Arizona republican., 1908-03-11

inand of Admiral Evans is the armor belt misplaced2H he was asked.
 "All of them; it is misplaced because it Is .oo ,o-'"
 Continuing, Winslow said the armor belt extended five feet below the water on all the ships of Admiral Evans fleet when 1t left Hampton Roads and most Of them showed less tan a foot of armor above the water line. He said that with a two-thirds supply Of coal. and two-t thirds os all other stores on board, the armor belt O. all the Amer ican battleships would be too far be- tow tie wate~ line.
 This would be the condition in which the ships would go into battle" he said
 In reply to questions by Mir. Till man, the witness said he had never written the department concerning the defects he found in battleship con struction, but he knew the faults had been pointed out by other officers.
 As to ammunition hoists, Winslow said it was not a question of direct hoists as against two-stage hoists. but entirely a question of safets
 Well. have we got it2" asked MT Tillman. The witness replied that we had not had safety in the past but he was not familiar with the new direct hoists with automatic shutters. Win slow gave his experience as a member of the board which inquired into the cause of the explosion on the Massa- chusetts in 1903. In that case it was found that the damage was due to the open turret and the ineffeetiveness of the direct hoist.
 Naval officers had predicted just such accidents would occur and the fault should hare been corrected then" said WInslow.
 What officer pointed out the dan ger?" asked Mir. Tillman. In 1902 l received personal letters from Com mander Simms critioizing the Rear sarge and Kentucky. saying there was great danger in the turrets,' replied Winslow. He added that information had been given the department. He said he did not know where to fix the responsibility for the failure to correct the fault. unless it was on account of the constant change in the department through the frequent shifting of civil
 
 ian secretaries.
 Key was the next witness. He began by stating that he had a duty to per form not entirely agreeable. as his tes- timony would not be approved by the navy department. He said he expect ed to show by comparison that there was defects in American ships as to the location of the armor belts. the free board and the character of the ammunition hoists. He should be to point out the inaccuracies of the testimony of Capps, the chief and some other officers who had been before dhe committee.
 Chairman Hale told the witness that he need waste no time .n criticizins the statements of other officers nor fin the defec,s in the old type of ships. and instructed him to keep abreast of the times and follow the lines laid down by the committee.
 The witness took up the subject Of armor belts. He said the belts should not be placed around a fictitious water line. but should be located with regard 10 the actual line when the vessel was equipped for action. He criticized the speed tests of the battleships and de- clared that the vessels were run so light that theNtest --qs of no value in ascer- the actual speed of the ship when carrying a full armament, crew and stores.