New-York tribune., 1918-11-22
Army Officer Testise, ).
Warning Gillespie MN
officials
Gauges Defective.
Inspector Asss,..
Criminal Negligence" !,
Blame for Morgan E..
plosion, Ely Aver.

Nsooer and II
violent attack by the defence q, a
character and record Of the Office, m,s
ing the charge. the officers rab,,.
fortified with documentary eyis.ss
and a government inspectors snssis. ,asa. |,
list of accusations against shs ,.rs' AN
pany's methods, made the continnss.' s'
of the Senatorial investigation a sss pss
Amboy yesterday the most eyenasn, Wv -.
sion in the course of the INQUIRE M,
the disaster. '1''
The man who characterized q.
brand of the Gillespie's ALLEGED ,,,s ~
lessnesses as criminal" was Cssss,
II. A. Ely, Of the ordnance densrthss,S
who, as chief of the government tr,,1
ing school for ordnance inspectors sS' v,'
on the ground at Morgan, X. J. wss,s 1
the explosion occurred contirr,nsI,ss
for four months.
Warning Against Explosion
II told Major Field. acting hesd j.
the Ordnance Department" he test.
fed, "when, shortly before the eynlal
sion, protest was made to WssbaetOsl
as to the severity OF the inspectios,|
we were conducting. that if they d.
creased the severity of the inspegtc,|
at the Morgan plant by one iota-oss
single iota-they'd have an exp|,sos
the country would never forget"
Captain Ely declared that prior 10
this time he had again ana agsn
warned the Gillespie Officials ,hs
they were literally playing with In,
Il told Mr.. Myers. the operating n.
perintendent of the plant" he a.
shat if conditions continued as tssI
were there, they wouldn't hare s,-
plant left. You'll blow the head 4
every one here il you go on like tit'|
l said"
Mr.. Myers response, the Wins,
said, was that he would like 10 e.:
rid of so many inspectors, and Il
Captain Ely in particular, and that til
government frairing school cord tho
''go to the demniti bow-wows,"
Among the alleged infractions o T..
gulations which Captain Ely cited Il
more or less habitual With the GiHy-
pie plant were failures 70 regard Ii.
specified amounts of steam pressur h
melting INT. failures TO provide 7on-
ing tables with barriers thai you'd
prevent loaded shells from rolling OF
onto the floor and total disregard Ot
the specification relating to the use q.
steel on steel In connection FliS
boosters. Captain Ely also chsrga
that the automatically weighed pogilF
charge for shells was dropped ns
paper bags and allowed to stand "
that it absorbed moisture and Scressi
q menace"
Many of the gauges in the meltis
room, he said. were out Of order. vha
even where they did work it vas Z
ported to him that an unsafe amcr'i
: OF pressure Was permitted in Tn efts
+ TO speed production and increase oVt
put. Kettles wherein INT vas mehai
he continued, were left for long penSi
upguarded, the proper cleaning Of tie
was neglected and dangerous and II.
eign substances were allowed 10 r
into the explosives mixture. Anss
these foreign substances, he Specihtds !
barrel hoop, 4 cast-iron handle, tet
bled up, and "any quantity Of nak
Any one Of these, he oec5sted, mss
the danger Of an explosion lmmInsaiI
BIames Oyerheated Kettle
Finally he capped he climax Tlp
the statement that, in his opinion, ~
explosion, which made Itself tel. o
TAR away as New York aid BrooklH
vas caused by the oYerhesting o.
TINT melting kettle
And then Captain Ely was 'lfhs
over to r. Y. Lindahury. counsel "
, the defence for cross-examlnation' sA'
NM Lindabury said:
"Mr. Ely, by vhat authority 60 y''
wear that captains uniform !,
A series OF rapid-fre qDestlon' ~
veloped tho fact that in isSo s.a;, q s
officer of the National Guard, esp'a.+
Ely had been court-mart,sliso, .ss,s =.
victe6 and cashiered. The charge s
concerned with an assigned NM asss
check of $50 MIR. Lindsbury ago !. e's, s.,
much upon the friction vhi0 + ;5.rss !.
peared had been constantly IN w. i.
between the Ordnance Departmn:s,aI..,
fcer and the officials of the uiA'''
plant. ave, d.
Senator Frelinghuysen: howeTsa hss.. i i
in and requested that the WIZ, nn,ss
allowed a chance to make al e~f'
tion. LTD 4
length that the charges Upon ms Z.
had been cashiered we're "rralls,, n,sr
produced numerous letters Tso'o sr
nent men. expressing confidence -. !. Il &
self and subs.an:iating his a;s eIss h,
this particular. Enmity, ne sa.s ,s,J
been aroused arainss hin, beesum -
in the sos he lad exposed n'5 ,n
of "era ft;nc of6cers." who were -
sent AnS 10 taddg" the ps"ifsntihalBd he Numbered it,
r,inda dab burv'e yV1'f face. u" q an pursuisg y
same type of men | pursue. .a1 estts
they are pursuing, the same ''
tics" ~,.t;,t =
Subsequent to his court J. lnsr nasr.lr
was brought out. Captain BY i.s.s,g ~, "
personal aide-de-c camp TO sPTesruCss ,esr a;ssss
william Il. Smith. besides - Ptie
the Spanish War ana u ~. - sssi'
vines. Al the details Of .ns Nm 10 q
the SOS. he added, were hnnSorrsibls =
othc;als a. Washington rssp',fe ,fe e's
has present appointment J"
'"s.fe After pt this Captain Ely was rei1y s1sy
10 revert TO the subject Of .ne ssttiis
plant, adding to his previous SSuss;n
that had the magazines whe.sS whr.S yrse
pounds of INT were s!o.ss, ssssss
ing to the company's wlsheNSr Nsr rs
affected by the explosion. d
City would have been SCI r,. ior s
aged and the entire couh"s
miles round laid waste: u.rss on
stand by Ralph Lippineott,r . nj.
,ance Department ;nspescsUslo
under the captain, weo aeSs'4'fii's ,',s osii's
charges against the G'iissp,ss pprsst dss
fo,emen and worhmen in gIss.s gsrs ssss'l
alleging slipshod work 3, Narsall sss i
OF a shells handling az NED. nv
Before The session arrrrsIipssssT
continued to-day, Senator war pspss
sen announced that the y Hs ssraint
ment has this week decided - ~ his
storing .' of high explosives Nose y
tion for the future. All To 10 Mss
il had been planned to sena assyssrs
are now booked for new new tWsrcs
storage warehouse in Ne"