Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-08
Annual Report Of the Chief Of the
Ordnance Bureau.
4 RESERVE SUPPLY Is NECESSARY
Remarks in Relation to the Frauds
in Amor Plates.
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS

The annual report Of Capt. w. T. Samp-
son, chief of the naval ordnance bureau,
shows that the work of arming the new
ships is progressing rapidly. OF the i53
sets of gun forgings required all but three
have been delivered $40 guns are completed
and 232 are afioat. The built-up system re-
mains the favorite, but an efficient and
probably cheaper gun can be constructed on
the plan of a forged steel tube reinforced by
wire, it may be well to develop this system
as a means of rapidly arming ships in an
emergency. Beyond this no other gun sys-
tenn is worthy of development at govern
ment expense. Capt. Sampson says:
Reserve supply Necessary.
Although the modern guns required to
arm the vessels thus far authorized by law
now practically completed, the bureau
considers that 1t would be unwse to cut
short the work Of gun construction until a
reserve supply of guns Of all calibers has
been created for use in an emergency. The
guns needed for new ships hereafter author
lied can well be built concurrently with the
construction of the ships themselves, but
certain number of guns OF each caliber
should be kept in hand to replace any dam
aged in service, and more especially for the
purpose of arming such improvised war
ships will be called into service in the
event of war. No private manufacturer
can afford to keep on hand a stock of guns
of any considerable size, and 1t Will be only
prudent for the government to maintain
such stock itself. In the bureaus opinion
there Is not the slightest danger of the pres
ent system of gun construction being so far
improved upon as to render the guns now
in use obsolete, and accordingly the recon-
mendatiOn is made that the construction of
an additional number, equal to 10 per cent
of those now authorized, be begun at once,
and an estimate therefor lis herewith sub
mitted.'
Secondary Batteries.
AS to secondary batteries. the report
states that while trials have been made of
guns submitted to competition, the grave
disadvantages resulting from the use of
different types are such that nothing but
marked superiority can Justify the intro
duction of new types. The equipment of
vessels with their secondary batteries Is
well advanced. OF 49, Hotchkiss and 165
briggs guns ordered I'6 and 80, respective
ly. ahoat A good brown powder for
the fiye-inch rapid-flre gun has been re-
ceiyed from the California Powder Com
pany, and some progress has been made in
the anufacture of this kind of powder for
the twelve and thirteen-inch guns. but not
as much desirable. Smokeless powder
made at the torpedo station has been found
fully equal to that accepted abroad as sat
isfactory. The foreign powders tested have
not given satisfactory Iesults. The nitro
glycerine powders have given excellent
ball'stic tests. but they have been found to
be otherwise unfit for military purposes.
Satisfactory progress has been made in
the noun ting of heavy guns. While the
hydra ulic system works well, the liability
to injury of the numerous fittings has in
Cuced the bureau 10 design mounts which
can be manipulated entirely by hand, thus
Ting much weight and cost and complex
ity. Several new designs for mounts for
rapid-fire guns have been made, and 1t is
the Intention to place this type of gun
aboard some of our commerce destroyers,
instead of their present guns. Considera Bile
delay in procuring the smaller mounts has
resulted from imperfect steel castings, lead
ing Capt. Sampson to remark that under
the Present system of competitive bids
manufacturers often take contracts at
prices which forbid good castings.
Temptation to Deceive.
1.-The temptation TO evade the specfica-
tons and deceive the inspectors in passing
upon MATERIAL he says, has of course,
steadily increased. Certain of the castings
supplied by two firms were found to con-
tain defects which had been concealed from
the inspector. In addition, one of these
firms, by remarking castings which had
been rejected and returned to their works,
and a fraudulent manipulation of the tests,
again endeavOred to secure their accept
ance. These frauds have been placed in
the hands of the United States district at
tCrneyS of the districts in which they Oc-
Cured for prosecution. 1t is believed i'm
pOftant that the criminal intention TO de-
fraud the government into the acceptance
of inferior or unsuitable material other than
that required by the SpecifCati lions of the
contract agreed to, whether for ordnance or
other material intended for the national de-
fonse. should be suitably punished by law,
somewhat as is prescribed in the case of
boiler material. The system of inspection
is being improved and made more thorough
as experience indicates the necessity.
Where frauds perpetrated. however,
they are seldom, if ever, of such a techni-
cal nature as would deceive the most mex
perienced inspector. They consist usually
of substitutions, evasions, secret treat
ments and concealments which require
rather knowledge of chicanery and double
dealing than metallurgical processes"
No Contracts for PrOjectiIes.
No further contracts were let during the
year for projectiles, a sufficient number
having already been ordered to equip the
ships, excepting common shell, for the
thirteen-inch guns. These will be selected
after competition. The Johnson Cast-steel
shell promises we'll for this work. and there
is good reason to believe that as efficient
shells can be made of cast Steel properly
treated as have yet been produced by fOrg-
ing thus considerably cheapening this very
EXPENSIVE ordnance material OF the o,I22
armor-piercing shells ordered all but LOO
have been delivered. Capt. Sampson says:
The work of manufacturing projectiles
for the navy has been practically COM
pIeted. The Sterling Steel Company, the
United States Projectie Company and the
TAYLOR Iron and Steel Company have fin
ished ISp all their contracts and their pro-
iectile departments are at standstill, and
the CARPENTER Steel Company will soon be
in the same position. 1t would be the part
of wisdom for the department to place or
ders for the manufacture of considerable
reserve supply of projectiles of all calibers,
not only because at any moment an emer-
gency may arise making them urgently
necessary, but also to prevent the scat
tering of the skilled labor which has de-
veloped this manufacture, and to keep oc-
cupied the plants which were established
solely to meet the governments demands
and which, without further orders, will de-
teriorate or even disappear. Accordingly
the bureau recommends the further pur-
chase of projectlles to the extent of $4,000
and submits herewith estimates covering
their cost"
Interesting Experiments.
Interesting experiments have been made
with shells loaded with wet gun cotton
fired at low velocities, 1,4OO feet per Sec
ond. When fired into hillside such six
inch shells exploded with tremendous vio-
lence making a large crater and throwing