The San Francisco call., 1898-02-05

with him concerning the unsatisfactory test of shrapnel shells made at the Pre- sidio on Wednesday. He has recelved from San Francisco a brief telegrapmc report of these trials.
 Tt appears from this report" said the General, that the shells were not of the old stock, but were practically new, and 1 am sorry to say the trlal was a failure. A large percentage or the shells were defective, and we have ordered that the entire lot be rejected. This Is a matter of small importance, however, as the shells are used in small caliber or field guns, and has no rela- tion whatever to Pacific Coast high power gun defense. I cannot say, with any degree of accuracy, how many shells were furnished to the Presidio, but at a rough guess l should say only about S00 They were furnished by the American Ordnance Company, which is a combination of manufacturers of arms and ammunition, such as the Maxim and the Hotchkiss companies.
 "The first lot furnished by the Ameri- can Ordnance Company, tested some time ago, were reported to be Satisfac- tory, and the fact that great percent age of those tried on Wednesday were defective need not worry the San Fran cisco people. As I said before, the de- partment has ordered their rejection, and 1t will only be a matter of few weeks until a new supply can be pro- duced Meanwhile, there Is no danger attending Pacific Coast defenses, and you may send this reassuring intelli- gence to your people, said General Flagler, smilingly.
 But, notwithstanding the Generals assurance and apparent nonchalance, other officers of the department, as we'll as members of Congress, are inclined to regard the failure of those trials as a matter of serious importance. The Call correspondent interviewed Congress- man Hilborn of California, a member of the Naval Affairs Committee, to- night. He was reluctant to speak of the matter. saying that as it was a question that concerned the army rather than the navy, he felt some delicacy about making any criticisms.
 You had better see Chairman Hull of the Military Affairs Committee" |" said he.
 But are not the two departments army and navy-in a sense co-ordi- nate?"
 Yes" replied Judge Hilborn, "and in consideration of this view of the mat ter, perhaps it may not be amiss for me to say that 1 consider the question of ammunition as one of the most Seri- ous importance. It may be remem- bered that several weeks ago I made some observations (which were report ed in the telegraphic dispatches) call- ing attention to the fact that the Unit ed States army and navy was little bit shy on ammunition in case of war. 1 was criticized by General Lew Wal lace for my statement, but my view was vindicated by reports made later by department officers. The report of the failure of the Shrapnel comes at an opportune time, for there is now pending in Congress a bill providing for a Government factory for the pro- duction of gunpoWder and ammunition. Representatives of one of the compan- ieS appeared before our committee yes terday and made an argument against the erection of a government factory, claiming that they had invested large amounts of money in their private en- terprise, and that their goods had reached stage of perfection that the government factory could not attain without years of experience. It now appears that half of their shells were so inferior that all of them were re- jected by the ordnance bureau of the War Department. It seems to me that this will furnish a pretty good argu- ment in favor of a government factory
 
 tion at any rate"
 Judge Hilborn said another matter in the same connection would soon en- gage his attention. He purposes to in troduce a resolution of inquiry in an effort to find out why the guns used by the army and by the marines in the navy are of a different caliber Judge Hilborn thinks they should be of the same caliber, and his view is shared by many army and navy officers, who sus- pect that there is a selfish reason at the bottom. It has been darkly hinted for a long time that the American Ordnance Company and others are the benefciaries of the favor of army and navy officers, especially of the two ordnance bureaus, and it is altogether likely that the failure of the shrapnel at the Presidio on Wednesday will have the effect of hastening an investi- gation of the report that there is a ring in the departments and will re- suit in the ultimate establishment of a government factory.
 Several members of Congress with whom The Call correspondent talked tonight are anxious to receive addi- tional information on the subject so they may offer resolutions of inquiry.