The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-03-27
DEFECTIVE ARMOR PLATES.
DIsCoTERIEs MADE ar TINE clRNEeIR
STEEL WORKS.

W
has sent to Speaker Crisp . full statement o
the discoveries which led to the imposition o
= hne on the Carnegie Steel Company for I'm
perfect stmor furnished for use on naval yes
sells under contract In his letter. which wal
accompanied by q large number OF docu N Its
the Secretary says;
Some time in September last I received In.
formation from an attorney Of Pittsburgh. who
represented certain persons then In the EN-.
PIGMENT OF the Carnegie Steel Company
Limited. that these employees had in theiI
possession inform alton which would be valu.
able to the Government. relating to frauds
then being perpetrated. as 1t was alleged. bJ
certain employees Of this company, and that
they would give this information to the Gov
eminent for q sufTleient consideration. The
attorney had letter OF Introduction to me.
showing that he was . reputable lawyer.
informed him that had no money at my com =
mand with which to pay for the inform alton.
but that II the information should lead to the
recovery OF moneys from the Carnegie Com
pany. thought could remunerate the In
formsnts from the sum SO recovorci; that I
would not undertake to pay any expenses
whatever. or any money except In thia manner.
This proposition was satisfactory. aud
thsreupon three Of those employees and the
attorney representing them, James II. Smith.
Eco. OF Pittsburgh. talked with me freely. A
careful exam nation Of their sta.emen con-
vincsd M that the inform alton they offered to
furnish was not without foundation. could
not discover any feeling Of hostility on their
part toward the Carnegie Company. They
had not been sngag ed In the strike; the motive
influencing them seemed to be n desire to
realize money for the Information they were TO
furnish. and. as they wsro to receive nothing
whatever unless their statements upon inves-
tieation should prove to be true and should
n from m I MT
once determined TO make q thorough invests
cation"
The Secretary says he wrote to the Attor-
neT-General. asking whether the department
had authority to make such q contingent
contract with tho Inform ants as had been in
dicatsd. and the Attorney General replied that
he had. The iniormanis having consented to
take 20 per cent OF such sum as might be re-
covered. a contract to that effect was agreed
upon. The letter continues:
These men had been gathering informa-
tion for long time. and this they submitted
TO the department in great detail The alleEa-
tons were that the company's employees had
failed to temper srmor evenly and properly;
had plugged and concealed blow holes which
would hayo probably caused q rejection OF
plates by tho Govern ment ins pectors. and had
Te-trsAted. without the knowledge OF the In
spsctors. plates which had been selected for
baIlistie test so as to make these plates better
and tougher than the group OF plates repre-
scented BY them.
Tho department had naval officers en-
ploysd at these works as Government In
spsctora 1t was tho duty Of these officers TO
inspect all the plates as manufactured: to
select from each group. when completed one
plate as . representative for ballistic test the
physical qualities OF which plate were to funl
rertain requirements before it could be sent to
the proving ground. These tests were made
by taking pieces from different parts OF tho
plate. turning them down into cylinders. and
breaking them in machines at the works.
30 as to exhibit their elasticity, tensile
ssss fb AND sIonss,oS hs results Of thess
each case forwarded to the department. The
sse Dsts rs 80 s Tss e
plate were aEsa at 4 Il the plate withstood
seated BY il was thersupon accepted.
The inform ants stated that some Of these |
sp.ctor At the werk.. had been secretly. and |
without the knowledge Of the Government In |
and retempsred. SO as to make them better |
and tougher than the group OF plates OF which |
II was the duty OF the Carnegie Steel Company
also 70 submit to the inspectors at the works. |
sho Wing the isns 9Th Of time each plate had been
subjected to the heating and AnneAling pro-
Carnegie works to hand in statements rowing
this upon little slips OF paper mark ed in PEN
copisd and sent to tho ms sctor TO be for
wArded. The informants stated that under
Corey and Cline the statements furnished to
the dovsrnment inspectors we're. In many
memoranda handsd IN BY the RS sas Sr MhIUh
Showed on their face In pencil marks that they
aud false staten snts' the iniormsSts said
that the statements were made pp that were
hsvs b sssnsd
but but they they had been preserved and were semitic
The Secretary submitted the inform alton
thus obtained TO Capt. ". T. sampson. Chief
Of the Bureau of Ordnance. under whose i'm
yestlEation. which sustained the charges
the department suhmisssd A to Capt ssSpsOn
the question as to the amount Of damages sus-
port which assessed penalties At 10 per cent
upon the amount OF Armor delivered TO the
the Ths sser.sr ye ssys nat TG%
could ind nothing in the testimony OF the in
oO%p"ns. Mr. frief and s &f. R Rash had
any knowledge or Information OF the fraud !
rmeh had been com nittsd, and continues as
AZ soon as II. report from Capt. sampson
partm snt tslsEraphsd for Mt. ii. L friek TO
come 20 Washington TO see the Secretary on
with him Mr HunsiEsr.iwho Was moe diSscaiy
than ME- Frtck in charge OF the manufacture
frsf and Was IL II: prs S.sn 81 A..
sistAnt Secretary MeAdoS ana Capt, Sampson.
action. stating who the Intern ants were the
nature OF the Information acted on by the de-
pArtmentf and placed in their hands the re-
port made By the chief Of the Bureau OF
Ordnance. assessing tho damages. as well
Hs certain written statements by the |
tntormAnts They were also tnformsd that
Lieut. Alderman, who hat for q short time
been on special duty at the works while this |
L ysstiRGtion was going on. had reported that
hls suspisions were aroused by certain evil
denoss which he observed. tending to show
that the operatives were eoncsaling facts
trom the observation OF the Inspectors; and |
that Lieut.. AeKsrmAn's observations were |
N Ads without any knowledge OF the iniorma-
tlon received By the department from the sm- ! ,
ploysss. As hsrstoioIe stated. After fully ae- |
SuAinting AeSsrs. Friek and Hunsiksr with |
the facts, l demanded satisfaction for the |
damages resulting from these irregularities
and Informed them that they would onlI he
> allowed to proceed with the contract ON eOndi. |
ton OF making full rsparAti0n-
hs1sIs. Flick and llunsiksr both seemed
greatly AstQnished AZ the staten ants % ads 10 |
lhem. aud Mr. tTick thanked me for the care