The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-20
ARMOR PLATE IS
 FOUND DEFECTIVE Careful Inspection Is Being
 Made of Battleships POSTAL SAVINGS BANK VIII Serve the Purpose of Inspiring Thrift and Withdrawing Money
 From Circulation, Complains
 the Small Merchants
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK
BY JONATHAN WINFIELD

BY JONATHAN WINFIELD | Washington, September 19.-(Special)-| l Within the last four years Uncle Sam has been having all sorts of trouble with | the quality of steel furnished by the large steel mills of the country for use as arm ament for his navy Dreadnoughts. l Whether the steel under actual war con- ditions would resist the onslaught of an enemy has never been demonstrated, all though firing tests at the naval proving | grounds at Indian Head Md, have in a measure satisfied officers that the steel Is all that would be required
 From recent examinations by boards of inquiry in behalf of the navy depart ment reports have been made to the effect that the covering of armor on ships sides would meet with the most exacting and searching Investigation Yet, somehow Alarming stories find their way before the public which describe the plight the average American battleship would be in should 1t meet an enemy of war. Naval officers immediately con vene in extraordinary session with the result that assuaging and comforting messages are given the public that the navy is in better condition today than ever before.
 Nevertheless, other boards of inquiry are formed and special investigations or dered One made about week ago and sent to the Secretary of the Navy con- veyed the information that six plates of armor had been found defective in the l battleship Utah, four on the North Da- kota and nine on the Delaware, three of the navy's largest and newest vessels The Utah and North Dakota have not yet been fully equipped, while the Dela- | ware has been in service a little less than a year.
 The plates, which weigh about 50 tons each and cover a space from four to six feet wide and about nine feet long, cover the most vital parts of the ship. They become defected with "spores' or "Quaies,, a general cracking of the e-hardened metal. On the Utah, ship of 21,S25 tons displacement with 2s guns in its main battery, some of the lesser cracks have been gone over with filler" On the Delaware, vessel of 2o,OOO tons displacement and with "A guns in it's main battery, the Spores" stood out plainly, the plates being very badly cracked. while on the North Da- kota. ship of 20,o0O tons. with 24 guns in It's main battery, the plates were so bad that new ones were ordered to re- place the old ones.
 With the disclosures made by the spe- cial board. Secretary of the Navy Meyer, 1t is thought. will call for reports from all commanding officers of vessels for full particulars concerning the armament of their ships. What the result will be naval experts are loath to say. Who Is to be "stung' for the price of the de- fective armor will also be question. The judge advocate of the navy depart ment is wrestling with the proposition.
 Is President William H. Taft, father of the postal savings bank scheme, to inherit Il the fame, or the calumny Whichever you choose), of being responsible for a race of misers. Leading financial experts do not look at the matter in that light, all though enterprising candy vendors, amusement men and merchants are giv- ing the matter serious consideration.
 Their objection is based on the idea and spirit of the administration's pet scheme They claim that through the postal say ings bank, thousands of dollars monthly will be taken from the marts of trade, hoarded away and kept from circulation
 In speaking to one of the leading small merchants of this city on the subject he said:
 ''The habit of saving once formed, be- comes ineradfcabe It promotes thrift, and sometimes makes people mlserly Teach the young to save, but not to ac- ouire miserly habits. When a young boy or girl place their money in a postal bank, denying themselves of what other children enjoy, the spirit thus engen- dered is sometimes akin to the miserly habits of older people whose saving pro- civities cut them off from the real en- joyment of life. The scheme proposed by MT. Taft may be all right. but at the same time parents must exercise wise discretion If they wish to avoid the pos sble dangers created by too much sav- ing in their young offspring.
 On the other hand First Assistant b Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Is en- thusiastc about the scheme and thinks it will offset the all too spendthrifty &C., tions of present day youths, both male and female.
 Whatever objections real or fancied." he says, "there may be to the postal savings bank scheme, now enacted into law whoever may reap the greatest ben efits from the deposits-the government, selfish private interests or the depositors themselves-the simple fact remains that the new institution will tend to promote thrift among men, women, boys and girls of limited means
 "The habit of saving, once acquired, is just as hard to lose as the habit of smok- ing. Saving tends to promote self-re-
  and even moral anchor for the individual and for society. There is not the slight est reason why the habit of saving should degenerate into miserly, niggardly habit
 At all events, MT. Andrews does not give President Taft a black eye,' nor Senator Nelson Aldrich solar plexus blow for having urged the passage of the new law. On the contrary he speaks of the high and noble effort that these two men have made for having Congress adopt the scheme
 Not only, he says, "does the scheme contemplate the catching of the pennies and the dimes of children, but 1t will be the means of affording farmers, their ed Ipendents and many other persons located in small towns throughout the United States and it's insuar possessions safe means of protection from burglars. Hith- erto the farmer has had to carry his money to town for deposit and the small townsfolk theirs to the city for deposit. That will be completely obviated when the new scheme is in good running or- der. The farmer can give his bank roll to the postal clerk can the townsfolk. It will mean absolute security, much bet ter than Is now afforded by some large city edopositories. The government will guarantee the safety of the money and 1.-the average American citizen will be con- tent with that"
 Whether the scheme will be the suGfess that officials believe it will be remains not see any reason why it should not,
 l~oli