Making Gunpowder Dangerous;
Yet Safer Than Taking a Bath
Making gunpowder has been called the most dangerous
job in the world. Yet there is a higher percentage of acci
dents in home bathrooms than in plants where death to the
Axis is cooked like macaroni. A glance at one plant in the
southern Appalachian mountains will explain this paradox.
Every worker is carefully
searched on entering the
plant, which itself is separated
into many units so that one
unit can blow up without tak
ing the others with it. A work
er caught carrying a safety
match inside the plant is sus
pended for two weeks. Any
one found with an ordinary
kitchen match is dismissed.
Hundreds of signs remind
workers of how close they can
be to eternity.
Here is made much of our
smokeless powder which is
the propellant that drives the
shell containing the explosive.
This slide is not for recrea
tional purposes. It is an emer
gency exit chute. There are sev
eral of these chutes throughout
the plant spaced only a few yards
apart. All can be reached by
workers in a fetv seconds. A
plant worker demonstrates a
quick departure.
As no matches are allowed, the
management provides an electric
lighter in the one place smoking
is allowed—the “bull pen.n
Workers' shoes are made so
that there is no danger of striking
a spark. Soles and heels are glued
on. Coveralls are fire-proofed.
The basic ingredient of
smokeless powder is usually
short-fibered cotton, or wood
pulp.
When cotton is used it is
mixed with acids in the nitra
tor house. Then it flows like a
stream of froth to the boiling
tub house. In this form it is
known as “nitro-cellulose
slurry.” After several more
changes the cotton looks like
macaroni. In the last process
the strands of smokeless pow
der are snipped into various
lengths for different caliber
shells.
Above: Raw cotton at the start
of its death dealing transforma
tion. Left: Nearing the maca
roni stage, the strands are forced
through this press to get them
even and smooth.
A ballistics technician is shown
at right redy to fire a shell to
test the projectile's velocity,
hence the efficacy of the new
powder. A wire, finer than a
human hair, is stretched across
the framework and another tar
gat, set a distance away, is also
wired. The time shell takes to
travel between the two targets is
electrically recorded by the tvires.
Historic Rainbow Division Is Bom Anew
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
Released by Western Newspaper Unton.
THE other day veterans of
the 42nd Division of World
Wax I held their reunion in
Tulsa, Okla. Then they went
to Camp Gruber near Musko
gee, there to see the reacti
vation of their tradition-rich
outfit, to pass on to the new
42nd Division of World War
II their honored battle flags
and to gaze proudly upon the
shoulder patch adorning the
uniform of each man in it—
the red, yellow and blue
striped quarter-circle which
was the sign and symbol of a
“First-class fightin’ man,” a
member of the “Rainbow”
Division.
The reactivation took place at
midnight—the “Champagne hour,”
so called because it was the hour
when the last great German push
of World War 1. the Champagne
offensive, began. That offensive,
which started on July 14, 1918, broke
to pieces against the stubborn resist
ance of those fighting Yanks of the
Rainbow division and from that day
the might of the kaiser’s armies
ebbed until it reached low tide in a
railroad car in Compeigne forest
four months later.
Two Messages.
Before the veterans of the Rainbow
division of a quarter century ago ad
journed their 1943 meeting, they sent
two messages to widely separated
parts of the world. One was flashed
to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, “some
where in the Southwest Pacific,” be
cause it was he who bad given their
division its nickname. The other
was the traditional reunion greet
ings to one-armed Gen. Henri Joseph
Eugene Gouraud, who commanded
the Fourth French army, which in
cluded the American division, at the
historic battle in the Champagne
sector July 14 and 15, 1918. The
message was sent to Gen. Dwight
D. Eisenhower, commander-in-chief
of the Allied forces in the European
theater of war, to be transmitted to
General Gouraud “somewhere in Oc
cupied France.”
