The morning call., 1892-12-30
FORGING BIG GUNS.
San Francisco to Have a
: !. -z.@.:. Foundry.
ARMoR WILL. BE CAST ALSO.
A VAST Project That Is Said to Depend
=. Upon the Contracts for Building
: 2: .:. :::. :; .:*>: the New Ships. ...
=
;: Special TO THE MoRNINa CALL.

e. ,-=S
s WAsHiNG GToN.,D Dec, 29.-An evening paper,
ms commenting upon .thereporIs current in
:. circles: here TO the effect that the Pacific
!: Coast is TO haYe.ar srInor-plate plant, says: /:
:"lt is stated on reliable authority thatsa con-
Germ: has: been. incerporsted5at San Fran
:; cisco, ard has half :of its working capital
: alread subscribed, for he:estabfishment:of of
. an industry. of this character: In that city,
The plant, 1T Is. understood, will be on a
large scale. and viii be capable of produce
. Ing NOT only the heaviest armor, but will be:
equipped also for: them an nfacture of: guns,
shot andshel1 and for heavy fGrgings of all
descriptions. This =prQject.is said TO be the
" result of the policy Of distribution which
has been observed by the Navy Department
in:aMarding contracts for the sh1psof the
new n ANY, - = :. -:
: s''eIhe need of:a plant for the manufacture
: Of armor- pla tes and other heavy forgings
. on. the p Pacific Coast" was made apparent
; when the contract fer the construction of
the CRUISER Charleston was awarded to the
Union Iron Works: The .armor- plates;
q shafts. and other heavy material which en-
tered int thee construction of that vessel, as
we'll of the Ssn@F raneisco.. which. was
given to: the same firm iii the: following
j year, and Of the Monterey. the Oregon aud
The: Olympia, which: have since been
.: aw warded to them. was manufactured. .iuthe
East !Fhe transportation of this material
TO thePacife Coast added materially to the
cost OF these vessels, and il is'said that the
: eompletionof> the. Oregon and Olympia VIII
be retarded by the delay in the furnishing
OF their arinor. II: FL : ( :"
=: -. The establishment of "a plant of this
. kind on the Pacific Coast is regarded with
> great favor in. naval circles, and its want
has been: frequently commented upon.
Not only.:it i. said, wonld It arouse an in
terest lnethe navy in that section; but would
be. Of. in e:timabre. value in the event of
trouble: with q foreign power. At fire
present time: every gun and pr0iectile
d Jwhichi Used in the navy Is manufactured
? In the Eastern States, and the cost of trans
): porting: them TO the Western coast is an
Item of;noiittle Importance. -. r
:. I'm the matter of shot and shell alone such
an. establishment would be of the greatest
value to- the Government. In the ordinary
course Of events it takes a month for such
material to-reach the Pacific and under the
pressure OF dItect need they could not reach
:: their destination in less than a week or ten
days. Such period Of time would be OF
vital Importance in the case Of a NECESSITY y
: material arising. It is pretty generally con-
ceded. however, that the carrying out of
this project will be largely effected by the
award for construction of the two new
yessels,>t the Iowa and Brooklyn. - =:
II. I: This story is said to have come from re-
liable authority, but the matterof the estab-
:nshment eff the plant has, ii will be seen,
an inn portant reservation. AS to the two
. nJw ships the Crampsof Philadelphia were
: .ss i3west bidders on both ships. and In: the
: event of the Union Iron Works failing to
get one Of them 1t is highly probable that
the manufactore Of armor plates. on The
coast at least. will be deferred. Secretary
Tracy's decision in regard to the award oi
thecentraets for: the new ships will prob
ably be. made. early next week and in the
meantime the indications are that the
Cramps VIII get bo. vessels: - -.
There. is some talk. however. to the effec'
that the Union Iron works will lower it.
bid on the Brooklyn to the amount bid BY
the Cramps, and il is safe to predict that Il
such a step is decided upon by the Sat
Francisco firm the Brooklyn will be Launched
IN the Pacific. 8. ~.