The Washington herald., 1915-12-31
~ r.. ID. JOHNS.

Upon unanimous recommendation oil
the Fiske Board, Secretary Daniels an
nounced yesterday that no further ex-
pcriments at the government expense
will he made with the lsham she'll Inc
board after months Of experiments and
tests, reached the conclusion that tho
shell has failed to make good on the
claims set up for IL
For seven or eight years MIR. lsham
has been making the charge that thc
officers on duty in the Bureau OF
Ordnance in the Navy department mao
refused to give him a fair test OF MS
she'll Accordingly. Secretary Daniels on
October ., 1914, appointed a special bodrd
ito fully investigate and report upon the
value. of the Isham shell for naval pur-
noses" The Secretary allowed Mr.
Isb.m tn name two members OF the
hoard and he suggested Rear Admiral
Il 4. Fiskc. L. :. N. and Capt Roy
C. smith, l.. 5. n. These two ofncers
were named by tho Secretary toEetner
with Cant j. \. IIoogewcreff, T. > N
Lieut. Commander II. q. Sparrow. L. D
n and Prof. Dodge. none OF whom are
on duty with the Bureau OF oruhah'e'
As this board is composed OF oincers'
who in the event of war would be called
,dopted. the secretary is firmly con-
yinr.d that they would not report un-
r,yor,,bIy upon it IL it had any merit
Tn, same cAn bc said Of the offcers on
duty In the Bureau Of Ordnance, hs th'S
would all he ordered 10 sea IN WAL
The secretary can but believe that navy
officers are Interested in securing IN"
most effective ammunition and ne Is
therefore Of the opinion that TN" report
ttnn cont rnN 81
II is extremely doubtful whether IL
viii az MIR, Isham will probably appeal
his ,.se again to Congress. tie mas al
w,vs becn able to interest some memptt
~ congress in his invention ana WI
probably make an effort To secure ahui
tionaI appropriations for further tests "i
this she'll
Immediately upon the conVening OF
Congress Tuesday Chairman Hay. ON the
House Committee on Military Affairs, Is
expected to introduce his bill for the
reoryanization OF the army. II VIII De
referred to the military committee i'm
mediately and will be the basis upon
which the committee formulates its Dill
and conducts its hearings.
Cbairman Hay will make an effort to
secure a unanimous report on a bill by
the committee. To do this he realizes
that he must agree To some dI1tnuilleHls
which he does not favor. The continen-
tai army is provided for in Mr.. Hay $
hill. although il is understood that he
has not much faith in the proposition
He has consented to its insertion In the
bill TO secure the support of the admins
tration He has also expressed will
ingness to make some amendments at
the suggestion Of the Republican mem
hers II the minority can reach an agree
ment on what he calls a reasonable pro-
gram.
II is expected that at Tuesdays meet
ing a program VIII be arranged for the
hearings. Unless it Is decided to hold
some speciai meetings the hearings will
not open until Thursday.
The plant for the manufacture Of sui
phuric acid at the Indian Head Proving
Ground powder factory has been COM
rIeted. With this in operation the plant
will be able TO produce sufficient sui
phuri, ncId for the powder that Is manu-
factured at the factory.
This Is quite an improvement in the
facilities of the plant 1t will not only
reduce the cost of manufacturing powder
but will prevent delays In securing a SUD-
plv of sulphuric acid. which has frequent
ly resulted in the shutting down OF the
plant, 1t is impossible to store n large
supply Of su!phuric acid at Indian Head
and II has been necessary to transport
II down the river al frequent intervals.
Occasionally when the Potomac River
u frosen I'D 1t has been impossible to