--- '
t
t3xaawfe,yY
OUR GREATEST ARMS PLANT
The Remington Arms Union Metallic Cartridge Company's
Factory at Bridgeport an Aladdin's Castle
Industrial Army of 50,000 Organized by One Man
By CHARLES WILLIS THOMP80N
(Iri Now York Times).
TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS
speut In less tlinu n year have
brought into belug what will
probably bo tho greatest smull
arms and nintnuiiltlon plant In the world
that of tho Remington Anns Union
Metallic Cartridge Company factories
at Bridgeport, Conn. When It Is lu full
operation It will call for the services
'of from 3-1,000 to 30,000 employees,
bringing the total of tho ImhiHtiliil
urmy employed In vurlous places by
these companies to 50,000. The Urldge
port plant covers hundreds of acres
and Is the latest word In factory con
structlon, and yet lu its present form
It may be said to have actually sprung
into existence, to have come before
the eyes of Bridgeport in a moment.
The enormous plafrfe of the Iteming
ton Arms company was not In exist
ence last March, it was turned over to
the company by the contractors In
November, so that this Immense cien
tlou wus completed lu less than eight
Marcollus Hartley.
months, and even as far back as last
August It was so far completed that
outwardly It looked as It does today.
It has nifulo such a revolution In
Bridgeport that the company has been
obliged to build practically another
city within tho city for tho accommo
elation of the thousands of men who
are coming from all parts of "Now Eng
land to form a new colony. It has
gone Into tho work of sewering and
grading and Is now about to turn IU
attention to tho question of schooling
for tho children ot Its subclly. Eighteen
thousand men and women In tho em
ploy of tho Itemlngton Arms, 10,000
more In that of tho Union Metallic Car
trldgo company, will form tho subclty,
and with them will come their families.
'J .ie company Is now taking them on
at tlio rate, In tho Itemlngton plant
alone, of 2,000 a month.
'There nro thirty-eight buildings In
tho plant, and ot tho main units there
aio thirteen. They are llvo story brick
and steel buildings, 272 feet long by
sixty feet wide. Instead of standing
separately or being connected only by
corridors or extensions, they nro con
nected with each other by five story
buildings, called "service buildings,"
each of which Is eighty feet long by
forty-eight feet wide, so that the whole
mass forms practically ono gigantic
building. At tho end comes a single
story building 272 feet by 1)1 feet, con
nected on tho ground floor to tho main
units by a service building SO by 48
feet.
The Guarding 8ystem,
To protect this great plant tho com
pany has employed a small army or
guards with a military organization.
They are all houorably discharged sol
diers or sailors of tho regular army and
navy. There aro 300 of them, divided
iuto three companies and otllcered like
an urmy company, with a captain ut
their head, and lieutenants, surgeuuts
. and corporals under him.
Of the 18,000 iiiuu who will bring the
worklug force of tho Itemlngton com
pany to its full complement there aro
already 0,100 at work, and tho employ
ment department Is interviewing appli
cants at tho rate of 500 a day, This
department has a building all to Itself
and conducts its work pretty much on
civil service examination prluclplcs.
Plants Are Permanent Institutions.
Tho cartridgo factory Is an old es
tablished Institution, but it, too, has
been greatly cnlargod in theso months,
Its urea having been increased by 700,
000 squaro feet. Tho Itemlngton com
pany has a plant at lllon, N. Y., whero
It hns been manufacturing arms for
tho sporting trndo for years, but tho
war In Europo created such a demand
for weapons for tho belligerent nations
that it wus determined to put up this
greut plant at Bridgeport alongside
that of the cartridgo factory to go
into tho business of making military
weapons and till tho orders that come
from foreign governments.
Military arms wero not among the
industries of this country, and the
Remington concern had devoted Itself
mainly to making sporting rifles and
cartridges for that trade. The out
break of tho war offered to n man ca-
" -ixa&mrrr-
pable of recognizing and seizing n
great opportunity a Held for waking
a now American industry In a mo
ment. Tho plant, of course, is n perma
nency and docs not depend oh the war
for continuance, but It was the war
which brought it Into being.
There were 2,500 people working In
the U. M. C. plant when tho war broke
out. Defore the end of the year there
will bo 10,000, so that the two plants
together will be employing 34.000 per
sons. Dy that time the munitions
plant will have a capacity many times
that of the United States government.
The Itemlugtou Anna company cele
brates Its centenary this year In
1810. Just 100 years ago, Ellphalot
Itemlngton made with his own hand
the first rltlo and founded the business.
