The Washington critic., 1890-02-08
EXPENSIVE WORK LOST.
FoLeER's INTERFERENCE SAID TO
HAVE SPOILED MANY GUNS.

Further Details Concerning the New |
chief of Ordinances Alleged inca
pacity Denies the Charges
against Him.
The publication in THE Critic yes
terday of the charges that are being
made against Chief Folger of the Blu
reau of Ordnance by Assembly 800,
X. of h.. was the prevailing topic OF
conversation among Navy Yard EN-
ployes of all grades last evening.
The officers as rule secuted at the
idea OF there being any truth in the
charges, and contdnded that the rela
tiops between them and the mechanical
employees of the yard were Of the pleas
ATTEST description. The latter, how
ever, or at least those of them who were
not afraid TO express an opinion on the
subject, were delighted TO find public
attention called to the unfair manner
in which they allege they have been
treated.
According to the statements of these
men the experiment of establishing a
gun factory at the Navy Yard has not
been an unqualified success under the
superintendent of Mr.. Folger. In a
number Of instances, after much valu
able time and material has been used
in order TO produce guns, the result has
been masses of metal fit only to be sold
to a junk dealer.
A number of steel six-inch and at
least two eight.inch guns are said to
have been utterly spoiled in the course
of manufacture owing to Mr.. Folger's
| having interfered with the operations
of the expert mechanics employed in
| the gun shop.
AS an instance of the manner in
which he achieved this result it Is re-
lated that short time ago, when an
eight-inch jacket was being fitted to the
tube Of gun, Mr.. Folger undertook to
superintend the operation. The man
ner in which this work is accomplished
is as follows:
The tube is placed in an upright po.
sition, and the jacket, after having been
heated TO proper degree, is lowered
over it. When it reaches the proper
point cold water is dashed over it.
causing it to contract and thus adhere
tightly to the tube. On this occasion,
as the jacket was being lowered, Charles
| G. Robinson, the expert mechanic in
charge of the work, observed that 1t was
rapidly cooling and would stick before
reaching the desired point. He there
fore gave an order to hoist the jacket
up again, but MI. Folger countermanded
this and ordered the men to lower
away, the result being just as Mr. Rob
inson had foreseen.
The course usually pursued when an
accident of this kind happens, is 10
pour molten metal around the jacket
until it becomes sufficiently heated to
expand again, when 1t is easily re-
moved. Mr.. Folger, however, chose
another method of accomplishing the
removal of the jacket, and ordered the
men TO cut it off the tube. 1t was rep
resented to him that if this was done
the enormous mass of metal, weighing
several thousand pounds, would be
wasted. He replied that il woull he
used for breech plugs, and his order
was executed. 1t then proved that the
metal was not suitable for breech plugs
and it was thrown aside to go into
Uncle Sans profit and loss account
Metal of the kind used for gun jacket:
is very expensive, owing TO the pecu
llarly SCVerc leSlS WHICH IL uluSU Ut
capable of undergoing.
Since then another eight-inch jacket
stuck in the same manner, and, al
though everybody about the shop saw
that Mr.. Folger had made grave mis-
take in ordering the first one cut, he
rather than acknowledge that he was in
the wrong, ordered the same process tt
be repeated. In this connection it i
significant fact that, Immediately
after Mr.. Folgers first blunder will
the eight-inch jacket, the wages o
,, Mr. Robinson, the mechanic in charg
of the operation, were increased from
$500 to "a a day, since when he ha
been careful not to talk about tn
, matter.
AS THE CRITIc desires to give boil
sides of the story when charges ar
made against any official, one of its re
I porters called upon Mr.. Folger las
S evening to ascertain whether he ha,
(. any statement to make regarding tn
A., allegations that have been made agains
him. That gentleman, however, dc
+ clined to discuss the matter, beyon
giving general denial to the charges
, which he characterized as absurd an
inspired by man who felt sore q
, being discharged from the yard for al
I. senting himself too frequently fror
duty.