Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1900-05-17
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.

nuity. In experimenting at the
U. S. proving grounds at Indian
Head, a few miles below Wash
ington, on the Potomac River,
our Naval officers have discovered
a composition for shells which
will penetrate the heaviest armor
plate Hade as easily as though it
were made of wood. This discov-
cry, which our governments is try
ing to keep secret, will revolu-
tionize naval warfare, as no
warships af1oatcould stand before
an enemy supplied with those
shells; they could be riddled and
sunk as easily as the old wood
ships. The news of the discovery
was made public through reso-
luton offered by Senator Till
man, asking the navy depart
nent for information concerning
Experiments IN testing arnor
plates which had developed un-
expected results. The Secretary
|of the Navy informed Mr.. Till
man that it would not be wise to
officially answer his. resolution
at the same time making him ac-
quainted with the result of the
experiments. This information
Mr.. Tilllnan gave to the senate
in executive session, while the
Naval Appropriation bill was un-
der discussion. The new shell is
the invention of a Naval officer,
and, if its componet parts can be
kept secret, it will give this gov
ernment a power that will be
even more feared byother nations
than the fighting qualities of the
Americans.
Col. Burton of the army, who
discovered the alleged defalcation
in the accounts of C. w. f. Nee
| ley, financial agent of the Cuban
postal service, in the regular
course of his duties as an officer
|of the Inspector Generals De
PAL t, is noe",=i;::.: Washington sasl
for the purpose Of giving giving Seere-
Jary Roo. all IN Of
his possession. While the Post
Office Department exercises GER
tain amount of supervision over
the Cuban postal system. the sys-
tefn IS astaall ,,ndertlae War
Department. The matter was
considered at a Cabinet meeting
the general sentiment being that
lit should be probed to the bottom
and the guilty punished; also
that any shortage over what car
be collected from Neeley's bonds
men should be made good by this
government. The latter viii,
probably necessitate an act ol
Congress.
The Senate by the decisive vote
lof 40 to IL defeated the attempt
to provide for a reduction of the
term of cadets at the Naval Acad.
emy from s to four years, which
the house had agreed to. Under
! the present law the cadets have
to spend four years at the acad.
en1y and two at sea before being
commissioned. Senator TilImar
who opposed the resolution, made
a characteristic speech, in reply
fto Senator Foraker's Statement
that the reduction was recon
mended by prominent officers, il
which he said: They recon,
mend anything. / am going
down TO the academy myself, ane
]if they give me punch enough.
will recommend that tho cadets
Igo to sea as captains without pre-
liminary training"
Although II was opposed by
majority Of the Ways and Mean
committee the House adopted J;
resolution calling on the Secre
tary Of the Treasury for informa
ton as to the amount and char
acter of materials used. by TIL
manufacturers of olemargarine
i This is regarded victory for th
/ dairy ihterests.
! The commt tes on lahoS has "a