He made It for his own use. Ills fa
ther had refused to buy one for him.
and Itemlngton collected scrap Iron,
welded It Into a gun barrel and walked
fifteen miles to Utlcn to have it rifled.
It was such a good one that his neigh
bors invited him to make similar ones
for them, and before long his forge
was a gun factory. At that time all
gun barrels were Imported from Eu
rope, and there were no real gun fac
tories in America, ho that Itemlngton
founded a brand new American Indus
try. Mr. Dodgo and His Co-workers.
Mnrcellus Hartley Dodge Is the solej10 ., ,,, U()l. tJC mnln Hn,tf)
proprietor, and It was he as a young wnH u(t ,, , lle followl
man of thlrty-two-who looks like a ( MmvI, ,,,,, , wm, Vns (lono m
youth of twenty-one-who waved the tho f0IW, wtlW.h , t
magic wand over the swamp lands of frn tho Imn (1l(H nml Uicy wefB
Bridgeport and created almost over PrtIlinI1.i w.m.,n .. ,,..,' ki-m
night ono of the greatest manufactur- j
lug plants in tho country and n contrl
butlon for tho military preparedness
of tho United Stutes that is of incal
culable value. Mr. Dodge Is an en
thusiast over tho greut enterprise of
which ho is tho bend. Ills mother
died in his infancy, and he was
brought up in tho home of his grandfa
ther, Marcollus Hartley, the owner of
the Itemlngton Arms and tho U. M. C.
It was from Mr. Hartley that he re
celved both his homo training and
business training, and ho lived with
tho business and In Its atmosphere and
Imbibed his grandfather's feeling to
ward it until he camo to have a senti
ment for It not less than second to
that of his family. Mr. Hartley's feel
ing toward it was his. Mr. Hartley
died In tho traces at a board meeting
Jan. 8, 1002, nt tho age of seventy-live,
and tho grandson felt commissioned
not only to carry it on, but to carry It
on worthily. It has been his dream to
enlarge the great enterprise his grand
father founded, thonpplo of tho eye to
both of them.
In April, 1014, Mr. Dodgo associated
Samuel F. Tryor with himself In his
business. Mr. Pryor had been vice
president of tho Simmons Hardware
company of St. Louis and president of
tho Southern Car "Wheel Company. He
Is a man of great energy, vigor and
business ability, and tho two men have
worked together llko n hand lu a glove.
Mr. Pryor is n man of fifty, and Mr.
Dodge is not yet thirty-two.
Mr. Dodgo was in Germany when
tho war broke out, and ho made his
way from thero to Paris and then tft
London. Ho saw the situation and
drew his conclusions. When he re
turned to this country ho determined
on tho great venture nsul had tho cour
ago to go ahead with it without watt
ing for any country toiplace an order.
Mr. Dodgo was in a peculiarly fortu
nuto position to embark on such n ca
reer, for ho was entirely unfettered.
Mr. Dodgo owns all tho stock lu the
Itemlngton Arms nnd tho U. M. C.
There wero no stockholders to consult,
no fears to assuage or yield to and no
arguments to mako to anybody about
tho danger or hopo that might llo In
taking a big chance.
With characteristic dash and energy
Mr. Dodge took tho hazard of ordering
the machinery before any orders for
arms had been received by them. Or
ders were In prospect, but none had
been given. It was a chance worth
taking, for somebody hart to Jump In
and glvo tho first order for machinery
If anybody was to tako advantage of
tho European. Hltuatlon tocreato a new
Industry, for tho United States was
short of itv
Thero Is in this country n limited
capacity for such machinery. Tho
erection of buildings was tho easiest
and simplest part of tho work. To get
hold of men who understand tho mak
ing ot military rttlcs and ammunition
U not so easy.
Thero are fow army officers lu tho
country who understand tho making of
arms and munitions, and Mr. Dodge
and Mr. Pryor went about tho task of
obtaining their services. This was at
tho very legiunlng, and by November
most of theso officers wero out of the
army and In their employ.
Yet so fow wero tho men in tho
United States who understood the
making of military nrniH and muni
tlons that It was nwvssary to import
some, and a number of high priced
men have been broaght over from
abroad. It Is conitnonly thought that
I a man who knows how to make sport
ing rifles can use his experience In the
making of military rifles and ear-
, , ' r u lii
.ilUifiM;
tridges, but it is not so. There is such'
a radical difference that the latter Is a
business by itself, and In the Iteming-ton-U.
M. C. plants the two are kept
sharply separated.
