The record-union., 1892-03-08
ONE BADLY NEEDED ON THE PA
CIFIC COAST.
The Senate Committee on Coast De-
fenses Report Favorably on the Bill
for the Establishment of Plant
on This Coast, and Recommend
That Experts Be Appointed to Select
a Suitable Site.
Special to the REcoRD-Uxrox.

under consideration the bill to provide
for the establishment of gun factory for
finishing and assembling of heavy ord
nance on the Pacific Coast, submitted the
following report to accompany tho bill
reported last Tuesday:
The committee have carefully consid-
cred in connection with this bill the re-
port Of the Board of Fortifications or
other Delenses, as well as that Of the
Board on Gun Factories and Steel Forg-
ings for High Power Guns. For the pur-
pose of securing the opinion of an expert
of the War Department, the committee
availed itself on two occasions of the
services of Brigadier- General Flagler,
Chief of Ordnance of the army, whose
statement is herewith submitted and
made a part of this report.
The Board of Fortifications or other De-
lenses appointed Under the Act Of March
), 1850, recommended for twenty-seven
principal ports of the United States
ninetynine guns Of from eight to sixteen
inches caliber, and 200 tweive-inch NOR
tars, making ii total of ,299 pieces of ord
nance. IN this mum Der about One-tOurth
OF the guns and about one-fitth OF the
mortars will be required for the defense
of three points only Oh the Pacific Coast,
namely, san Diego, San Francisco and
The mouth of the Columbia River No
provision was made in this report tor the
defense OF Puget Sound (Which has be-
come OF far greater importance that it was
when the report was made), nor for
Gray's HarhOr nor other points on the
Pacific Coast. At least 5l0 guns and NOR
tars viii be required for the proper
defense of the Pacific Coast at the four
principal points naned-at least 20 guns
hplnO
Sound alone.
AS Will be seen upon examination of
his statement, General Flagler unquali-
tiedly iayors the establishment of another
gun factory, to be located on the Pacific
Coast, for reasons which to the committee
are lncOntrovertible. The necessity Tor
another gun factory, and the advantages
which would accrue from its location on
the Pacific Coast, are manifest. Among
the advantages of having a factory near
TO the fOrtiticationS, "a military adVau-
tage," as it has been termed is of great
Importance. General Flagier on this point
said:
Il would like to invite attention to and
lay great stress upon one point that |
make, and that is a very great advantage
amounting in some cases to something
ike the necessity OF having this estab-
Ishment nearer to the fortiucatiOns than
the Atlantic Coast would be- The sa, ing
III cost of transportation which would re-
suit from the establishment Of the pro-
posed gun factory would be enormous.
and would more than ogualIze whatever
differences there might be in the cost of
manufacturing guns on the Pacific Coast,
as compared with some Eastern points
There Is great doubt whether large guns
particularly lG-inch, could safely be
transported by rail across the continent,
and the highest authorities question the
OF nrfa III
The question has arisen whether it may
not be preferable to double the capacity
OF the present factory at " atervliet, so as
TO provide for the manufacture there of
the guns and mOrIaTS contemplated,
which it is estimated could be done for
Si50,0U0 less than il VIII cost to build
new plant. 1t has not been in accordance
with the policy Of the Government, nor
would it seem wise, to locate both fact
ories AT the same point. BY having them
located at different points the disastrous
results Of great fires, where both might
be destroyed, are avoided, and poSsibii-
ity, however remote, of the total cessa-
ton of the work by the c3pture OF the
factories by hostile forces or by labor
troubles, is removed
The objections to having both factories
ut the same point seems conclusive, and
the committee are of the opinion that the
interests of the country will be best
served by the establishment of another
separate gun factory to be located on the
Pacific Coast. General Flagler estimates
that after deducting 100 guns which are
under contract with the Bethlehem Com
pany. the Natervliet factory will be able
TO manufacture the balance of ,299 guns
and mortars referred to by the year 1908.
And the statement appended indicates
that with the present capacity OF the
WaterVliet Arsenal it will require TWENTY
tygn n
the Atlantic Coast alone, and for the At
lantic and Gulf and Pacific Coasts will
require forty years. If the south wing OF
tho Watcrvliet factory shall become as
fully equipped as is the north wing now,
the capacity of the two wings could only
complete guns for the Atlantic Coast
alone i'll ten or twelve years, for the At
lantic and Gulf Coasts III thirteen years.
and the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts
in about twenty or twenty-one years
There is no doubt that steel forgings for
even the largest guns can be manu-
iactured on the Pacific Coast. Repre-
sentations have been made TO the COM
mittee as to the facilities for the produc-
ton OF steel forgings at san Francisco,
where Open-hearoh furnaces capable of
casting twenty -seven-Ion steel forgings
are now established, and Benicia has re-
ceived consideration with reference to its
suitableness for gun factory. The
Chamber OF commerce OF the city of
Seattle urges the location of the factory
at or near that point. j. Furth, Presi-
dent of that body, says: Iron and coal
of excellent quality abound near this
city, and the mines are easily accessible
from Seattle. n large part of the arma-
ment for the coast must be used on Puget
Sound, and the establishment Of
foundry here would save "a great expense
in transportation. The Moss Bay COM
p2ny at Kirk land, Lake Washington, is
erecting tirst-Class steel plant, on which
S25O,0j0 has already been spent, and
which viii be completed within a year.
responsible parties guarantee a suitable
location on Lake washington for q Gov
ernment foundry.''
Others again favor the establishment of
the proposed factory at some point on the
Columbia River, near which pig iron is
found.
In view of the difference of opinion ex-
lstlng as to the exact place on the Pacific
Coast where the factory should be To-
Gated, the COMMITTEES are of the opinion
that Its location should be left to the de-
clslon of a board OF competent experts to
be appointed by the President, as pro-
vIded for in this bill. 1t appears from
statement OF the Chief OF Ordnance that
Il there be no large establishment of this
kind located on the Pacific Coast, there
viii be need OF two small establishments
for repairs, one TO be located at Benicia
and the other further north, on the
Columbia or on Puget Sound.
The bill appropriates 81, 100000 for the