The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-13
SAYS ARMY USES
own INVENTIONS
Luellen Charges Gen. Crozier
Would Not Help Mobile
Artillery Plan.
CLOSED CORPORATION
Inventor Tells Members of Congress
/. that Military Men Always Employ
Ideas from Those in Service.

That the Ordnance Department of the
United States army is a closed corpora
ton as far as civilian inventors are con-
cerned, and that Gen. CroZier, chief Of
ordnance, recently boosted that not in
the last thirty years had an invention
from outside the service been adopted
' by the army, is the astounding charge
which L. W. Luellen, a New York inven-
tor, has forwarded TO every Senator and
member OF Congress.
Luellen is the inventor of a mobile big
gun system, which has been Endorsed by
some Of the highest ordnance and mill
tary experts in the army. 1t involves
the utilization Of the railroads of the
country with short spurs running out to
strategic points along the coasts and Dor
ders, for the transportation OF big guns
mounted on specially constructed cars.
Under the Luellen system, the cars lock
into concrete bases for the firing. and
tests have shown that the car can be
run in, locked and the first shot fired in
from two to five minutes.
Declined to Consider Plan.
Following a conference between Gen.
Crozier, Representative Sherley, chair
man of the Subcommittee on Fortifica-
lions Of the Appropriations Committee,
and Luelen. the latter brought his en-
Lgineer down for a prearranged confer
ence with Gen. Crozier at the War De-
partment. Here is Buellen's statement
Of what transpired at this conference:
On February IA, at a conference pre-
viously arranged between Gen. Crozier,
chief Of ordnance; his assistant, Mai.
Rice; my engineer. W. T. Soullis, and
myself, Gen. Crozier stated that he would
not assist in the passing Of Representa-
tive Capstick's bill providing for mobile
artillery. but that he would not spike
aiming the drawings of the 14-inch gun
and car sectional view Of concrete bases,
he refused to go over Mr. Soullis calCu-
latiOns and figures, which showed that
our designs were sufficient to withstand
the energy generated by firing the gun
from the car locked in the concrete foun-
dation.
Gen. CrOZier's excuse was that he did
not have time. I told him, however, that
! understood I was bringing my engineer
down to have the matter gone over thor
oUghly by the Ordnance Department, and
upon further insisting that the Ordnance
Department give these figures some at
tentiOn Gen. Crozier stated that he would
not do SO because he did not want to take
the responsibility Of turning this PROPOSE
ton down.
He then made the astounding state
ment that in his thirty yeares' experience
with the War Department he had never
known Of a single invention from the
outside that was accepted by the War
, Department, except in one instance, when
few guns were purchased from the
Bethlehem steel Company. Even in that
case, the general said. the particular gun
had been developed in the War Depart
ment." e.
May Install This System.
The Capstick bill provides for an in
vestigation into the merits of a mobile
coast artillery system, and in the event
OF favorable findings the installation OF
such a system along the North Atlantic
coast a 5 far down as the Delaware and
back to Philadelphia at an expense not
to exceed 100000.
The guns are exactly the guns now
used in our permanent harbor fortifica-
tiOns, present n smaller target, can be
moved in any direction to avoid capture
thus cutting down the requirements for
mobile artillery supports. and have all
the advantages of land Notifications over
guns mounted on naval bases.
The regular fOrtifcations bill which
will be reported out within a few days,
will carry an appropriation for the con-
struction and testing of one battery OF
coast defense weapons mounted on a rail-
WaJ- carriage