Men cannot learn (illicitly hQW to
handle explosives; It Is not like other
kinds of manufactuie To learti how
to handle powder and fulminate takes
not only months, but years. This has
been the greatest difficulty with which
the new American Industry has hod to
contend.
Value of Factory to Nation.
From the government's standpoint
this work will be far from Incidental.
The time may easily eome when the
Bridgeport plant will be one of the
greatest factors In some national
crisis. Six or seven thousand rifles n
day Is regarded as a large output lu
Europe, but the Itemlugtou plant can
turn out 10,000 In a day, and the pres
ence here, ready to be called upon, of
a great factory with such a capacity
Is of Incalculable value to tho nation.
. Heretofore this country has lcpn un
able to compete with other countries In
the military arms and munitions busi
ness. Bids have been put Jn at differ
ent times, but except when some for
eign country tins been fn sore straits
Tor delivery the United States has gen
orally lost out.
How the Work Progresses.
The first sod was turned for the
rtiiiiulnf lotia tif tlila i iit.t il ii nt fiti 1Yn
lllolltll .,,,.. lhp ........ .... .,. ril(..I1PV
buildings was begun the structural
work was done and the machinery so
far installed that :t.X0 men were able
to be at work.
By the nil of the yeur an army of
50,000 will tie enlisted In the work of
this one concern. 18.000 and perhaps
20,000 In the Itemlngton Arms at
Bridgeport. 10,000 across the road in
the U. M. C. 15.000 at the Reming
ton plant at lllon. N. Y and other
forces at their smaller plants.
Testing Raw Material.
One of tho most Interesting divisions
of the plant Is the testing department,
which Is under the direction of W. T.
Marshall, formerly professor of ma
chine design at Yule university. This
Two Views of Remington
Arms Plant (Bridgeport)
After Less Than Six
Months Construction Work.
Ammunition Plant JJot
Shown. '
lias sexeral sulxli visions.' Here steel
Is tested to detcrmluo its strength, Its
loslllouey and Its resisting qualities.
It Is ut) umuzlug thing to oue unfa
miliar with such processes to go
through this department nnd see how
they literally pull steel apart as if It
were molasses candy. When this Is
done Mr, Marshall's men measure the
force which It takes tojpull It apart.
"Some parts of the gun," explained
Mr. Marshall to the Now York Times
representative, "require higher grade,
steel than others. For Instance, the
lHlt beud has to resist the force of the
explosion aud must bo of high grade
steel. The spring stecU have to be
high grade In order to bo elastic
enpugh to keep cm doing their duty,
All steels have to be specified accord
ing to tho jiartlcular work they do,"
rWyJtTrf-ii ii fjffi tofelalfit'sh'sV'sw TrfKtKrm'' fjHB3Hfl9H ?A S ijf yJ. JtTtVfidk.lLiLLEI
JmMM"mr - f 'Till IWiPfl ,TT " wllWIWf il I Mf fiflWmfw 1 wrilrli
IWHBiPBFiBBBilHHHB
flft
Pr abop of tba army nUtul U A
Voted to drilling barrel. It takes from
forty-five minutes to an hour to drill a
single barrel If the barrel is all right;
If it isn't it takes a good deal longer.
Sometimes the drill strikes a hard
place, and then it has to be -withdrawn
and sharpened, and not infrequently
this has to bo done five or tAt times.
There is a hole through the drill, nnd
the oil Is pumped through It This oil
goes Into, the barrel In a thin little
stream, but comes out with a steady
rush. r"
What is done here is only drilling in
the rough. After It is finished th
barrel goes to another shop, where it
Is made smooth, Just as you sandpaper
anything nfter It has been planed.
One of the buildings Is given over to
the woodworking department. A little
street runs through this building for
the transit of trucks bringing lu the
lumber. It takes thirty-four different
operations to make n gunstock. and tho
whole five stories of this building nrc
devoted to different phases of the
work.
The aggregate floor nrea of the main
units and the forge shops is 1.539.000
square feet The quantity of lumber
used in making the buildings was 15.
000,000 board feet: of steel. 11.500
tons; of concrete. 20.000 cubic yards:
of glass, 350.000 square feet: of putty
used in glazing. 100.000 pounds
Where Employees Eat.
The restaurant seats 050 persons, nnd
in case of emergency there are coun
ters nlong the walls giving accommo
dation for 150 "standees." There Is
also what Is called a "cafcmoblle." a
movable dining table and kitchen cab
inet in combination which ran be run
around td"tbe different departments If
desired, so that the men can eat with
out having to lose parr of the half
hour allotted to them ltn going from
their respective buildings tto the res
taurant. This cnfcmohlle moves on
wheels nnd can feed 300 men. and
there are eight or nine of iliem. The
kitchen cabinet part of tlte combina
tion is to keep the food hoUaud does It
by electricity.
