The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-04-09
BUT ONE BID CONES
AND THAT ONE Is VERY, VERY
WIDE OF The MARK.


ment-Oners to Furnish Armor at Two
Hundred and Sixty Dollars Ton aud.
IL Given a Twenty-Year Contract. viii
do Better Ihsn That Yet-No Award
Can be Made.
Washington, April s-The navy de-
partment received today but one bid in
! answer to the advertisement calling for
proposals for supplying about 5000 tons
Of arn1or for the three battleships, Hi
rlois. Wisconsin and Alabama, and this
| one was so irregular in form as 10 be
wide of the advertisement. The single
! bid was from the Illinois Steel company
| Of Chicago, and it proposed to supply the
| 5000 tons of arn1or desired al $3.50 per ton
on condition that il be given twenty
| year contract to supply all the naval
| ar11lor. In such case the remainder OF
the armor beyond the 5000 tons would
be supplied at s240 per ION. The armor
was to be paid for in gold coin An al
| tentative proposition contemplated the
erection Of an a-mor plant by the gov
eminent and it's supply with steel by the
Illinois company. No awards have been
/ made and the whole matter probably VIII
| be referred to congress.
INTEREST IN THE BIDDING.
The interest felt IN the results OF TO-
days bidding was manifested by the
large number present Besides represen-
tative officials of the leading iron works,
ex-Secretary Herbert and a number of
naval experts, from the ordna nee, engi-
nearing and construction bureaus, were
in attendance.
In view of the fact that congress, oy
an amendment 10 the naval appropria-
ton bill. had limited the sum 10 be PAID
for armor for the three batueships 10
maximum of $500 per ton, as against
about $500 now paid, there was no sur
prise expressed by the persons present
in the secretary's office, when Secretary
Long. taking his place at the head OF
tne table, announced that only one old
had been received, that being the one
from the Illinois Steel company or Chlca-
GO. a concern which now for the nrst
time enters the fields of competition for
supplying the government armor.
Before the bid was read Lieutenant
Stone for the Carnegie company, ana
Vice President Davenport, for the Beth
lehem company, presented to Secretary
Long written statements Of the reasons
which had impelled these companies 10
refrain from submitting proposals IN an
swer to the present advertisement. Sec
retary Long glanced at the opening pa
nd . them
for consideration later in the day.
Secretary Long this afternoon made
public the rates for the Carnegie and
the Bethlehem companies.
CARNEGIE CAN'T.
President Schwartz Of the Carnegie
company writes that they are unable TO
bid. as with all our facilities and expe-
r;ence. we cannot supply the government
with armor Of the quality we are now
making at that price, $4,000"
Referring to the testimony before con-
gressional committees, Mr.. Schwartz
says:
I've trust you will be able to satisfy
congress of the Importance of such leg
isla ton as will enable you TO negotiate
with armor manufacturers TO secure at
a fair price the quality of armor the gov
ernment should have. Il you were in
a position 10 negotiate with us, and We
could not agree upon the price, we
would be perfectly willing tc have the
price fixed by arbitration-the arbitra-
tors 10 be men skilled in the art"
NOR CAN BETHLEHEM.
Vice President and General Manager
Sayers set out the position of the Beth
lehem company in a long letter. He says
the company cannot bid within the price
$500 per ton) fixed by congress. The
first contract made by his company in
1887 was for s536.16 per gross ton. Yet
this was simply plain steel armor, and
not nickei-alloyed, face-hardened nor
re-forged, as now demanded. Those
three notifications involve greatly in
creased expense of production. not only
because OF the direct cost OF applying
the processes. but because the output Of
a given plant is much smaller. More
over. another great additional expense
is caused by the difficult shapes re-
qu;rod in the armor plates. increasing
the cost and risk of fashioning them,
and this is especially the case with the
three battleships.
An important factor in fixing the cost
is the smallness and uncertainty of the
product, compared with the necessary
plant. The orders Of naval armor in four
years UP 10 June /, last, were at the
rate of 1.549 tons annually. and it is not
likely that the future orders will exceed
1000 tons per annum. The armor plant
cost 81. 900. .oo0. A charge OF Is per cent
to cover depreciation. equaliing $500, 900
per annun1, would make the fixed charge
$500 per ton of armor. exclusive Of all
other costs 10 manufacture.
OFFERS TO BE REASONABLE.
To have TIE magnificent plant lie Idle. |
and the Skilled workmen scattered, |
would be a national misfortune, il is de-
vlared
In conclusion. Mr.. Sayers says thai. |
while the company cannot supply the !
small quantity of armor required at pri- |
cas materially lower than those now paid |
it still stands ready 70 sci! its plant 20
psice. . be fixed by suitable arbitration |
-, however. congress Will remove the |
limitation on price he believes he can
agree x.lh the department upon a fair
price not greater than that paid for sin
liar arm0r by any other country in the |
world.
IRON WORKERS AND SPINNERs |
Progress of Strikes at the Illinois Steel |