Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-15
BUYING MUNITIONS OF WAR.
Bids for Gun Carriages, ProjectiIes
and Cartridges Called For
or Received.

Washington, March 1.-THE ordnance de-
partment of the army has sent an invita-
tion to all of the firms which have in the
past proposed to build disappearing gun
carriages, in answer to the departments 8
advertisement. to come forward at this
time and submit on their own behalf pro-
posals for building such carriages. They
are invited to state how many carriages
they can undertake at one time and are
enjoined especially to state the exact time
to be consumed in making them. 1t Is be-
lieved by the officials that the delivery Of
such carriages could begin in from three
to four months after the placing Of orders,
the difference in time depending upon
whether or not the manufacturers have
their plans already in hand, and upon the
caliber of the gun to be mounted. whether
ten or twelve inch. The plans of the forti-
fications board which are being followed
in the ernplacement of these guns by the
engineers and ordnance officers Of the de.
partment contemplate the mounting Of all
the big rifles on disappearing. carriages;
Although these are more complicated ana
difficult of manufacture than the ordlnary
carriage it is said at the department that.
owing to the fact that the makers are now
and have been for some time engaged IN
turning out this style of carriage, they
probably can supply them in the immediate
future more quickly than the ordinary car
riage, and with emergency orders 1t is felt
that the average iron works can turn out
from four to six or eight of these carriages
per month.
The ordnance officers have discovered to
their great qualification that It Is possible
to use the carriages of the old .hfteen-inch
Rodman guns to mount the eight and ten
inch guns of modern manufacture. This IS
because the Rodman carriages were OF
particularly heavy construction for the
with even the vastly increased power of
modern ordnance. the fifteen-inch Rodman
carriage is still able to carry safely an
eight or ten-inch breech-loading rifle. OF
course, the expedient is only a temporary
one as the carriages are very slow in
operation, according to modern standards,
but they would serve very well in an emer-
gency.
From unofncial Information received here
there has been a satisfactory Improvement
in the health of both Admiral sicard. VINO
| ron, and Of Captain Sigsbee AS a result
o. his stay in the Gulf of Mexico: Admiral
| Sicard contracted a case Of malaria, which,
however. disappeared after rev days
Captain sigshee's Illness was of hardly
| more than days duration. which yield.
| ed promptly to treatment, and the latest
/ advices received here show that he has
| entirely recovered.
| The bureau of ordnance of the war de-
| partment opened bids to-day for a large
| supply of armor piercing projectiles and
for T. 100000 rifle ball cartridges.
The bidding brought together a number
| and ammunition companies, some of whom
| took occasion to give assurances that IN
| the present emergency, government work
would be given the .sS oyer
| tiles. varying in size from the S-inch steel
| capped shot to the lco0-pound shot, varied
only, slightly, running from SIG 2 each for
the S-inch to $235 each for the 1.0O0-pound-
! ers. The B. Atha Illingsworth Company
confined their bid to the S-inch shot and
shell, while the others submitted bids for
tod hyyf no
| department, viz, 80 S-inch shot, capped: I:
| 149 s-inch shell. 4S2 1O-inch shot. capped;
| zS1 10-inch she'll. 1.241 Finch deck piercing
| shell. weighing 800 pounds each. 93S Finch
shells, Weighing 1000 pounds each. The
| bids of all the companies for the 500 and
1000 pound shells were the same, namely,
| $1S7 and $235 each.
| Although the department intends to ac-
cept only ~one bid. or to divide the order
| between the bidders. 1t afforded satisfac-
| tion to the authorities to know that such
! large supplies could be obtained from so
many sources on short notice. The Midvale
company offered to begin deliveries in
| twenty-five days; the Furth Sterling Cons
pany at the rate Of 100 per week after
| Twenty-Five per day after April S: and the
| =. Atha Illngsworth company in ninety
days. The bids for rifle cartridges were
| in two parts: 100000 being standard me-
| tallic ball cartridges with brown powder.
and 100000 metallic cartridges with
| smokeless powder. There were three bid
ders. viz: the Union Metallic Cartridge
Company. the United States Cartridge
| Company, and the Winchester Repeating
Arms Company. The bids were the same
| In each case. $3.50 for the brown powder
cartridge. and s27 for the smokeless pow
der cartridge. One company offered to deI
liver 5000 at once, and all the offers con-
templated delivery of 100000 day after
| a few days.
| The bids, for shot. shell and cartridges
will be briefed and the awards made with
| In the next few days. as the war depart
ment wishes the work to begin at once