owing in large measure to changes in requirements by the American Expeditionary Forces none of these devices was actually turned out on any considerable scale.
CHAPTER XIV.
MISCELLANEOUS ORDNANCE EQUIPMENT.
The miscellaneous ordnance equipment of the American soldier in the recent war—that is, articles which he carried with him and which added to his comfort, his safety, or his efficiency as a fighter—while in many respects identical with the equipment used by our troops for many years, at the same time contained several novelties.