The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-08
ARM0R And ORDNANCE
American Steel Works the Best
In the World Guns Great
and Small.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 1S94.-The two
American armor plants at Bethlehem and
Homestead, according to the annual re-
port of Commodore Sampson, chief OF
naval ordnance, are the best equipped
in the world, their developments in the
past year by the addition of powerful
forging presses and Harveyizing fur
naces being of such a character as to
represent actual advances in the art
These establishments have now practical
ly completed existing armor contracts
and should appropriations for additional
armored vessels be deferred beyond the
next session of Congress these magnifi-
cent plants, which cost $10,00O,O00, would
be practically idle for more than year.
their organizations would be broken up
and the skilled labor created at much
expense of time and money either lost
or diverted. Under these circumstances
Commodore Sampson believes that pet
ter terms should be obtained on new
contracts at the present time than later
Existing vessels require 10000 tons OF
armor, $4,000 of which have already
been accepted and delivered, and by Sep
tember next year no government work
will remain unfinished.
ARMOR DEN ENELOPMENI L.
Commodore Sampson treats at conSid-
erable length the subject of armor de-
velopment in Europe and this country
and concludes that the American Har-
veyized product is unequalled elsewhere
in the world. Notwithstanding attempt
ed frauds, he is confident that ball1st1c
tests prevent any inferior plates beng
accepted by the government.
The report calls for $500,OOO to be ex-
pended in commencing to provide arma-
ment for the steamers registered under
the provisions of the subsidy acts, which
make them available for use by the
In case such vessels as the New YORK,
Paris and the new st. Louis snould pc
called into service (Which would be tne
most natural means of increasing our
naval strength) it would require many
months to provide batteries for them.
No guns are now available for the pur-
pose and none are authorized. IT takes
time to build modern rifles and to be pre-
pared for an emergency. Such guns
should be commenced at once. 1t is
estimated that six six-inch, 159 fiye-mch,
1853 four-ineh and 377 secondary battery
rapid firing rifles would be required TO
arm thirty-three of the most suitable
steamers on the Atlantic and eight on the
Pacific Coast.
MACHINE GUNS.
During the past year the naval ordnance
experts have been exceedingly busy IN
testing machine guns, small arms and
smokeless powders, with excellent re-
fection. The new millimeter calibre rifle
barrel and its ammunition are satisfactory,
but neither breech mechanism for the
small arm nor the ideal machine gun de-
vice has yet been secured. European
smokeless powders are pronounced un-
satisfactory. Nitro-glycerine powders
are declared unfit for military purposes
and now American processes are looked
to for good explosive.
The pneumatic dynamite gun will be
supplanted, it appears from the inter
testing experiments which have been
made with she'll loaded with gun cotton
and fred from the six-inch gun with a
velocity of about 400 foot-seconds. Those
shell weighed 80 pounds and contained
about eleven pounds of wet cotton to-
gether with dry gun cotton primer
and illuminate detonater. When fired
into the side of a hill they detonated
with tremendous violence, making a
large crater and throwing stones and
mud hundreds of feet in all directions.
If high explosives can be fired safely at
such velocities and Commodore Sampson
has no doubts on the subject, there will
be no need whatever of the cumbersome
pneumatic apparatus with its uncer-
tain aim and short range. The Bureau
estimates call for nearly $4,000 900 to be
expended next year of which $5,2S1 $40 is
toward the armament of vessels already
authorized and $25000 for arming and
equipping the naval militia.