Prior to the war some few military pyrotechnics had been procured by the Signal Corps, the Coast Artillery, the Engineer Corps, and also by the Navy; but on September 27, 1917, the design of all Army pyrotechnics was centralized in the Trench Warfare Section. Much experimentation was necessary before specifications could be prepared, since the entire fire-signaling field had long been in confusion. We had made our own designs and were proceeding with production in the spring of 1918, when the American Expeditionary Forces made the positive recommendation that the entire French program of pyrotechnics be adopted by the United States. This meant a fresh start in the business, but nevertheless pyrotechnic devices were developed to meet all of our needs. These devices included signal rockets, parachute rockets, signal pistols and their ammunition, position and signal lights, flares, smoke torches, and lights to be thrown by the V. B. discharger, the French device attached to the end of the rifle in which a rifle grenade fits. At the outset of our efforts we started to build signal rockets, position lights, rifle lights, signal lights, and lights for use with the Very signal pistol. The Very signal pistol, which we adopted first, had the caliber of a 10-gauge shotgun, and its cartridges resembled shotgun shells in appearance, although containing Roman candle balls of various colors instead of leaden shot. The orders from abroad in the spring of 1918 changed the caliber of the Very pistol to 25 millimeters and brought into our requirements some 16 different styles of star and parachute cartridges. In addition to these, there were required about 20 styles of star and parachute cartridges for the French V. B. discharger. The recommendations from France brought in 13 new styles of signal rockets, as well as smoke torches, wing-tip flares for airplanes, parachute flares for lighting the ground under bombing airplanes, and also 12 styles of cartridges for a new 35-millimeter Very pistol for the use of aviators. After we received these instructions there was great uncertainty here as to the quantity of each item that should be produced; and this matter was not settled until August 5, 1918, when an enormous program of requirements was issued. At first it seemed that the Government itself must build new factories to take care of these needs, but a careful examination showed that the existing facilities could be expanded to take care of the production. The placing of contracts in this undertaking was under way when the armistice stopped the work.