Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-07-18
HR HAD QTITE 4 Plum.
A History Of the Carnegie Award
for ArmOr Plate.
PROMISES TO WORKMEN BROKEN.
How It Was The Government Work Caused tn
Trouble at Homestsad-The Labor Was
Skilled, Eut the Compensation
Was Misery.

the Carnegie contract for armor-plateS
for the armored vessels of the new
navy is an interesting one. 1t was en-
tered into November 20, 1890, and the
first intimation the public had that
anything of the kind was going on wac
when the Secretary Of the Navy, in his
annual report issued almost immts
diately after, announced that, on &C
count of the delays incident to the
building up of an armor-forging plant
az the Bethlehem iron works, 1t had
been necessary to enter into a contract
for about six thousand tons OF armor
to be turEed out blythe firm OF Carnegie
& Phlpps, an establishment well known
in the Navy Department in connection
with contracts for steel construction
plates and shapes for the new vessels.
This same report
ANNOUNCED WITH GREAT CONFIDENCE
that the deliveries under the new con-
tract would begin by July l, 1891, but
Mr.. Carnegie and his able associates
probably found that it takes considera-
Bile time to build up plant for turning
out such large work as their contract
called for, and it was not until about
the beginning Of the present year that
the first Of the plates were delivered.
The ouietness with which the con-
tract was drawn up was made possible
by the fact that the revised statutes OF
the United States, section 1921, provide
that
The provisions which require that supplies
shall be purchased by the Secretary OF the
NAVY from the lowest bidder, after Advertise-
ment, shall not apply to ordnance, gunpowoer
or medicines.
Under this provision of the law the
department
CONSTRUED ALL CONTRACTS
made under the Bureau Of Ordnance or
Bureau OF Medicine and Surgery as be-
ing exempt from the requirement OF ad-
vertisement before award, and thus
contracts aggregating millions were
awarded from time to time without
ANYTHING being known about them until
they were finally awarded. In the case
of the Carnegie amor contracts, Mr..
Carnegie had been about the depart
ment at short intervals for.quite time,
and was in frelueut conference with
Secretary Tracy, Col. Remey, the Judge
Advocate General of the Navy and
Commodore Folger, the Chief
of the Department OF Ord
nance. There had been no intimation
that the department wanted any add
tional arnOr-plate contracts, and there
was no opportunity given for any other
steel working establishment to come
forward and offer to put in an armor-
plate Oant. The contract was drawn
on the basis of the already-exiSting con-
tract with the Bethlehem Iron Works,
the prices being the same throughout,
and ranging from $40 to S575 per ton,
according to the shape of the plates,
the straight plates being, Of course,
MUCH EASIER TO MAKE,
and consequently cheaper than curved
or tapering ones. Some of the shapes
have several compound curves, fact
which accounts for the great range OF
the prices.
A schedule was drawn up with a scale
OF shapes running from A to z, and as
the plans for the armor-plates are pre-
pared from time to time, a board OF eX-
pert officers in the department deter
mines which class each plate comes un-
der and consequently the amount that
is TO be paid for it per ton. AS the
armor-plate drawings for all the vessels
under contract have not all been COM
pleted yet, it is impossible to give any
reliable approximation as to what VIII
be the total amount OF money received
bv the Carnegies for the 6,043 tons o.
armor they are TO supply, but it is esti-
mated the total will foot up in the
neig hbOrhood of 100000.
There was feeling among Senators
that the power given the Secretary or
the Navy under the old system
WOULD BE VERY DANGEROUS
If a Secretary was disposed to use his
Office for his personal benefit. As soon
as Mr.. Carnegie secured his contract he
set about getting together his plant,
and he was considerably criticised be-
cause he, the apostle and high priest OF
protection, went abroad and purchased
all his great machine tools ia free trade
Great Britain. The answer made to
IUtSt NIlElEASuS was NA4N NhN AAA1NbALN ;
could be bought all ready made in Great
Britain, but if ordered here would have
to be built and would delay the produc-
ton Of the plates indefinitely. Until
the manufacture OF armor
was commenced at Homestead
no modern armor of great thickness had
ever been made in any other way except
by being forged under great steam
hammers or in hydraulic presses. Ar
mOr-plate makers and experts in the
treatment of steel, therefore, looked
upon it as rather a doubtful experiment
when it was announced that the plate
10 be made at Homestead works were to
be rolled instead Of forged. There was
necessarily some time and considerable
money expended in experimenting be-
fore any successful plates were turned
out, but when finally a comparative test
of American armOr-plates was made II
was found that the rolled plates from
Carnegie'S were
ONLY SLIGHTLY INFERIOR
to the forged plates from Bethlehem
and were superior to the best plates
msde abroad. Even after it was dem
onstrated that the plates could be roll
ed. there were delays and the output Of
the mill was small. This was the cause
of the FIRST friction between the work
men and mill owners at Homestead.
When the Amalgamated scale was ar
ranged three years ago there was moth
ing like 8 rolled armor-plate in exist
ence, and no provision was made In the
scale for any such work. When, there
fore, the mill was started, the same ton
mage rates that were paid for other
work were allowed; but the work was
so much more particular and it was
turned out so slowly that, though it re-