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Show nCHFlEIS BEMWIWS QUICKER FIRING, EASIER 8IGHT. ING AND GREATER ACCURACY CLAIMED FOR WEAPON. BIG SUM FOR MOBILE CANNON Bureau ef Ordnance Program Calls for $2,000,000,000 Expenditure By Gun Division Employment Service Plans to Supply Farm Workers. (From Committee en Publlo Information.) Washington American troops are armed with a faster firing and mora accurate rifle than used by the Germans, Ger-mans, according to our expert designers, design-ers, manufacturers, and marksmen, says a statement by the bureau of ordnance. ord-nance. One military critic and writer claims the German Mauser does not permit the most skilled user to get more than SO per cent of the firing speed of the modlfiel Enfield adopted for the United States service. The superiority claimed for the American weapon Is supported on three counts:. Quicker firing as a result re-sult of bolt-handle design, easier and quicker sighting as a result of sight design, greater accuracy of bullet flight resulting from bullet design and greater mechanical accuracy of chamber cham-ber and bora. A summary of the work of the gun division of the bureau of ' ordnance shows It hat been necessary to equip 16 large plants for manufacture of mobile artillery cannon. The total program of the gun division calls for an expenditure of nearly $2,000,000,000. The major projects have Included : Construction of smokless powder plants In face of the necessity of doubling the present output These are now under way. Expenditure of approximately $40.-000,000 $40.-000,000 for plant facilities to manufacture manu-facture artillery cannon, with an estimate es-timate that $300,000,000 will be spent for cannon alone within two years after the beginning of the war. Preparations for the erection of plants to extract toluol from the Illuminating Illu-minating gas being furnished cities by private gas companies. Conservation of the supply of ammonium am-monium nitrate and acids and construction con-struction at government expense of a plant for the fixation of nitrogen and its final conversion Into ammonium nitrate. ' ' ... m .. .. im, nndertskon. ,nf a gss filling plant to cost approximately $1,500,000 and five large shell flllnf plants with a total cost of $23,000,000. A speclsl farm-service division Is being be-ing established in most of the 100 offices of-fices of the United States employment service as one of the plans for meet-, lng the labor requirements of tha farmers. Special field agents are being be-ing sent into districts where acute farm-lohor shortage exists or where unusually large numbers will be needed. need-ed. A weekly bulletin will be Issued In which opportunities for farm employment employ-ment and the needs of certain districts will be listed. Posters announcing the location of federal and state employment employ-ment offices are being hnng m post offices, railway stations, and other public pub-lic places. All third and fourth class post offices, of-fices, of which ther are R5.0O0, are now authorized farm-labor employment employ-ment offices. During the harvest season sea-son In certain states temporary offices will be opened In a number of cities for the purpose of furnishing accurate accu-rate Information as to where harvest hands are needed. . A weekly report of farm-labor conditions con-ditions Is being sent to the main office at Washington by all the branch offices of-fices and by many state employment offices. The nse of gss as a substitute for gasoline for motor traction Is Incress-Ing Incress-Ing In England. According to a report re-port to the United Ststes department of commerce about 4,!W0 commerclsl vehicles hnve alrendy been equipped to run on coal gss, with sn estimated SHvIng of gasoline of 3,000,000 gallons a year. Over 20 large companies are manufacturing manufac-turing airplanes, l!i are producing engines, en-gines, and more than 400 are producing produc-ing spare parts, accessories, and supplies. sup-plies. Naval training camps have a capacity capac-ity of 102,000 In summer, 94,000 men In winter. . In Ifl cantonments (550,000,000 feet of lumber were used. Paymaster general of the navy drew checks for more than $30,000,000 In one day February 2.'t for munitions; total advertised purchases for the navy for 1915 were $19,000,000. During February, with 23 business days. $13,S7S,R11 were loaned to farm ers by the federal land banks, accord lng to a statement of the farm loHn hoard. This Is $2,091,204 more than the January total. On March 1 the total amount nf mortgage loans placed since the establishment es-tablishment of the federal land banks Is $(14.M2,343, covering 2M05 loans. Since the declaration of war 1.591 employees of the department of commerce com-merce have entered military and naval services. |
