The sun., 1894-12-29
THE DEFECTIVE ARMoR.
Shall It Be stripped from the ships s.'
Fired AT

Fired Az
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2S.-The discussion In the
| Senate Committee on Naval Affairs upon the
| Cummings resolution relating TO the Carnegie
| ship armor has had some interesting results.
That resolution, as will be remembered looEed
| to the removal and testing OF the questionable
plates now on the war ships, and Senator Quay's
| proposed amendment was that, II the disputed
plates should pass the prescribed ballistc tests,
| the fine Of Sl4O, 900 imposed upon the Carnegie
| Company and paid by 1t should be remitted.
Pending the testimony taken on these matters,
| Mr.. Carnegie himself has called upon Secretary
| Herbert and has said that he had unbounded
| confidence in the armor, and was willing to go
TO any expense to show it." This statement has
naturally led to the inference that the Carnegie
| Company would bear the cost of removing the
| disputed plates and Of testing them by actual
nrings. as we'll of supplying substitutes for
them. Secretary Herbert has, however. declared
| that Mr.. Carnegie and his friends made no def
| mite proposition at the interview In question,
| but they probably did not go so far without
| having q definite proposition In mind which
| may come in due time.
It is conceded that such q move to obtain
ballistic test would show both business sa-
gaclty and tho desire to put his estab-
lishment right. That there is nothing COM
pulsory in the matter, nor even anything that
could be equitably demanded Of the Carnegie
ps ssea tRs Goyernment Z S @ Claimed from i have
been fixed and paid. But there is no doubt that
Naval Committee were inclined not to report
favorably the C9mmings resolution, the ,; i'm;
| by the Carnegie Company.
In reality that was pure assumption. and there
wa. certainly no ground for snpposing that the
| Senate Naval Committee could bo influenced in
any way by the supposed wishes OF the com.
pany. Such influence as Il was likely TO accept
| was that which came from the prominent
officers and the experts OF the Navy Department
itself Commodore sampson. the Chief OF
sa not
also though It inadyisable. Under such circum-
| port the resolution favorably, going to a great
expense in the matter, when the leading au-
''B' But Why should such advice be given, after
| the revelations made before the Cummings COM
that the en- questions M involved we're PRACTICAL In
the first place, any pecuniary wrong done 70 the
thorities to have been made up by the nne i'm
posed. Then, as 70 weakness in the ships, they
S e1 they esxS sHsaa
tho Harvey PROCESS vas Vas not adopted TED by the Gov.
deemed deemed sufficient. iat The gain BY the surface,
hardening process with the application OF which
Of .pY Tine a0 to srS weS
have been considered adequate resisting power
without It had not the device become ne ayailabie. M
the Iowa, battle ship planned sine since h the Harvey
!
are OF less total displacement. Hence II can be
understood why 1t might bo decided by the de-
| pArtment that improper and defective armor
had been furnished TO it, and yet that the short
comings were not such a. TO REQUIRE II TO be
ened through any fear that even with these de-
fects the ships would not be amply protected.
have shown some very singular results. For eI-
ample. l7.inch Carnegie plate. representing
sssd hs 5T Ss second ef two shots red
1t, and its rejection seemed almost assured, yet
rarorabe results obtained BY two Extra shots
Bethlehem isnSh plate rsRressensahg nna.r t9s sss
shos and fa then %'0 second plate Of the group
passed the entire remaining lot Again, IL
tested esn % By is-inch she'll. sfterwsrd smashed
l3-inch shell without receiving any damage
from the "nsa noabs sa.e nso Sgs
curved Harveyed nickel steel Carnegie plate.
rejected on inspection ana w.hTI, .spt. s5nS On to
the Goyernmsnt for experiments. Four 9-inch
proJecties two at l.s0O feet of striking velocity
and two OF 1000 feet utterly failed TO get
through tho plate, although the four struck
close together. and the surface cracks were not
but there is a particular reason for the posi-
tion taken by the secretary and Chief OF Ord;
il, "the balilstic test formed an inferior limit
OF acceptance, and in no way Was 20 be regarded
properly manufactured and were sound they
were expected "a nave Al least 10 per cent
nianded. Here, then, we get more decisive clue
10 the views OF Secretary Herbert and Commo-
dore sampson against taking armor on the ships
and trying IL ballistically after the imperfec-
tions In manufacture had already been com
planation OF Commodore SampsOn's opposition
10 the Quay amendments, which would return
the fund ii the armOr should pass the ballistio
test The firing tests las has been seen. are pur-
posely made very low, because the Harvey
not want the contractors TO lose by il II their
work should be done honestly and consGisnii Snsni
| Al
The specifications concede the dlnlculty newly
started Industry would have 70 supplying material ot
as psiss arhsris defct2e Il thsy :neeeeea il
Sf's Il sgsts "s and ihs Ss.i
70 @ay be- on nSd Use Of 20 al
etker tests and % lower the STANDARD % resi.tsne9
paid tor The saving clause 4 that ms contractors
qse te pSes The most resisting Plates That
This Is done can only be determined by arlsid system
Oi Inspection.
The fine was imposed upon the Carnegie Com
pany oi, proof OF work that was not IN accord
ance with the requirements, and therefore not
sntitled 10 tie contract pay, Without any regard
as To whether Il would pass the bailistio test In
other words Commodore sampsOn's view Is that
the ine is based ON ample proof that the plates
were not what the company was bound 70 max z
them under its contract, and must stand, though
they might pass balllstio tests made plrPosely
lower than the style of work required BY the
contract would successfully pass.
srli1 The pTospsct that, Tor these reasons, the
, plates will not be taken on by the Government
would only bring into stronger i,ght s
every expense in removing the plates, The result
could hardly fail 10 be OF benefit 10 the company
; / I'M the largest sense. IL might create more
favorable public sentiment toward II from thlA
1 voluntary assump ptiou ~ great eApease for the
I two puTpOses, b'jth highly honorable. Of Vindi,
eating the reprtaio OF its estAollshmenf ana o.
ulace Of any thai might be taken OF for ballittie
/, trial. again from the Instances cited Of Pc
culiar results IN such triAls and from the onclA
: acted. the chances may be considered Of n.
plAtes p@,silhE sS'h hr uI NJ Csrnsa,s' BSt az ts
The story Of suit brought 6T Mr CaInesl'
against ths GoyeTnmsnt 10 recover the sltO
thai not a word on this subject ~zs mshtlonse
ih,st ibs aTnsrIs Company IL after ls pre-