New-York tribune., 1900-04-29
LEY TELEGRAPH TO TIE rRIRIrNK.l

and ordnance material to the troops.
be used and what proiectiies shall be used?
Captain Lewis-The Board of Ordnance and Forti-
iCatiOn is supposed to establish the types, or is
supposed to have established all types-that Is
afT long wv me Board Of q ordnance
and Fertilization, with Che approval of the Score
type el then a. the CHEZ Of the Bureau Of Ordinances
is supposed to purchase only that particular type
Senator TeIle - .Ca@Ptain @ VIII, do you say he is
Captain Lewis-Well TO be absolutely frank.
Senator Teler-That is what we want to learn;
Captain Lewts-There are ways and means by
riage or other article is evaded This think is
due to the fact that the Chief of the Bureau Of
ad" Board of ordnance and Fortifcaton both being
subject to the approval Of the 3 sefretary ere or MaT
and one is not superior to the the, other which
oGenr5 ma Really your corps IS the Branch Of
our Army which operates e; the guns bal. rasnon-,,o
for their service, both in peace and war, and are
more, interested in their efficiency than any one
Senator Perkins-Neither the Ordnance Bureau
operating the coast defence guns?
MOST UNFORTUNATE OF ALL
Captain LewisEThey si- have not sir Il y you vii
would like to call attention here TO the most
fortunate thing of all connected with our present
is this: The artillery the men most Intimately as
sOciated with these defences when installed, and
war have had no voice in planning and ipstang aiIIa
defenceSs
directly Or indirectly until recently as TO the num-
Der. kind CaIibre of the guns mounted or where
on g exen aFg to Of e e al me have had
representation in the choice Of the tools Of their
Senator Perlins-But your branch Of the service
Senator Teer-The Board does not seem to have
much to do with it, according TO the Captains
Senator Tillman-,There is only one artillery officer
on the Board ana taen the hoard ltser Is o6s9-
I should think that they We're about eliminated
Captain LeWis-lt is a process OF elimination SEN
Senator wetmore-3Except as to the experimental
appropriation Of 100000
e6aoP s you 8S6eRf s6od as 6Re n a
experimental work that you found some very eff
clent method of defence, you would have no power
Captain Lewis-No, sir.
Senator Teller was invited TO ask some questions
He said:
have been told that the Government has not
lot Of them that are not really what they ought
DO wish you you Woud be fra3R in your s a9e
ment to the committee
Captain Lewis acknowledged his familiarity with
every type Of she'll The official report continues:
senator TeIer-You need not have hesitation in
saying 10 what you know.
Captain Lewis-That is very difficult question
senator TeIIeTEWe do not expect you to answer
Senator Tilinan-I Will ask the Captain some
will possibly get at the matter.
he comes here that he ought to be Just frank
with US as he would be il he were speaking TO an
Senator Perkins, think 50, The only point is
that we are taking down his testimony and intend
senator Teer-very well. # there is anything
what we want is TO get bae @ tnIoraQ9n ma II mere mere
pubIshed # can be stricken out
Senator Tillman-There is one other phase that
possibly embarrasses the Captain. and that is that
he IS a minor officer as you might say merely the
S8pisin u LeWisIYes. sir; that is true
Senator Tnan-And We ought not to jeqpardize
havng mas Tse him in ' frang State to US his private Opinion
unless we are going to protect him in it We want
artillery officer this subject. We can give what
eredenee we please IN c0nneCon % @ "ic n oTmgr n5ca IN
ton in order TO protect hlm- , 20 =. +,is +ra+
whenever the Captain does not desire to have
record made his statement will not be taken down
him briefly ana then allow him to eliminate from
his teStmon{ 5ucn paris a as Is ne 4be main n6nt and
that, I think, we owe TO him
Captain Iewis-You appreciate that am placed
in an embarrassing position 49,. ,.,,, ,uo ..,,,
iecr to be crushed between the millstones at the
War Department, and never TO have any deserved
differ with those who have any influence IN pro-
enough in the legislative branch or the Govern
ment get the information
The witness testified TO the excellence of high
explosive shell. which absolutely essential If
shore guns were 10 make impression on armored
vessels This led Senator Wetmore to ask if Cap
tain Lewis would not advise further experiments
ALWAYS EXPERIMENTING.
CAPTAIN L.ewis-I would not. Senator. l feel as
an artillery officer that we cannot continue 10 de-
fend our coast by experimental trials at the prov
ing ground and by types. We nave been doing that
ayar since | entered the service. We are always
axperinenting, and so afraid that something better
viii he found tomorrow that We get nothing for
to-dav such A policy would ruin any private un-
f1arta and cannot be expected 10 succeed FOR
the Government. I think, therefore that the
that is offered If offered under fair terms, not ex
orbitant terms. getting the best at the time A
war would not then find our troops supplied with
fnsI1 1fficient and obsolete and equipments II
would not only be petteF-it WoIlu pe more eco
nomical.
There was some inquiry regarding gun carriages,
and finally the subcommittee touched upon the
Howell carriage which, in reply to questions Cap
tain Lewis said he considered cheaper than the
CroZier- Burlington carriage. He described as
very simple In construction and as being q very
good carriage
Senator Teller made inquiry regarding smokeless
powder shells
Senator Teller am told, Captain, that have
made and used shells for smokeless powder
and fired them with smoke powder Do you know
ANYTHING about a of that ktnd2
Captain LeWis--I presume. Senator, that you refer
to a rather remarkable occurrence in Porto Rico.
Senator Teller have been told that the Govern
ment. through some authority. made lot OF shells
for smokeless powder, and fred them with smoke
powder that the who fired the gun could
not the effect OF II. whereas the fellows being
shot had good view OF where the shots came
In that statement.