Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Documents of the General Assembly of Indiana, at the Forty-Second Regular Session, Begun on the Eight of January, A. D. 1863, Vol. 2: Part 2
As there was but little ammunition in the country at the time, and the most urgent calls being made on you for it, it soon became necessary to enlarge the establishment, for the purpose of supplying our own troops already in, or preparing for, the field; and in the beginning of June, 1861, it was concluded to erect temporary buildings on the ground belonging to the State, lying immediately north of the State House. These buildings consisted of a small brick for a foundry, and some frame buildings for making cartridges. At the same time a powder magazine was erected on the old State Fair grounds, in the north-western part of the city.
As female labor was cheapest, and, in my opinion, best adapted to the lighter work I engaged a number of female operatives, (about one hundred in all, ) for the purpose of making cartridges, while some fifty men were employed to cast bullets, fill and pack cartridges, and perform other heavy work.
There were two causes that rendered the cost of ammunition much greater at the outset than it is at the present time. First, the materials Were purchased by the Quarter Master General in small quantities, and at retail prices. Secondly, the hands em ployed being as yet inexperienced in the business, I was under the necessity of hiring them by the day. But, as they became more familiar with their employment, I gradually systematized the work, dividing it into different classes, according to the several processes embraced in the manufacture of ammunition; and then, instead of paying the hands by the day, I began to pay them a certain price per thousand for each process. At first this change met with vio lent opposition on the part of the employees, several of whom left, complaining that they could not make enough to pay their board, Ste. Before long, however, a number of those who remained he came so expert that they were able to earn as much or more than they had received when working by the day. This proved a pow erful stimulant to the others, and the result was, that I was soon enabled to make as much ammunition, in proportion to the number of hands employed, as was made in any of the Government Arsenals. I appointed, of the most experienced male hands, a foreman to superintend each process, whose duty it was made to receive the work from the hands, see that it was well done, reject ing all that was not, see that no material was wasted, and place the work to the credit of the persons returning it.
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