The record-union., 1898-01-30
Sixty-Nine Proposals, Covering Every
Phase Of The Advertisement.
The Huntington, West Virginia,
Chamber of Commerce, Offers
to Build a Complete Plant, Ac-
cording to the Specifications OF
the Board, for $3,325,9O5, In
Guiding Site, Buildings and
Plant.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29.-In accord
ance with the advertisement issued by
the Navy Department recently, pro-
posals were opened in the office of Sec
retary Long to-day for the construction
of a Government armor plant, for the
sale to the Government of sites suitable
for such a plant, and for the machinery
and buildings necessary if the Govern
ment decides to make its own armor
There were sixty-nine bids which COW
cred every phase of the advertisement.
Many of the proposals We're merely Of
fers to donate sites to the Government
conditional upon the location of the
plant, and a number of others were for
the supply of machinery. There were
only two bids to furnish complete
plant, and only one of these named
figure. The two companies now en-
gagged in the manufacture Of armor for
the navy did not submit proposals.
The Huntington, w. Va, Chamber of
Commerce offered to follow the speciti-
cations of the board and build a COM
plete plant for s., So, 800, including site,
buildings and plant.
Another offer TO supply a complete
plant came from the John p. Holland
Company Of New York. but no figure
was named, the company simply offer
ing to do this for a sum of money and
within period less than estimated by
the Armor Board in its report. The bid
was accompanied by the expression of
an opinion that "armor should be in
Guided in the construction contracts OF
all vessels, by which policy Congress
and the country would understand the
full cost of ships and their protection,
while the price of armor would be re-
duced and its delivery expedited.
Another proposal that commanded
some attention was the bid of the Rear
rick Engineering Company of Colum-
bus, Ohio. This was a very complicated
proposal to supply each of the numer-
GUS buildings, furnaces, etc, required,
as well as $50 acres of land, at sums
specified in each particular case. A spe-
cial point of interest about the bid was
an accompanying offer from the Cham
ber of Commerce of Columbus to do
nate S500,000 to the Government if the
plant were located in that city.
Offers of sites for a plant gratis, or
for a nominal sum of money, came
from Muskegon Mich; Youngstown,
Ohio: the Winthrop Harbor and Dock
Company, of Chicago; Sheffield, Tenn;
Waukegan, H.; Peoria, H.; Marquette,
Mich, and Admission, Ala.
A Marinette, Wis, man offered to do
nate site free if the Government would
build a 100000 dock into the lake. Of
fers came from one man in Hampton,
Va. to sell some land and machinery
for about 100000 and from a Phila-
delphia man to supply some land and
testing machine for $4,100. Some OF the
big Western tool concerns offer to sup
ply machinery needed for the plant. A
Marion County, Ind, corporation offered
to donate forty acres of land and fifty
wells of natural gas.
1t will take some time to schedule all
of these bids, but as soon as they can
be arranged they will be sent TO Con-
gress by Secretary Long for the infor-
nation of that body, in case it desires
to embark the Government in the man
ufacture of armor.