In the early summer of 1917 a
young colonel named Douglas Mac
Arthur was serving as "censor” for
news coming out of the war depart
ment in Washington. Visited by
newspaper men one day, he told
them of the forthcoming organiza
tion of a new division to be com
posed of units from 27 states and
the District of Columbia. As the
journalists were leaving, MacArthur
remarked that the assembling of so
many units from so many states into
one division was somewhat like
making up a rainbow. Struck by
the aptness of the expression, the
newspaper men used it in their sto
ries and the nickname stuck to the
division when it was organized on
August 1, 1917, and concentrated at
Camp Mills on Long Island in New
York.
While the division was still at
Camp Mills, many different kinds of
rainbow designs were used as divi
sional insignia. They were irregular
in size but nearly all were a half
circle with the three colors of red.
yellow and blue in them. It was
not until the division was engaged in
a major action in the Meuse
Argonne that the final, official de
sign was conceived and adopted.
Col. William N. Hughes Jr., who
had succeeded Col. Douglas MacAr
thur as chief of staff of the division,
determined the measurements, re
duced the original design to a quar
ter circle and telegraphed the de
scription, with the approval of Maj.
Gen. Charles T. Menoher, then divi
sion commander, to corps headquar
ters.
It is one of the cherished
traditions of the 42nd that Gen
eral Menoher, acting on an
omen of a rainbow in the sky,
GEN. CHARLES T. MENOHER
... he saw a rainbow on the
eve of battie
THE RAINBOW
. . . became the insignia of the
42nd division
sent the division into action in
the Champagne operation. From
the time that he told of seeing
the rainbow in the sky from his
bivouac in the Baccarat sector,
rainbows kept showing up at de
cisive hours in the division’s his
tory, as if to justify its selection
as the 42nd’s talisman.
Before long veterans of our regu
lar army as well as veteran French
and British troops were joining in
proclaiming the Rainbow division as
one of the hardest fighting outfits in
France. Here is its record, as given
in a series of articles on "AEF Divi
sional Insignia," written several
years ago by Sergt. Herbert E.
Smith for the United States Recruit
ing News:
First Taste of War.
It trained under veteran French
soldiers in Lorraine, and elements
of the Rainbow division entered the
front line trenches for the first time
February 21, 1918 This was along
the Luneville sector, at a point north
of Celles-sur-Plaine, through Neu
viller, Ancerviller, the eastern edge
GEN. HENRI GOURAUD
... to him, each year, a greeting
of the Bois Banal, to the eastern
and northern edges of the Foret de
Parroy. Elements of the 42nd’s ar
tillery brigade entered the Dom
basle sector, also on the night of the
21st, to receive their first taste of
combat warfare affiliated with the
French 41st division.
From March 31 to June 21 the
division occupied the Baccarat sec
tor in Lorraine, moving from there
to Chatel-sur-Moselle in the Vosges.
Then came July, with its heavy
fighting in the Champagne and
Champagne-Marne areas. The high
light of the 42nd division’s activities
at this time would seem to be the
battle of La Croix Rouge Farm.
This farm was a low, widespread
group of stone buildings connected
by walls and ditches. The Germans
had made an enormous machine gun
nest of this natural stronghold, and
had defied several earlier deter
mined efforts of Allied troops to dis
lodge them from this key position.
The 167th and the 168th infantry
regiments, old Alabama and Iowa
troops respectively, struggled all
day, July 26, against this nest of
horrors. It was practically impos
sible to rush this enemy stronghold
across the open; endeavors to work
around the edges were thrown back
by flanking fire; an accurate punish
ing shell fire from the German artil
lery ripped through the wet under
brush; gas, made doubly dangerous
by the moisture, swirled about in
terrible gusts.
At last, two platoons of assembled
casuals—volunteers, all, from the
167th and 168th—led by two lieu
tenants, squirmed their way for
ward, Indian fashion, and closed
upon the farm buildings with gre
nades and bayonet. The raid, staged
at dusk, was successful. The 42nd
possessed La Croix Rouge farm at
nightfall, but at a fearful cost in dead
and wounded.
Less than a week later these same
regiments, with their sister outfits
of the Rainbow, were pressing for
ward toward the Ourcq river. Upon
the 42nd fell the chief burden of the
main attack. It was ordered to
storm the heights on both sides of
Sergy and, in conjunction with the
French on the left, to take Hill 184
northwest of Fere-en-Tardenois.
