Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-11-23
ONE GUARD FOR THREE
MAGAZINES, SAYS CHIEF
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dirty. etc. He said he had noted many
times the careless manner in which
employees handled explosives.
He said he found a INT kettle In
I'LL In operation and the steam
gauge not working. In the Gill unit
Kettle room, he said, corroborating
testimony by other witnesses. there
mad been steel tools used to open cases
OF explosives. He said he had remark
ed with another government man at
, the moment of the first explosion:
There goe Gill"
He explained that student inspectors
and line inspectors had been afraid OF
| e-1-1 and some of them had refused
DO work In 1t. They had gone Into
other units without expressing any
worst in the plant.
1t Is deemed significant thai Captain
Ely n Messrs. Feency and Wells, all
connected with the government in
spection, felt, ut the first blast, that
Oil had gone up. 1t will be recalled
that II. "A. Gillespie. when on the stand
said that he had been informed over
the telephone OF the first explosion,
his informant had specified 0-1-1 rs
the unit that had been exploded.
Isidor Chesley, q chief government
Inspector. spoke of high speed belts
that he had noted in the plant and
which might generate static e~lectri-
city. They were equipped with spark
arrestors on the belt, but he said these
We're not always reliable.
Poor design In the lay out OF the
plant was the cause OF the various
d~isorderly reports received from
Morgan by him, the witness said. he
believed. In substantiating his state
ment he called attention to the high
speed belts and the use of a highly
.lphammable paint used In spraying II
shells as well as faulty construction
of the hoods used in the painting
rooms.
There were 425 government in
spectors at the Gillespie plant, the
witness said, who were charged with
the inspection OF the plant and the
products turned out of IL. He old of
the antagonism found at Morgan as
well as at other munitions plants be-
tween the government inspectors and
the contractors and their employees.
A letter from Major r. A. Smith TO
the fnspection division in New York.
told of the objection to three per cent
of INT in ammonium nitrate and to
exces temperatures In the Morgan
plant as well as to dust in some of the
units which he considered dangerous.
Hawley was recalled 10 stand by
Senator Frelinghuysen for several
questions with regard to fire proven
ton. He recited how England had
secured engineers from this country
to assist in the construction of NUM-
tons plants there. He also told OF the
fire prevention measures n precau-
tons taken at largo shell plants In
this country.
The senator brought out that the
plant could have been designed just
as well by Americans as by the em-
piovment OF Major Armstrong. who
DESIGNED much OF the machinery at
Morgan. The senator rather ridiculed
the employment of the major and the
necessity for IL.
At AZ o'clock Senator Frelinghuy-
sen announced that as far as the COM
mittee was concerned 1t was through
with witnesses. This gave an oppor-
tunity to place the Gillespie witnesses
on the stand.
Mr.. Faulkes said that the company
wanted their side to secure equal pub
llcity to that already given to the tes-
timony presented. He said that the
/ company a q very large number of
| witnesses to present and in all fair
ness he believed these men should be
allowed to testify.
The first witness called by the COM
pany was Robert w. Williamson. me-
CAAoiitoA oiAo ClSSli AIal thBAntET at the
Gillespie plant. Examined by Mr..
Faulkes, he told of his technical edu-
cation and his employment up to the
time he started work with the Giles
| pie Company at Parlin on May, 1915
at the Union powder plant there and
then later his coming to the Morgan
! plant of the company on January,
4 1918. In this plant he had charge
| OF electrical and steam installations
and of telephone. fire alarm and illum
ination plans.
The witness described the steam
system used in the plant the
reducing Of pressure from the main
lines N the arrangement of valves
and connections on the kettles OF the
manufacturing units. On the kettles,
he said. there was a cold water valve
which would admit water to condense
the steam In the kettles.
The gauges were not calibrated al
the plant. he said. as IL vas not con-
sfdered necessary. He aid that he
had seen some gauges installed and
tested. He did not recall ever having
J seen any gauges out OF order. nor nav-