The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-11
BIDDING ON ARMOR PLAIE
THREE LARGE CONCERNS TpUDrD
FOR SHEATHING FOR U. s.
BATTLESHIPS
TO COST FIFTEEN MILLIONS
Carnegie, bethlehem and Midwife
Companies Put In BIds-Latter
Company Lowest, But Re-
Quire Longer Time.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1O-Bids for the
armor for the eight battIeships. six Ar
mored cruisers and three protected
cruisers, authorized by the last two ses-
slons Of Congress, were opened at ths
navy department today. The armor adj
Vertlsed for aggregates $3.50 tons and
constitutes the largest item of its char
acter ever opened to competition bv the
navy department. The Carnegie and
bethlehem steel companies, which have
heretofore monopolized the production OF
armor plate for the use Of tn government
mad a rival today in the Mfdvale steal
company Of Midvale. Pa. These three com
panies were the only three bidders fo,.
armor plate, but there were two minor
o1'u ooa Ior the bolts and nuts amounting
~ wv tonS' which are to be furnished in
connection with the armor plate.
Inc Bethlehem and Carnegie companies
each DID for only half the armor tn be
Lurhdsheo' and their bids were Identical IN
amount. terms Of delivery and other Fa.,
lures Inc Mldyale company bid for fine
ehIre amount OF armor at a price cOnsid
erably below that of the other commando
ana also included in their hid a s1fdi1c,
upward scale for lesser amounts than
the total aggregate with the conditIo,,
however that the bid should not be con-
s1dered unless 10000 tons OF arrnor sbo,,II
be awarded to them. While their HID so-
the aggregate amount is lower, the perjoI
Wmch must elapSe before deliveries ara
10 oegln Is much longer twentv-s-x
months, against six months. the finn,
specified by both the Carnegie and Retb-
iehem companies. This long period asked
by the Midvale company before deliveries
are to begin doubtless Is due to the fact
cnal II would have to construct a plant
Tor the manufacture Of arnor Mat
When 1T does begin delivery however a.
agnes to furnish 500 tons a month no
against 300 tons by each Of the other com
panies.
The bids Of the Carnegie and Betbla-
hem companies are each for Is OAO tons %
Iace-hardened armor of class A. that l.
arInor Tor battleships and armored cr1,is
ers OF i've inches or more In thickness
q a. 919o per loIl' exclusive Of a royalty OF
s4o per ton, making an aggregate of cost
to the government of S7,S5OOOO for X 00G
tons OF armor of this class. On the class
3 armor for the battIeships and ar1nored
cruisers, which is face-hardened ar,no,
OF less than five inches in thickness and
Oh Whlch $500 tons are to be furnished
each Did at the rate Of $500 per ton. ex
elusive Of a royalty amounting to SI1 u
per ton, making an aggregate bid of 81
562,56O for this class of armor For class
= armor, which includes the diagonal
armor' head plates, not face-hardened
OF LOW TONS are to be furnished, the
bid was also $500 in each instance, or an
aggregate of $45O,0O0 for arnor OF this
class. The bid for goo tons of bolts and
nuts also was $500 per ton In each N
stance Each company explained that It's
bid must be considered as a whole and
II awarded the contract under 1t KrupD
armor would be furnished.
The bid of the Midvale Steel company
was a fiat bid to furnish the total of
$1,000 tons Of class A armor at S4S8 a ton
an aggregate Of $13.578,OOO with no royal
ty charge to the government. The Ward
scale for less than the aggregate amount
is as follows: $4,000 tons at $40. 10000
tons at SAP, 1900 tons at 1854, 1000 tons
at 1856, 5000 tons at $500, $500 tons at
$780, The company makes a conditional
bid for class armor at the rate Of $3.50
per ton, provided 1t Is awarded 10000 tons
or more Of class A armor, and further
states that no award of less than 10000
tons would be considered. It makes a
fat bid Of 1927 per ton for the 900 tons Of
bolts and nuts. 1t makes q fiat bid Of
1927 per ton for the 600 tons of bolts and
nuts. The other bidders for bolts and
nuts were ]. B. Kendall, of this CITY,
who bid $3.50 per ton, and the Carnegie
Steel company, Of Pittsburg, which bid
$+45 per ton.
While the Midvale Steel company did
not specifically state in It's bid that It
would furnish Krupp armor. It stated
that the armor furnished would be face
hardened and capable Of standing the
ballistic and other tests required by the
department.
In the letters of transmittal that ac-
companled the bids Of both the Bethle-
hem and the Carnegie company's 1t was
stated that the navy departments con-
dtions as laid down in the advertise
ment were mot applicable to the pro-
duction Of Krupp armor," and that the
bidders should expect "such reasonable
notifications Of the departments con-
ditiOns as would be necessary"
This means that the companies will
not allow the naval officers detailed on
inspection duty to watch the manufao-
ture of the Krupp plates through the en-
tire process. The companies claim that
this was among the conditions on which
the secret Of the process was purchased
abroad
The rates of delivery named by the sew
eral bidders would take the Midvale
company eight years in furnishing the ar
NOR for which they bid, and the other
two companies five years each. AS the
ships are under contract to be furnished
IN three years and the government is I'M
der obligation to furnish armor to the
builders as they need it, this delay in ar
NOR deliveries probably would give rise
to the numerous claims fr overtime on
the part of the ship builders.
The law under which these bids were
called for was passed at the last session
Of congress after bitter and memorable
struggle over the whole question Of ar
NOR plate. It authorizes the secretary
Of the navy to contract for the armor OF
the vessels which have heretofore been
authorized and which were authorized In
that act, provided he could make con-
tracts at a price which in MS judgment
was reasonable and equitable Previous
acts for several years had placed an up
set price on armor which could not be ex-
ceeded, but no maximum price was
fixed in the current law. The secretary,
however, was empowered in case he could
not secure armor at price deemed rea-
sonable, to procure a site and erect there
on a government armor plate plant.
For this purpose, If the secretary
should so decided, congress appropriated
$4,000 900. No action will be taken upon
today's bids until the return Of Secretary
Long, when he will decide whether he
will accept them or pursue the alterna-
tive course Of erecting government ar
NOR plant.