A Deadly Hail of Fire.
The 188th infantry crossed the
stream under a deadly hail of fire,
to climb by slow stages to the crest
of Hill 212, between Sergy and
Cierges. The 187th meanwhile, had
made its way down the Rue de la
Taverne, crossed the Ourcq, and
swept on up the northern slope of
the hilly country.
New York’s "fighting Irish" of the
I65th infantry emerged from Villers
and secured a precarious lodgment
on the slopes on either side of Mer
cury Farm. Subjected to the same
raking fire that had made this push
so costly, this fine regiment still car
ried on, plunging forward to the
sunken road north and west of
Sergy.
By midafternoon the weary dough
boys of the 42nd division were bat
tling in mortal, hand-to-hand combat
with the Germans in the streets of
Sergy. The enemy troops were of
the 4th Prussian Guard, grim and
spirited fighters embittered by re
cent German setbacks, veterans
all and determined men.
Twice the Americans were rushed
out of Sergy, but thrice the Yanks
returned, and the third time the
Americans captured the entire vil
lage. Again the men of the Rain
bow division had proved to be of
heroic mould.
In the St. Mihiel drive, launched
in mid-September, the 42nd, with
the 1st and 2nd, formed the spear
head of the attack which penetrated
deepest into the enemy positions. In
the main attack, the 2nd division
captured Thiaucourt, the 1st took
Nonsard, and the 42nd division drove
through to Pannes.
Through the thick of the heaviest
action of the Meuse-Argonne opera
tion, the Rainbow carried on. It
penetrated the Kriemhilde line,
swooped up the fire-swept slopes
about Romange and Cote Dame Ma
rie; it seized Cote de Chatillon by
skillful infiltration behind its protec
tive wire, and early in November,
on the extreme left flank of the
American attack, it began to fight
through Bulson, Thelonne and Ba
zeilles, cm the Meuse, to gain the
cherished final objective—Sedan.
The taking of Sedan, for senti
mental and historic reasons, how
ever, was left to the French 9th
corps, on the left of the Rainbow.
On the night of November 10 the
42nd division was relieved, and as
sembled in the area of Artaise-le
Vivier and Les Petites-Armoises.
The Full Tide of Victory.
The 42nd thus shared in the full
tide of victory, on the morning of
November 11, 1918. The American
Second army was even then prepar
ing for a general assault in the di
rection of Metz, in an offensive with
the famous Mangin and 20 French
divisions. The Meuse had been
crossed, French troops in Sedan in
retaliation for the terrible Frepch
defeat there in 1870; the Germans
were on the run, almost in utter
rout.
Naturally, the Rainbow was one
of the crack divisions of the AEF
chosen to be a part of the American
Army of Occupation. Concentrating
near Stenay, it began the long hike
into the Rhineland on November 20.
On December 14 it took its station in
Germany in the Kreis of Ahrweiler.
Training continued there, on the
steep hill of the Rhineland, through
the winter and spring of 1918-1919,
until April 5, when the division be
gan entraining for Brest. On April
9 the first element to sail for the
United States, the 117th Trench Mor
tar Battery, boarded a transport for
an American port. By May 12,
demobilization had been completely
effected at Camps Upton, Dix, Grant
and Dodge.
"After the storm, the rainbow!”
GEN. DOUGLAS MpcARTHUR
... he named it the "Rainbow”
division
Forty-Second Division Added Many Names to Our Roll of Heroes
Besides Gen. Douglas MacArthur,
who has become one of the outstand
ing heroes of World War II, the
Rainbow division included in its per
sonnel others who were marked for
future fame. Among these were
Col. William J. (“Wild Bill”) Dono
van, Brig. Gen. Charles P. Summer
all, Father James P. Dufly, chaplain
of New York's “Fighting Irish” (the
165th infantry), and Sergt. Joyce Kil
mer, destined to be remembered
not ao much for his exploits in war
as a peacetime accomplishment—
his writing the poem “Trees.”
The 42nd division was made up of
the following outfits:
83rd infantry brigade; 165th In
fantry. 166th infantry, 150th machine
gun battalion.
