New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-30

Of American invention and American make.
Provision having been made for the domestic
manufactu e of these materials. It has been the
duty of the Navy and War departments to see
that these were intelligently carried out The
remarkable skill that has been exhibited will
ever form a portion Of the most interesting MIS-
tory of the manufactures Of this country. AS
nv far the most momentous question in connec-
tion with the construction Of the new Navy was
that of armor of American manufacture. ana
the kind of armor that should be adopted. the
Navy Department possibly took first and great
er prominence. The ordnance shop at the Wash-
ington Navy Yard became one of remarkable
interest and its work has grown to be mat Oh
the greatest Importance. 1t was the WORK oi
the Navy to finally determine the material 70 oe
used In the manufacture of armor and guns. and
the method of treatment that should be adopted
in its making. Experimental grounds were es-
tablished at Annapolis but the work was supse-
ouently transferred to Indian Head. Nd, where
vigorous tests were made Of the two principal
tvres of armor--the English compound plate
AID the French all-steel plate. The progress in
armor- making has been CONTINUOUS. Inc gov
ernment. recognizing that its facilities were not
sufficient to keep pace with the demand that al
most daily improvement and science of steel-mak-
ing showed to be necessary made contracts with
large private corporations and instituted series
of comparisons between Government manufact-
IRE and that furnished By private manufactur-
ing firms A conclusion of tests authenticated
the statement that steel armOr made in the
United States has In the last year gained III per
cent greater resistance and Is to-day better
than any that is manufactured In the worio.
, The contracts entered into by the private cor
pora;ions have been of great magnitude. ana
have been carefully inspected by officers in both
Army ard Navy A like progress has been made
IN the manufacture Of guns and projectiles.
heavy ordnance giving service velocities OF 2Oo
feet per second higher, and armor-plerclng pro-
1ectiles to be accepted must perforate thlch-
ness of nckel-steel carbonized armor equal to
their calibre: for instance, a twelve-inch shell
must penetrate twelve inches of armor not
nine times out Of ten but the whole ten times.
In the United States are now manufactured naval
and field guns from the smallest caibre to H.
inch Special inventions include the Hotch-
kiss, briggs Schroeder. Fletcher. Dashiell. rap
I'd firing Hotchkss revolving cannon machine
guns and automobile tOrpedoes.
The Army orders all armor-piercng shot TO
be tested at the Proving Grounds at Sandy
Hook The experiments carried on at that
point with guns projectiles and arnor the
study of ranges, and, in fact. all the uses for
which the station is intended, are of the very
greatest scientific import. The Watervlie. Ar
senal situated on the Hudson River near the
city of Troy, the erection of which was au-
thorized by act of Congress September -, INN.
IS devoted to the manufacture of heavy guns
for land and coast defence. Army guns are or
four classes-mountan artillery. field guns.
siege guns and guns for seacoast defence ana