Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-02-03
NAVAL OFFICERS OPPOSED
TO HOBS0N AMENDMENT
ure Would Jcopardizc Prcpar-
cuncSS for War.
STOPS BUYING OF SOME SHELLS
House Spends All Day on Bill and
Remains in Session ut Night, De-
bate Ccntreing on Provision to
Abolish "Plucking Board"

WASHINGTON. February 2-Sccre-
tary Daniels sent to the House to- day
4 report from special board OF naval
officers expressing the opinion that the
navy's preparedness for war would be
leopa rdized by the Hohson amendment
to tho naval appropriation bill for
bidding the purchase Of twelve or
fourtecn-inch armor- piercing shells un-
less 1t is demonstrated that they can
pierce tcn-inch arnor at 1900 yards.
This amendment was adopted by the
House several days ago. but prob
ably will be voted on again when the
bill is advanced to the point OF final
passage.
The House spent all OF to-day on
the measure, and remained in session
Until late tonight. most OF the debate
centring on tho provision to abolish the
so-called "plucking board"
In its report on the Hobson amend
mcnt the, special board, headed by Nd
miral FiSSe, said:
The board is Of the oainion that
such provision would jcopardizc the
readiness of the navy for war. We
believe that our armor- piercing shells
are as good rs can be made in the
present. state Of tho ctallurglcal art
Mr.. Daniels also submitted a report
OF the board on recent tests OF 4 high
explosive she'll which has been urged
as substitute for the armor- piercing
projeCtile 1t follows:
The board on torpedo shells has tho
honor to report that in its opinion the
experiments held with the Isham shell
on January ~ were not conclusive and
fell far short of demonstrating that
the 1sham shell can be considered an
effective weapon OF naval warfare All
the shells rlchoretcd that fell at n dis
lance OF 5000 yards or less. out OF
seven fuses only two operated cor
rectly; and the shell being filed with
black powder only, no proof was given
that il high explosive had been in the
shell. 1t could have been dctonatcd by
safe means. The experiments. however,
are to be continued"
PROVISION TO ABOLISH
THE "PLUCI<ING BOARD"
The provision to abolish the pluck
ing board and authorize the President
TO restore to service officers retired by
the board, was adopted tonight at the
close of long debate. All new Iegis-
iation. including provisions for the ere
alton of temporary grades OF admiral
and rice-adiniral for the creation of :,
naval reserve and to set aside $500
GOO for aeronautics We're stricken out
of the bill.
1t had been expected that the new
legislation would be defeated by points
OF order or otherwise in the House and
ADMINISTRATION forces expect to have
1t retnsertcd when the bill reaches tho
Senate. If presented in the form of q
conference report, il would be immune
from points of order.
Majority Leader Underwood led tho
fight for abolition of the plucking
board. He declared the board was
based on false theory and that the
navy should not drive out OF the scr
vice good men in order to promote
others.
For many years" Mr.. Underwood
said, there has been close CORPORA
ton In the House and in the Navy De-
partmcnt that had run the United
States Navy. The day has come when
the American people have q right to
see that tho American navy is run i'm
the interest OF the people, and the
first thing to do is to return these off,
GERS to tho service of their country"
Representative Howard, OF Georgia.
obtained adoption OF an amendment to
enable nt-Commandcr Constan-
tine NJ. Perkins and Captain Frank T..
Evans, to be restored to active service
in the marine corps Both have been
seeking restoration for several years
Captain Evans was retired ten years
ago, and has been acting as aide de
camp to tho commandant general of
the mnrino corps and on recruiting SER
vice.