SCIENCE AND. INDUSTRY. 
England inquiring for the Commonwealth Government into a proposal 
to erect a cordite factory. Subsequently, on Mr. Hake’s recommenda- 
tion, Mr. Leighton was invited by the Commonwealth Government to 
come to Australia and prepare the design of a factory, and to organize 
the manufacture of cordite.. This work was successfully accomplished 
by 1912, and Australia became self-contained for small-arm cordite. 
The first months of the war were occupied in establishing the manu- 
facture of fulminate of mercury; but, as little new work offered in other 
directions, Mr. Leighton applied jor leave to visit India and England 
to acquaint himself with recent developments. He reached England 
in June, 1915, at the inception of the Ministry of Munitions, and his 
services were at once requisitioned by the Imperial Government in 
connexion with the vast projects that were then being undertaken. At 
a later date his services were requisitioned for the period of the war, and 
he remained with the Ministry of Munitions as technical adviser until 
November, 1918. The earlier period with the Ministry was occupied 
on the designs of H.M. factories, Queensferry and Gretna, and later 
he was appointed to the Board of Management, H.M. Factory, Gretna, 
which employed about 20,000 persons. At the outset of his work with 
the Ministry he realized that the shortage of chemists and skilled 
workers must be remedied before adequate production from the new 
factories could be assured, and, in July, 1915, had gained the support 
of the Australian Government in this direction. The first chemists 
from Australia reached England before ‘Christmas, 1915, and by the 
following October there were, in all, about 100 Australian chemists in 
the several factories of the Ministry. This movement grew, for, in June, 
1916, it was extended to include munition workers, and, as this work 
was of considerable extent, Colonel Sir Henry Barraclough was sent to 
‘London in November,*1916, to act under Mr. Leighton’s direction in 
the supervision of this branch. 
In early 1916, the Australian Government had under review a pro- 
posal to erect an arsenal, and the appointment of general manager was 
offered to Mr. Leighton. It was accepted, and an arsenal office estab- 
lished at Australia House, London, from which were directed the tech- 
nical inquiries into the production of munitions of war, and also the 
administration of munition workers and war workers. The chemists, 
engineers, and munition workers were spread through the factories of 
Britain under a definite scheme, which insured that practically every 
activity was touched, and under the direction of the Minister a card 
record of the service of each man sent from Australia was made. There 
is little doubt that the movement will have a profound effect on Aus- 
tralian industry. 
Mr, Leighton returned to Melbourne in April, 1919, and since 
then has been actively engaged in the administration of the technical 
section of the Defence Department, which comprises the factories at 
Maribyrnong, Lithgow, and Brisbane, and the Defence Laboratory and 
Inspection Departments. He has devoted a considerable amount of 
time to the design of projected factories which form part of proposals 
now under consideration by Government. 
Mr. Leighton is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry of Great 
Britain and Ireland, and was formerly a member of Council. He is 
also a Fellow of the Australian Chemical Institute. 
446 
