Pouring brass ingots for the production of shell cases

The pouring of brass ingots for the production of shell cases at the Commonwealth Brass Foundry, Footscray. The artist spent at least three days at the Foundry and he described the workers as ' thick and tough, blackened with falling ash, their stained and grimy faces gleaming with sweat. For half a day I wandered about that foundry sketching the men working their furnaces and pouring molten metal. During the afternoon there was a ten minute lull while one shift knocked off and a fresh gang of men took over. Sweating, naked men stuffed their work clothes into lockers along the walls of the foundry, yarned and joked, smoked and spat, or trotted nonchalantly through the murky haze to the shower baths, their gleaming bodies lit up by the glow of a dozen furnaces.'