THE CHEMICAL NEWS PARADE In the photographs on these pages the activities of industrial wartime India, described on page 7 2 6 of this issue, are depicted. Some scenes show largescale production of iron and steel by the well-known Indian company, Tatas, the pioneers of Indian heavy industry.
Others were taken at a railway workshop somewhere in India and indicate how the plant has been adapted to munitions production, contributing to the national war effort. (1) In the munitions plant are pictured shells at the finished boring stage. Shells in righthand chute have been finishbored and are being sent to the government inspection bench. The machine in right foreground has been changed over to later operations. (2) M e n who handle the Tatas Bessemer converters need strong hands and sure feet, and these from the Northwest frontier fill the bill.
( 9 ) A field-gun axle being ground to fine limits for the ball or roller bearing. (10) A t Tatas the sheet mill runs day and night but is closed on Sunday for mechanical overhaul. Packed shears are in foreground; the hot mill is in background. As
(3) Seam welding a fabricated gun-firing platform at the converted railway workshop. The welding is done electrically. (4) Here is a section of the railway workshop's foundry where covers are being fitted to mold of thread milling machines. (5) A view of the 250-ton bottling press used in production of munitions. The bottled shell can be seen in the bottom die. The shells in the background are ready for bottling. (6) A 120-ton hydraulic press, more of the railway workshop's wartime equipment, is engaged on the cracking of 4-inch shell bar. The output from this press is at the rate of one every 35 seconds. (7) From Tatas comes a picture of the bottom of the blast furnace showing the hot blast pipes. O n the further side of the furnace the metal is running out into ladles. (8) Assembling the noses onto the punches for 4.5-inch shells at the railway plant. The completed one at left is a punch and nose for " A 3 " trench mortar bomb.
many other countries, India is looking forward to postwar days when her greatly expanded industries w i l l not be engaged on urgent war contracts, and the government has already appointed a Reconstruction Committee t o study postwar economy.