A Hospital, Too.
Alxiut the middle of the t buildings
there Is a hospital, with u'surgeon.
two trulued nurses and afteinlraits con
stantly oil hand. It is a rule of the
company, that no matter how slight
the wound Is, even If It Is the anerest
scratch, the peison receiving It must
be sent Immediately by his foreman
to the hospltnl for treatment. 0!hls is
to avoid all danger of infection in a
place where there Isso much olLand
gi ease.
Housing Requires Attention.
The housing problem, which will be
a great one when the whole force has
been enlisted, was taken up nt the out
set. The1' company Is busy buying land
and erecting houses. Several hundred
are In process of construction. Some
of them ure two family bouses, some
six family houses and some apartment
buildings. Streets are being built;
sewers have been made; the lighting
and water supply problems have been
dealt with. This Is In Itself a heavy
engineering Job.
No two of tho houses are alike, al
though all the houses of each kind
have tho same floor space. Tho com
pany wished to avoid all appearance
of a community town, aud there are
architectural differences which set
each houso a little apart from the oth
ers lu looks. The two family houses
consist of a living room, dining room,
kltchcu, three bedrooms and a bath
room. And this brings us to the employ
ment deportment. As already men
tioned, this department has a building
to Itself. "It Is," said E. Vf. Carpcti
ter, ltd bead,' "the largest Individual
employment office I know of. The
only ooa that Is larger is that In Ber
lin, vrhtdrls public one. And that
JIJkffiThrTJ
bureau takes In all kind's of industries !
and all classes of employees, so that
there can be no Just comparison."
This building covers 3.000 square
feet. Theie ure four entrances, ono
for engineers, office people, etc., one
for tool makers nnd gauge makers, one
for machine hands and one for un
skilled workmen. The staff that deals
with them consists of eighteen people
Individual attention Is given to each
applicant. There Is a heavy demand
for tool makers aud gauge makers, be
cause the supply Is limited, and men
expert In that work are eagerly snap
ped up. In the office staff are two ex
pert gauge makers, whose duty It Is to
examine all applicants for that kind
of Job. "It is much cheaper.' f-atd
Mr. Carpenter, "to spend some time
examining an applicant than to put
him lu the shop, pay him for three
or four days' work and have him spoil
hlB material." Most of the men taken
on are skilled workmen, and the num
ber of common lnborersv employed Is
relatively small. In one day as many
ns 180 men have been chosen from the
applicants and put at once to work.
Welfare Work a Feature.
The welfare work Is under the direc
tion of Joseph A. Page, who was loan
ed to Mie company for tho purpose by
the Young Men's Christian Association,
He was for four years lu charge of the
welfare work at Panama. Among his
duties Is to Investigate all cases re
ported to him in which a foremun bus
discharged a workman. If the mnn
was unjustly discharged that fact Is
reorted to the works manager for ac
tion. Another duty Is 'to keep men out
of the hands of the loan sharks. When
a uiou needs money If his case on In
vestigation proves worthy he can bor
row it from the company Instead of
from the sharks. Mr. Page has Insti
tuted n mutual aid and benefit asso
ciation, which Is run by the men themselves,-
nnd a foremen's club, and a
part of the barracks Is to be used for
a club to be instituted among the
guards. He also organized a club
First Plant of Union Metal
lic Cartridge Co.,
Founded by Marcellus Hart
ley In 1 867 (Bridgeport).
among tho messenger boys, and of
course he Investigates all cases of
sickness and accident with a view to
relief nnd assistance.
Other Executive Officials.
The manufacturing Is .under the su
pervision of Charles C. Tyler, assistant
to the vice president, and Major Wal
ter G. Penfleld, general works man
ager. Major Penfleld, formerly on offi
cor In the United States army, was re
sponsible for the wholo designing nnd
equipment of the new enterprise at
Bridgeport, and ho left tho army to
take up this work. Othor officers of
the company, aside from Mr. Dodge
and Mr. Pryor, are George Blugham,
secretary and treasurer, and C. I.. Itel
erson, vice president.
