The evening times., 1899-12-02

| Fifty-fifth Congress to the Fifty sixth, Is
| that of armor plate. In the closing hours
of the last session an act was passed fixing
| the price at $500 ton. No factory In the
| country will agree to furnish armor for the
! newly authorized warships at that figure;
| hence. the Secretary Of the Navy has been
| compelled to suspend all efforts toward get
ting thsse ships under construction.
| For the armor on the battleships Maine,
Ohio, and Missouri. authorized in 1897, he
is permitted to pay s40O, but he is unwilling
10 do this as long as $500 will not buy the
best armor in the market; hence the work
on these also has been delayed. On pro-
posal for Government armor plant,
committee of Congress made last year an
exhaustive report, but nothing more has
been done in the matter.
All our warships are fitted with the Har-
yey armor. which costs the Government
SiC0 per ton, with an agreement to add a
! royalty of S1l.20 a ton if necessary, so that
the price is always said to be $411.2O ton.
A group OF Senators led by Chandler of New
Hampshire and Tillman of South Carolina
objected to this price. because they claimed
that the armor could be made for much less.
Bur a new factor, the Krupp armor. has
come into the argument. When the Ord
nance Bureau officers began to fear that
they were to have the price Of armor re-
duced TO $500. they called to the minds Of
the Senators the fact that all the great ma
vies of Europe were equipping with Krupp
armor which was, they said. much better
than the Harvey, and the price Of which
was s545 ton.
The ordnance officers replied that they
had recited all these facts when Congress
convened in December. but that their state
ment had been pigeonholed and ignored.
The Navy Department now relies upon Con-
gress 10 enact a law which will enable the
department to go into the market and buy
the best armor at the regular commercial
prices.
Armor-clad ships in the American navy
are comparatively new thing. Ten years
ago there were no armored warships made
or authorized by this Government. A New
ark irou-maker, H. A. Harvey. invented
the first armor plate used extensively in
this country. He made it by putting the
plate into forge-furnace and burning car
bon Into 1t. Admiral O'Neill, Chief of
Ordnance is fond Of telling how the first
plate which Harvey made for the Navy
Department was tested. Before this test.
Mr. Harvey had submitted to the Ordnance
Bureau very small plate, perhaps two
feet square. 1t was found strong enough
to resist small projectiles and Harvey was
encouraged TO make a larger plate in or
der to allow the department a full test.
This plate was made under the supervis-
ion Of the Ordnance Bureau.
All was In readiness for taking the plate
out Of the furnace for the cooling
process, but when the effort to remove the
plate began it was found that it had been
burned fast to the furnace, and it took
several teams, working for five hours. to
remove il. The water was then poured on
it for cooling. The long time required to
remove the plate from the forge and its
consequently cool condition. and the fact
that the water was poured upon one side
only, caused the plate to curl up, to the
amazement and dismay of Harvey and the
ordnance officers. Soon afterward it began
to uncurl, and kept on until it had curled
In the other direction. All the officers
present were ready to vote it great fail
ure, but they agreed to test it in its curled-
up condition. The test showed the plate
TO have wonderful resisting power.
Later a new method of treatment was
found by which the plate could be quickly
removed from the furnace, and water was
poured upon it from both sides at the same
time. preventing any warping. The per-
fected plate was still further tested. and
finally adopted by the Government. 1t is
made by only two concerns in this country.
Krupp. the German cannon maker, few
years ago invented process by which very
strong armor has been made. The process
in its details is secret but it is known to
consist of placing two plates near together,
face downward, with gas-pipes between
them; the carbon. instead of being burned
into the plates, as in the Harvey process,
is forced into them by means of the gas
from these pipes. The warship which con-
veyed the Kaiser to England last week was
fine example Of the new armor's work.
The rights to the Krupp armor are in the
hands Of the Harvey Continental Com
pany, with headquarters in Paris. It is
supposed that s45 of the $545, the price OF
the armor. is the amount of the company's
commission. OF course, this company does
not control the manufacture of the armor
in Germany, and it is thought that the
German Government. with which Krupp
is on terms of confidence. secures the armor
at lower price than any other govern
ment.
The right to make the Krupp armor in
the United States is in the hands of the |
Carnegie and Bethlehem companies, the |
same that make the Harvey armor. At |
Cramps shipyard in Philadelphia two |
great battleships are building side by |
side. one for Russia and the other, the |
Alabama, for the United States. The Rus |
sian ship is to be fitted with the Krupp |
armor, while the American is to wear the |