THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 31, 1989
Library, Suprem
BRITAIN'S £12,000,000 INDUSTRIAL MAMMOTH
0 9NT
Munitions Factory Beats The World
WORLD CIVIL ENGINEERING
RECORD
Once a lovely fertile part of the West Lancashire Plain, Euxton, near Chorley, is now the site of the greatest munition works in the world. In the building of this £12,000,000 Royal Ordnance Factory a new contracting world record was set up in the amount of white labour employed. At one period 14,000 men were at work on the site.
in March, 1936, Government of When the King visited Euxton ficials discovered this ideal 1,000 on March 14 he had a quick tour of roadways and at acre site of flat land, on the fringe of 50 miles of the foothills of the Pemine varioùs points saw about 8,000 canal work-people, the men who have
·Chain, with road, rail and services and within 25 miles of the helped to build the world's greatest ports of Manchester, Liverpool and munitions factory. Preston.
At present the factory is in 50 per cent. production.
Chorley has been populated by hundreds of workpeople removed from Woolwich Arsenal, In the local schools Cockney is freely mixed with the lancashire dialect.
KING IN U.S. CONGRESS?
The King may address a joint session of the U.S. Congress dur- ing his American visit with the Queen in June::
Already there is a rush on Congressmen for gallery tickets for the days they will be in the capital.
and old motor-cars, looking for work. The erection of hundreds of bulldings on the site, magazines, storehouses, etc., took its toll of life and limb. The Chorley Hospital dealt with an average of nine out- patients and three in-patients daily, over a long period, while road ac- cidents and fatalities were count- ed by the score.
12
In an amazingly short time this colossal factory began to take shape. Millions of bricks were used and 1,500,000 cubic yards of concrete, with 600,000 yards of
had ever been carried out in Eng- land before, and it was soon found that the original estimate would glass alone were required. have to be more than doubled.
steel fabric, reinforcement. Nearly 300,000 square yards of window
The world's greatest concrete in To-day:: more than $10,000,000-mixer, costing nearly £30,000, was
for has been spent, and the. Govern-a famous landmark
many; ment announced that a further £2,- months. It towered 120 feet high, 000,000 has been allocated for the and in one day created a new world completion of the programme. record by turning out over 5,000
TREK BY: -WORKERS
tons of concrete mixing. ・:
Twenty-eight. trains and than 100 lorries were used to carry the mixing to the various parts of the site.
First
came nearly 30 miles of railway tracks and sidings, a job which was completed by the L. M. The work is nearing its close, the S. Railway Company. This preli- huge concrete mixer has been dis-minary work was speedily accom- mantled, the last canteen shut and plished. soon the factory will be in full peacetime production.
moro
At the maximum period of con- struction over 14,000 men were en- As the news spread, all roads led | gaged on the site. One monthly to Chorley. Many men walked more certificate of expenditure on the The original estimate for the than 100 miles to get a job, and work was £423,000.
This was a civil engineering building of the factory was £4,000,- thousands of others travelled' from 000. No contract of such magnitude all parts of the country by bicycles world record.
TAW BIT
This group has been selected for a representation of the diversity of the spring range there are figured, striped, checked, and embroidered types included.
NOVELTY
IN
NECKWEAR
Just look at some of them in our trays. That interesting wave stripe for exam- ple, or the shaded one on its left, or the two underneath it in neat designs; all are the latest in neckwear design.
As in many other merchandise fields, there is more enterprising use. of colour being made in neckwear. The best general shade is blue, and it is in- teresting to see the amount of greens, browns and reds also, But general descriptions are inadequate the com- plete, finished effect of the individual tie is the thing.
CALL AND SEE THEM AT
WM. POWELL, LTD
stau in Gentlemen
Hong Kong St
Exchange—10, Ice House Street