CANADA AND THE WAR.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15316, 2 August 1915, Page 8

CANADA AND THE WAR.

ITEMS OF INTEREST. (pltOU OCB OWy CORRMrONOIVT.) TORONTO, Juno L>9. Canadians aro coming to realise moro keenly the meaning of the war to this country, according as the casualty lists coino in, and as letters com* homo from men at the front, and despatches and oibcial repon,., te.iing of the engagements in which our Canadian troops have been taking part both in Franco and i' landers, anj at the Dardanelles, as well as news of naval concern. Tlie lengthening lists of kiliod, wounded, prisoners, and missing, have meant to hundreds of Canadian homes a deeper interest in the doings at the scones of the lighting, and while there are in many cas uS tne lament for the loss of brave and worthy men, there is miug.ed witu it pride iu their achievements, an<l m tae deeds of quiet heroism wnicli m t ;y ■hsivo gone unnoted in despatches but have been told ol by ieilow-C'anaUians, or whicli e\en uutoij must have been performed by veiy many 01 our "boys." lteiief has tome to Many anxious hearts in tne reports oi nunureas tornieiiy said w> tie who now ;Uo accounted lor, aim in many cast's are now reported priaoneis of wai. Kecrumng gucs on aputv, and already some of tno new Initial .on» arc on tneir way to we iiont, wane others are tilling up tnoir ranks to peace footing or more, and are hard at work in camps in diUuient pario of the Dominion. -Alaiiuiacturo of shells and otiier munitions lor Great lintaiji an<l the Allies i-s going on at an increasing rate in a greqt many luctorics, while other war contracts, foi example, for clothing, are being filled in many other factories.

General Alexander Bertram, Chairman of the Shell Committee appointed by the Do million Government to superintend tho manufacture of 6iiells in Canada, in an audress on th e 10th ot June, before a convention of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association in Toronto, stated tiiat at that date there were 247 factories in the Dominion engaged in this work in 78 cities and towns, giving employment to between sixty and seventy thousand arti Bans, with a total weekly wage bill of more than a million dollars. Starting with thj first order of 200,000 shrapnel shells, orders had up to that timo : been placed aggregating 9,000 . shells, consisting of 15 and 18-pounder shrapnel, 18-pounder 4.5, and Impounder high explosive shells. In addition orders had been placed for 100,000 cartridge cases, 5,000,000 fuses, 2,000,000 primers, and 1,000,000 friction tubes. Several hundred men in Toronto have already signified their willingness to go to the Old Land to help to make shells in response to the appeals of the British Board of Trade. Contracts for harness and saddlery alonei to the value of ten million dollars have been secured by Canadian manufacturers from the British Government and it® Allies since the war began. More than half this amount has .been already shipped, but there are still large British and French order 8 unfilled. One of the most gratifying demonstrations of resourcefulness of Canadian manufacturers in connexion with war necessities is that oontained in the announcement that we are now producing trinitrotoluol for the Britisn War Office. This is one of the most prized commodities in existence, and the shipment of a quantity of this substance to Britain from Canada has given Lord Kitchener much satisfaction as evidencing that Canada may be depended upon to supply high explosives upon a considerably increasing scale as long aB the war lasts.'Late in February the Dominion Steel Corporation received through the Militia Department a contract for the supply of toluol, and a month later that Corporation was asked to carry tho process of manufacture further and to produce trinitrotoluol. The production of high explosives from by-products of coal is not now in the experimental stage merely, but the president of the corporation, Mr J. H. Plummer, has brought about tho erection of the necessary plant, so the work is already on a commercial basis. Toluol, the chief constituent of the explosive, is obtainable at present at two by-product cokeoven plants in Canada, those installed in connexion with the steel plants at Sydney, Cape Breton (Nova Scotia), and at Sault. St. Marie. Others are likely to be erected at Hamilton and by the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company at Fernie, British Columbia. Eloquent testimony to the way in which the young men of the medical profession and the medical schools of the universities in Canada are playing their part in helping the cause of the Empire is given in the fact that, of the ninety-four who successfully tried the examinations recently of the Medical Councirof Ontario, and are now licensed to practice in the province, no fewer than thirty-six have qualified for commissions as lieutenants in the Army Medical Corps, their commissions becoming effective with the granting of the license. In addition, thirty-nine men have enlisted and gone on oversea service before they could write the examinations, and to them tho license has been granted on this account. Thus, of 133 names in the two lists, 75, or almost 60 per ccnt. of those licensed this year, are of men serving or going to serve their country. The telephone girls in Toronto are giving a motor ambulance, costing 1800 dollars. They declare their intention of beeping on with their contributions to tho end of the war. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers, which, through its Executive Council in England, has already sent six hundred members to work on munitions in tlie encineerine works nf England and Scotland, without assistance from either tho Canadian or Imperial Governments, and which has twenty thousand members at the front, is dojn'i its best in Canada to help by steady work in the shops, with no rules restricting hours or output under fair conditions. One out of four of the male population of tho" City of Edmonton is the worthv record of that Alberta centre. Tho Inst census gave the population as 72,000. of whom 23,000 were males over 21 years of age. To tho beginning of this month there have been 4SOO men recruit-*! in Edmonton for overseas 3800 being citizens of Edmonton itself, besides hundreds of reservists of the Allied nations who left to join the Colours. At present the 101 st Edmonton Fusiliers and the two local squadrons of cavalry are recruiting to full peace strength, and meeting with a reach' while a local unit of the! Lcg'.ou of T ronti?rsmen i>> also recruiting and drilling. \\ hen the next overseas battalion is recruited there it is expected it will be rapidly filled up, and Edmonton's total contribution then will amount to 6000 men or more —more than one in four men of the citv. Toronto is not only turning out come giant aircraft undi i' tho direction of Mr Glen H Curti*s and local mechanical geniuses' for the British Government, but it is soon to b- tile assembling place for aeroplane* f<<r the Al.ies. Britain is tnkin (r urliniifxl supplies, a dim flying boathas b-:-e:; b:iilt i or Russia, Spain ha<s ordered twelve machines, and no«* an order is exacted from th© Government of India. Tho Canadian Curtiss School of Aviation i> training futy-two pupils, although tiieie arc in all the British schools a total of only 70. Three water and three laud machines are being

ussd in instruction. Most of th 0 students aro training for tho British Naval Squadron. Tho mammoth aorcplmic being built for Britain is to b 0 ready in a fortnight from nun. The machines lor tile British authorities have to show a speed of So miles an hour on a measured mile at Long Branch, and climb oOQO feet in seven minutes.