The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-05-13
THE SENATE is woNDnR-srnUck.

THE SENATE IS WoNDER-STRUCK.
Once In a. while some green and enter.
prising newspaper representative In
Washington, D. c.; unearths- from the
mustY archives of one Of the departments
a precious fact which every one has for
gotten years and years ago. It looks new
to. the journalist, he not having reached
to newspaper manhood, and he transmits
it to, the paper which pays him his salary.
This precious fact having been forgotten,
Is made up in attractive form and appears
to- be new news. Then it is widely COM
mented upon, makes a little stir and is
once more shelved for a period of well
earned repose.
The mysterious morsels OF news now
percolating the newspapers relating to
experiments made by the navy depart
ment with what Is termed a. "soft-nosed'
projectile partake largely of the charac-
ter of resurrection news" They also
Indicate that even United States senator's
are not devoid Of the bump of wonder,
which in the case of the average citizen is
, sometimes the seat of childish, creduiity.
Senator Tillman's lnsistence on a secret
session for the. purpose of discussing
"soft-nesed''' projectiles and his. apparent
ly exaggerated idea Of the vast impor-
lance Of the. subject would be ridiculous
If they were not pathetic. The secret of
the. manufacture Of this form of projec-
tile has been common property for many
years, and their use is as. common. as the
knowledge of their manufacture. The de-
vice of fitting projectiles: with d cap of
soft steel was invented many years ago
by G.. Johnson. of Spuyten DuyviI, NJ
Y, and ducing the administration of Rear
Admiral Sampson as chief of ordnance of
the navy he issued orders that all shells
issued to vessels Of war be fitted with
the soft steel cap, and. during the Spanish
war the projectles. fired In action By
United States war vessels were thus
equipped.
1t has been learned that a. seIB1 hard
steel shot fitted with a soft steel cap. and
fired with enough smokeless. powder
to give it an initial velocity Of $3.50. feet
nary velocity, will. If all the conditions.
are perfect. perforate fourteen-inch
Harveyized armor plate: But all the con-
ditions for the test must be exact and
perfect. But the armor plate people are.
not worrying much over such tests, for
the reason that in actual warfare the per-
feet conditions necessary to- obtain such.
penetrative power for proJectiles are
. never found. Nor would it be practtca-
BILE to use IN the guns which compose. the
ordinary armament of a war vessel such
excessive charges of powder
And this is what the United States, SEN
ate is: said to. have been discussing in
whispers behind closed doors.
The Filipino junta at Hong Kong an
nounees that the insurgents will reopen.
actives hostiihes as soon as the rainy
season begins: 1t must have. been rain
ing in the. Philippines. continuously dur
ing the stay of Gen. Otis, there,
No one would; care to. be the iceman In
New York just now. The. ice trust in
that city IS to, be dragged into. court to
explain why 1t is seeking to- sell ice. at
prices that would be. excessive for dia-
: monds,
Col Jeffnies, winner of the fstAc, de-
bate with COX Copbett. is not Sc badly
disfgured- as was expected be would be.
That So 900. plaster for his, battered phys
iognomy completely covers the disfgure-
ment.
Mrs, Reading of Wiliiamsport. Pa, has
decided that marriage is rot failure.
A jury. has. awarded her $4,000 damages
for alienation Of the. affections. of her
husband by another woman
Andrew Carnegie and john w. Gates
can now take in the side shows at the
Paris exposition. The senate has de-
cided that the government is, not to. have
an aFmor plant,
A Chicago wag asserts that the weak
ness of corr. is. due, to. the absence from
Kentucky of a number of colonies, THUS
reducing the demand for the Juice OF the
err-o