84th infantry brigade: 167th In
fantry, 168th infantry, 151st machine
gun battalion.
67th field artillery brigade: 149th
field artillery (75’s), 150th field ar
tillery (155’s), 151st field artillery
(75’s), 117th trench mortar bat
tery.
Divisional troops: 149th machine
gun battalion, 117th engineers, 117th
field signal battalion, headquarters
troop.
Trains: 117th train headquarters
and military police, 117th ammuni
tion train, 117th supply train, 117th
engineer train, 117th sanitary train
(ambulance companies and field
hospitals 165-168).
Patterns
SEWDNG COPCLE .
_ > | -. . |_
Little Belle
A NY little girl would be happy
** as a lark in a dress like this.
Note the sweetheart neck and
perky sleeves.
• • •
Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1796 B de
signed for sizes 6. 8, 10, 12 and 14 years.
Size 8 requires 2'/a yards 35-lnch material.
Due to an unusually large demand and
current war condiUons, slightly more
time is required in filling orders for a
few of the most popular pattern numbers.
Give geraniums fresh air every
day; do not allow them to become
too dry; fertilize them with a com
mercial fertilizer and give them
plenty of sun.
• • •
Eggs for home use should be
stored in the refrigerator as soon
as they are gathered or purchased.
• • •
Using a brush will loosen more
dirt from a stubborn spot than
scrubbing on the board.
• • •
If door and window screens are
painted with aluminum paint it
gives a clear vision out, yet makes
it difficult to see in from the out
side during the daytime.
• • •
Should the wooden handle of a
crosscut saw break, temporary
bolt on a worn-out horseshoe.
This will serve quite well until a
new handle can be had.
When the soldier talks about “the
skipper” he means his captain,
the head of his company. And
that’s just what the title “captain”
means. It comes from the Latin
word “caput” meaning “head.”
Another leader high in the Army
man’s favor is Camel cigarettes—
they’re first choice with men in
the Army. (Based on actual sales
records from service men’s own
stores.) When you’re sending gifts
from home, keep in mind that a
carton of cigarettes is always most
welcome. And though there are
Post Office restrictions on pack
ages to overseas Army men, you
can still send Camels to soldiers
in the U. S., and to men in the
Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard
wherever they are.—Adv.
Bright Basque
yOUNG set favorite—the basque
* topped dirndl that will be seen
everywhere this summer. Gay,
cooj, becoming.
• • •
Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1802-B de
signed for sizes 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20.
Corresponding bust measurements 26, 30,
32, 34, % and 38. Size 12 (30) requires 3ft
yards 3S-inch material; 6 yards ric-rac.
Send your order to;
SEWING CntCLH PATTERN DEPT.
530 South Wells St. Chicago.
Enclose 20 cents in coins for each
pattern desired.
Pattern No.Size..
Name....
Address.
Paint Drying
It took six weeks to paint grand
father’s carriage, but the drying
time on an automobile paint job
has been reduced to an hour and
the latest furniture finishes will dry
in ten minutes. Now comes th*
army with war tanks, the paint
on which is dried in four minutes
by infra-red rays.
NO ASPIRIN FASTER
than genuine, pure St. Joseph Aspirin.
World's largest seller at 10*. None safer,
none 6urer. Demand St Joseph Aspirin.
Most Men Stammerers
Although no one seems to know
why, more than ten times as many
men as women are given to stam
mering, research shows.
cy/ioJvtA',
to BIG. COOL1
Drinks!_
WHOLE
GRAIN
Kellogg's Com Flakes
are restored to whole
grain nutritive value of
Thiamin (Vitamin Bi),
Niacin and Iron, as rec
ommended by the U. S.
Official Nutrition Food
Rules.
NUTRITIVE
VALUES OF
THIAMIN (VITAMIN B])
NIACIN AND
IRON!
i
Kellogg's Com Flakes
—fruM—and milk or
cream.
CORN
FLAKES
__ '1A* OtUfinal_
— —
• III •• l«lltu IIMIII. ••*••• Mill ..