Marcellus Hartley, who founded tho
U.M. O, and'1 afterward took hold of
VAVBBPsjSBJJ&'j VI ''resent rtcmu
- "FTjMlnriTMf1ay,rry w (above). Old
&tKK Eliohalot Ri
the Remington Arm?, was in business
as a gun manufacturer when the civil
war broke out At that time thu
arsenals had beeu denuded of their
guns, and the manufacturers wore un
able to furnish more than a small frac
tion of what was needed. Secretary
Stanton, confronted with the literally
unprecedented problem of finding
arms at once for so great a force of
men. asked Governor Morgan of New
York to suggest tho most reliable und
competent person to go to Europe "as
the agent of the government to pur
chase arms and munitions. The gov
ernor named Mr. Lartley, who. at a
great business snerlllee. accepted the
post Ho received n rank equlvulent
igton plant at lllon, N. Y.
forge at llton where
smlngton mne'e tu'e first
Reminrtsn
-lie . . fc.lt. I . M .J.
to that of brigadier general and .'ni
to Europe in July, 1802. Presldei.1
Lincoln gave Mr. Hartley authoriza
tion to draw at sight on the United
States government for unlimited
sums. Never before was such n letter
of credit ever given an Individual. It
Involved the expenditure of millions
left solely to the Judgment nnd hon
esty of Mr. Hartley.
His task was twofold ttrst. to buy
all available guns und munitions, nnd.
second, to prevent any from falllug
Into the bands of the Confederate gov
ernment. Both duties were splendidly
performed In the face of many obsta
cles. Long nfter the war Charles It.
Pllut gave n dinner, nt which the Con
federate secretary of the treasury,
George A. Trenholm, was a guest. In,
his speech Mr. Trenholm told his ex-'
pcrlenccM ns a Confederate ugent for
the purchase of munitions In Europe.
He told how some mysterious and se
cret Influence bullied him whenever he
was Just nt the point of success. This
had always been tho greatest mystery
of the war to him, nnd he had never
learned who his invisible opponent
was. He told of ono case In which a
Belgian order had slipped away from
him Just ns It was being filled. When
he finished Mr. Flint told him that his
unknown adversary was present and
introduced him to Mr. Hartley. ,vho
told him how tho trick was turned.
Mr. Ilurtloy's patriotism was not of
the kind that fulfills only the appoint
ed task and Is satisfied. He took ad
vantage o his presence In Europe to
combat and counteract tho sentiment
in England In fnvor of the Confeder
acy and was active In successfully cre
ating a sentiment for the Union. One
of the things he did In this behalf was
to flood England with copies of John
Brlght's Birmingham speech for the
Union, which he heard and had print
ed nt his own expense.
Mr. Hartley, the Pioneer. '
In ISO" Mr. Hartley established the
Union Metallic Cartridge Company. At
first the business grew slowly, but the
Franco-Prussian war gave it a boost.
In 1870 France gave n large order to
W. W. Reynolds, the company's rep
resentative in Paris. But tho city was
besieged, and thero was no way to es
cape through tho German lines with
the order. Finally he thought of the
air and promptly ordered the construe
tlon of n balloon. It took ten days to
complete It It was at this time that
Gambetta, tho war minister, determin
ed to lenve PaVls to organize n new
resistance to the German armies, nnd
he requested the use of Reynolds' bal
loon. R6ynolds gnve it up and began
promptly on another. Bad weather
prevented Gambetta from leaving at
once, and by the time bo was ready
the second balloon was finished. The
two balloons went up together, nnd tho
wind drove them toward the Prussian
lines. Cannon nnd musketry opened
on them, nnd they seemed lost, but the
breeze turned nnd sent them out of
range, nnd Mr. Reynolds escaped to
New York with his order, which in
volved 5,000,000 francs. This Incident
.Is cherished with pride Jn the Reming
ton annals, as unique In the records of
salesmanship.
In Mnrch, 1888. the Remington plant
was Bold at auction and bought by Mr.
Hartley and tho Winchester Repeating
Arms company. He afterward bought
out the latter company's interest.
Fifteen years ago Marcollus Hartley
was ono of the leading financiers of
New York, and if ho was less known
to tho general public than other men
of his clnss and standing it was be
cause of his modest, quiet and retiring
disposition. He was chairman of tho
finance committees of tho Equitable
Life Assurance Society and the Man
hattan Elevated railway and an Impor
tant factor In numerous other Inrge
enterprises. It Is told of him that at
a time, now some twenty-five yeiy-s
ngo, when u largo banking institution
In this city unexpectedly found Its cap
ital Impaired to the extent of over $1.
000,000, Mr. Hartley saved It by muk
Ing good the lost sum from his private
fortune, without security, and it was
many years before he could be fully
reimbursed put of the surplus profits
of'tho'lnsfltujlon.
s