MUNITIONS OF WAR.

Northern Advocate, 2 July 1917, Page 4

MUNITIONS OF WAR.

MARVELLOUS iDEVELOPMENT.

MULTIPLIED 28 TIMES,

TWO YEARS' RECORD.

(Reuter Cable.) (Pr.ess Assn.—Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 28

In the House of .Commons Dr. C. Addison (Minister for Munitions) reviewing the work of the Ministry of Munitions, said that Britain's capacity for the production of explosivks in March, 1917, was twenty-eight times the capacity of March, 1915.

In regard to gun ammunition, this had .reached such a State of production that the Ministry was able to divert some factories to assisting other branches. Great reserves of fieldgun ammunition had 1 been provided.

The arrangements were working so smoothly, despite the enormous expenditure at the front, that th )e . stock of filled .slhtells decreased by only sev.en per cent, in the first nine weeks of th. r . offensive. The output of ma-chine-guns and rifles was fully equal to the demand.

Dealing with the supply of railway material for the army, Dr. Addison said that railway lines wer,e pulled up in Britain and India. Australia and Canada had also contributed. Canada had arranged to pull up and ship eight hundred miles of line. Over two thousand miles of track had already been supplied.

Improved "tanks" wer.e coming forward freely. He hinted at further development dn that connection.

An Inter-Allied Bureau had been established in London in order to pool the Allies' munitions requirements in America and so avoid competitive buying. Negotiations were proceeding to enable the United States to place its resources more readily and effectively at the Allies' disposal.

■Britain's output of steel before the war was seven million tons annually. •Xow it was ten million tons, and he hoped it would be twelve million tons by the end of 1918. The production of tungsten had enabled 'Britain to supply much to her Allies.

Dr. Addison stated that there wer: thirty thousand skilled munition volunteers, while forty thousand soldiers had been ire!eased: fnom the colours and thirty thousand army res rv'ists were employed on munition work. The reduction in the cost of shell components, compared with last year, represented a saving of fortythree millions sterling.

The Ministry was taking steps to provide traders with information regarding the almost infinite mineral resources of the Empire.