[VI.]
A GREAT MUNITIONS PLANT
EDNESDAY, September 20th, we left St. Etienne for St. Charmond to visit the plant at which Mr. Laurent is director general. His company owns several plants, this being the most important and one of the oldest manufactories of cannons and munitions in France. We met here Colonel Rimialho, who is the inventor of the seventy-five-millimeter gun and has general charge of the artillery and munitions manufactured in France. The plant at the present time makes only cannon and munitions. There are no blast furnaces at the works. They use the Siemens-Martin process and melt about seventy-five to eighty per cent. scrap. They also use a quantity of vanadium steel imported from America and furnished by the American Vanadium Company. We were told that France produces five hundred thousand shells or projectiles daily. This plant turns out twenty-eight thousand of this number, besides one hundred and twenty thousand fuses, or detonators. Before the war the works produced one hundred and twenty thousand annually; they now make this number daily. They have sixteen thousand employees, five thousand of whom are women. We saw here a number of Amazonian Junos doing men's work while wearing leather aprons, and were informed that they were fully as efficient as men and are paid the same wages.
We saw at these works a number of the now famous "caterpillars", an armored car moving on a broad track which it lays down as it goes. This machine was invented by an American, and I have seen it at work on the Pacific coast.
After an examination of the works, we were taken to the suburbs of the town and a special test of the big guns was made for our benefit, the firing going to the hill. We were instructed to put cotton in our ears and keep our mouths open, and faithfully observed this injunction. The seventy-five millimeter fired twelve shots in thirty-six seconds, by my watch. The target was brought to us afterwards and we were shown that the projectiles went straight through without a side dent. We were also treated to the firing of some of the very large guns, and by the time this was over I was ready to visit an ear doctor, if there had been one convenient.
When this interesting exhibition was ended we were entertained for the first time in a real French home. Mr. Laurent took us to his home and gave us a luncheon. We met Mrs. Laurent and two daughters, but the four sons had joined the colors. Two of them had already lost their lives in battle.
We met at this luncheon Sir Thomas Barclay, of London, who has taken an active part in the humanitarian work of England, with headquarters in Paris.
[Illustration: Col. Rimailho with 155-mm. Gun (upper) and Famous 75-mm. Gun (lower) Perfected by Him.]
The party reached Lyons at 6:20 P.M. by military automobiles and at once had a conference with Mayor Heriot. It appeared that there was some discussion between this official and the president of the Chamber of Commerce as to who should head the entertaining. We were greatly impressed with M. Heriot, but he took a night train for Paris and we were left in the hands of the Chamber of Commerce. We were given a reception by this body, and spent the night at Lyons.