Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-12-06
SAYS THIS CITY Elo..i
HAVE BEEN DESTROYED
frnnfnned frem parc >,

U~ontinued from ~ -
replied in answer to a question by
Senator Frelinghuysen. The storage
Of ten months supply of explosives.
when the government regulations call
for only a sixty days supply. may be
dangerous but a national emergency
permits OF some endanserins of the
lives of persons in the vicinity of the
pant. the colonel gave as his opinion.
The Morgan plant was 100000
pounds Of INT under the
they might have stored there. as the
-Covc~nrent allowed 100000 pounds
TO hc stored there for adjacent Gill
lowed 1000. 900 pounds for the load
iug plant there. j..
The colonel. the senator pointed
out. was overlooking the fact that
there were huge quantities of INT,
nitrate of ammonia and oaded shells
at the plant.
The excess storage Of explosives
ut the plant was grossly gains the
army regulations.
why did you allow \ to be
stored in smokeless powder ware
houses? BY YOU / mean the ord
nance department. the senator Ask
ed.
The witness said that he could not
answer the query as II was put of his
province.
The testimony OF Col. Harris devolv-
cd largely around technical matters
as TO the mixing and heating of nj
trate of ammonia n TINT and the re-
suit of Investigations he made in Eng
lish plants using The product
The report Of certain findings as
rendered by Col. Harris will be the
subject If n government article. IL a
suggestion by Senator Frelinghuysen
is carried Out.
Major II. l.. Armstrong was recalled
to the stand by counsel for the Gl-
Iespie Company this morning e. an
exclamation of the division of hts
time among the Gillespie plants and
with the ordnance department at
Washington. He told of instruction
and lectures to employees who worked
in The operating units.
The major gave a detailed account
of the operation of units at Morgan
In the course OF his. he said hat
the steam cleaning process had been
rejected at Morgan, as the m from
TINT are danSsrous n cause fatal
toxic poisoning. In the course of OPP
Grafton at Morgan there were no
deaths and a minimum of illness from
toxic poisoning. The steaming, he
said, would send particles of the ex-
plosives up to the woodwork Of the
units, where they would adhere ana
dry.
Tho injection of shells loaded at
the plant were very small about one
tenth of one per cent, the major de-
clared. As operation continued the
per centage was reduced.
The product of the plant was uni
formly good the tests showed. the
officer said. The guarding of the units
was remarkably good. he declared.
From your glowing of the
conditions at the plant" Senator FIRE.
linghuysen said to the major, 1T ap-
pears that II woul have been more
profitable to the government TO have
had a dirty plant.
NJ. FauIks said that there are a
large number of unit superintendents
and foremen who are ready to testify
as to the truth of statements made
by Major Armstrong that written
statements will be prepared by these
men for the records of the proceed
ings.
DIR. Charles F. McKenna. a consult
ing chemist and chemical engineer of
so Church street, New York, was
called by Senator Frelinghuysen and
questioned as to his qualifications.
DIR. McKenna rave as his opinion as
10 causes of the explosion:
First: That the explosion could
have been initiated in a kettle by the
exploding within it1of a large detonat-
or or capped cartridge. This would
have primed and d~etonated the con-
tents of the kettle, n scattering IRE
would have iniamed the ruins.
Second: That the explosion could
also have been dnitiated by the pres
ence In the kettle of organic dust and
grit caught up into the scrap.
Third: That the stock. or part of
the stock, of 1900 pounds of INT in
the service magazine exploded while
burning.
Fourth: That large as II was. in
reality 1t was eongested when IL Is con-
sidered that six weeks supply of raw
material was stored there; that 10000
shells at a minimum Of ~three-ineh
would require 3s0. 900 pounds of ex-
plosives for each day. and that one
half of this was to be passed through
dryers. and all of il. together with the
shell cases. handled OH incoming and
intra-plant railways; that much of the
| TINT was handled twice. that is. &c
the storage magazines md afterwards
to the service magazines; that all OF
/ the service magazines were located
and the several loading activities per-
formed within an area of less thar
500 acres. Instead of a scattered risk
we had here a mined area with con-
contracted units of firing.
Fifth: That the storage of explos-
ives in the quantities and the condi-
tons as shown on our visit to the plant
on November Is. is a grave to
every community within the ten mile
radius, and it should be a matter OF
other contiguous communities. ever
that of New York City, twenty-five
miles away.
sixth: That the storage provisions
shown to be in use made a special haz-
ard. in that the powder is located or
the edge of a grass-covered marsh and
surrounded. in many cases overhuns
by a pine and cedar forest"
' There should have been a tremen-