The evening times., 1895-11-11

OF lt-Many Men VIII ne fdie.
Unless Congress acts promptly large
number OF skilled mccba mics will be thrown
out of work in a short time by the closing
of the Two naval armor factories OF this
country. Both Will in a short time have
completed their contracts with the govern
meBt. IL will b. the first shutdown since
they were established under President
Cicveland's first administration.
In all they VIII have furnished 10000
tons or armor at Il total cost of $13,O0o,-
900. The greater part has been used in the
battleships Ma ssachu sets, Indiana, ore
gon, and Iowa. Most of the remainder has
gone TO the cruisers New York, and Brook
lyn. The battlcship Kcars;irgc aud her
unnamed sister will require several thou
sand tons more. Congress may wnhrl Il
few days after meeting direct that new
| cont racts b. made 20 supply these ships,
ard in that case the men now employed
can afford 10 wait till The preliminaries
are settled and work At The factories re-
| sumcd.
II This is not done mischief Will result
two ways. The men Will be compelled 10
seek employment elsewhere, and when the
, Kcarsarge and her sister snip the factories
will he delayed in securing employees suf-
ficicntly skin,si to undertake the work.
CAPACITY OF THE PLANTS.
The past YER output OF armor does not
represent the capacity of the plants, for inn
| portant departments In both the Carnegie
and Bethlehem Company's establishments
have been practically shut down for consid-
cradle periods while awaiting plans of the
depart mctt In addition, the bethlehem
Company has an Il rnIor rolling mil nearing
completion, which will greatly Increase the
forging capacity Of the establishment, and
thus materially add TO the governments
source or arnior supplies in the event Of a
necessity 10 suddenly increase the Navy. As
The ordnance people nave decided to greatly
rc,iuce the thickness OF the heaviest armor
carried 10y the new battle ships, while eXper-
icnceh S indicJt ed no W its ma anufa ct ure may
he simplifiesi, il is believed by Capt. Samp
son, chief OF ordnance. that the entire
amoun; required for the two new vessels,
amounting To 5000 tons. can lie supplied
in less than one year after receipt OF pans.
. When this is compared To the time consumed
, In furnishing 10000 tons. it will I've readily
seen how armor-prodGcing has been facili-
tated In late years. Capt. Sampson made
some pertinent suggestions regarding III Z
ad.isabiiiiy of continuing the 3rmor indus
try OF the country, and points out that while
the number and capacity OF the worSs ca
pable OF building warships is now quiie
large, and can be easily extended TO meet
any demand, this IS rot the case witt,
arInor plants.
DANGER OF CLOSING DOWN.
The great difficulty, he says, 10 bc en-
countcred in permitting the plants to
close down VIII he in securing skilled
labor To begin again the work Once the
armor-makers are discharged and scatter
new men must he trained in the industry
at great loss of lime To the Government
/ ana expense to tie contractors. IL is ap-
parent, he stated, that while in case of
IL sudden and large increase in the demand
Tor warships the hull and engine builders
would be able to respond, the stimuli
tabeous demands for armor of the same
character and position on the ships as
the building OF the liulis pro gresscd would
assuredly cause great delays. Capt. Samp-
son, therefore, regards as most important,
| 50 long rs the programme for the ill.,
crease of the Navy remains uncompleted,
That the authorization of additional ar.
mored ships be regular and continuous, and
IN this respect he believes that the offensive
armor experimentation carried on here has
clearly indicated the direction in which
Developments and Improvements in re-
sistaDce is 10 be expected, 50 that nothing
IN this respect will be gained by delaying
tue provision for ships, especially as il will
require nearly one year to formulate and
place new contracts for armor.
The proposition to contract with the
shipbuilders for armor does not meet
with Capt. SIMPSONS approval. He feels
that the Government has an interest in
the two armor plants and that it is under
pledge to support them in return for the
expense they were put TO in creating the
only establishment In the United States
where armor can be manufactured. He
believes, moreover, that the Department
will have no difficulty in forcing the price
| of armor down to point where a reason
able profit will be allowed the makers
without jeOpOrdiziDg the maintenance OF
both establishments.
NO UNUSUAL DELAYS.
Serious delays in the completion of ships
have been ascribed to the slow delivery of
armor In the past. When it is understood
that the effort has been to satisfy the almost
simultaneous demands for armor of fif-
teen ships whose authorization by Congress
covered period of ten years, and that this
has been practically accomplished in little
over four years, the enterprise and vigur of
the armor concerns, in Capt. Sampson's
opinion, is worthy rather of praise than CEN
sure, In this connection, Capt. Sampson
says: THE material employed is one with
which no previous experience had been
elsewhere obtained, and, despite the fact
that the dimensions and weight of the
heaviest plates exceeded considerably those
manufactured by any other navy in the
world, process surrounded by difficulties
pronounced insurmountable by many of the
most prominent engineers in this and other
countries, has been successfully developed
and applied. Itmay now be stated with con-
vlrtiOp that tlp time of ttlp deliveries nf
armor for any probable number of ships au-
thorized at one time in the future will rest
in the hands of the contractors of the hulls
and be dependent solely upon the prompt.
ness with which they supply the necessary
details for the fitting and securing Of the
individual plates.