Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-12-05

1AS SIahSIntnl slOOh up lHc IcVuE5t
of the United States government that
the Gillespies erect a huge shell load
ing operation and said that the COM
pany had taken the contract only as
matter of patriotism, as they were
more than busy with other contracts.
The question of safety in opera
ton was ever before those planning
for the plant" the statement read,
when Mr. Birmingham told of his vol
untary service and his offer TO assist
the government In the huge operation
and the experimental work done in the
laboratory of the plant.
Shortly before the explosion, he
said, he had made careful inspection
of 6-1-1 unit and found it in good con-
dition. He also visited the other units
and found them to be in good condi-
ton. he said.
Balllstic results of experiment at
proving grounds of shells loaded at
Morgan showed them to be of the
best quality. He minimized the re-
ports of government student inspec-
tors as to the dirty condition of some
i, of the units and the faulty gauges on
TINT kettles. He said that, in his
opinion, it is perfectly safe to raise
TINT to 145 degrees centigrade, and
told of experiments at the Parlin
plant where the explosives were raised
to that temperature without result
He traced his action on the night
of the explosion In company with
other officials and of his conversation
with Mayor TenBroeck. in which he
told the mayor he was "as good
| guesser as l." when asked what he
believed the danger of more serious
| explosives was.
He said that from kls ebsef efvaf15ns
the T. A. Gillespie guards were on
the job on the night of the explosion
and the next day. He said the search
for matches. which he Deen enlarged
upon at the hearings, was as compre-
hensive as he had ever observed in
any munitions plants.
The cause of the original explo-
sion will never be known. in my opin-
ion," he continued. Large explosions
were caused by mass explosions of
shells and detonation of $4,000 shells
loaded with INT he claimed.
The complete reading of the state
mont occupied about three-quarters
of an hour, and after Mr.. Birmingham
had finished he was questioned by
Frederic ]. Faulks. OF counsel for tho
Giliespies.
In the course of his statement, Mr.
Birmingham said: I'm my Judgment,
there is absolutely no connection be-
tween the original explosion and the
lack OF properly carried out safety
| lcS
| "In other words, 1 can find no evil
dence. after a most exhaustive study
and consideration of the original expio
| sion in the 6-1-1 unit, that would lead
me to believe that any rule or regula-
tions applying to the proper and safe
working conditions was d!sregarded
| and by reason of such disregard the
| explosion resulted.
"On the contrary, am firmly of the
hnliaf that "a nf ha orb
explosion will never be known, and
that 1t is one of those peculiar hap
penings for which nothing can be sub
stantiated by any facts or testimony.
The loss of the plant in general
involved three factors which had
heretofore never been present In O
shell loading plant or high explosive
plant so far as my experiences go,
and they were:
First: The mass detonation of Q
large number of 155 IN m shells stored
| in the 1-9 storage building and load
ed with 1920 amatol. In my judg-
ment over 80 per cent OF these shells
detonated in mass and this involved
approximately 100000 pounds of high
| explosives.
Second: The detonation of a large
number, estimated at ninety per cent
of approximately 50.000-1b5 m m and
six inch howitzer shells loaded with
INT, and this involved in three dis
tinct detonations, some one-half mil
lion pounds of INT.
'"rlhrd: The detonation of largo
quantities of nitrate of ammonia, q
substance heretofore used In CONNER
cial dynamites. but which in itself
had never been considered high ex-
plosive.
'"rhe destruction caused by these
heavy detonatioQs undoubtedly
brought about greater damage than
| would have occurred had these mass
detonations of shells and the detona-
ton by nitrate of ammonia not have
happened"
Experiments recently made by the
du Pont Powder Company at the re-
quest of Col. Spruance have shown
that 1t is possible to detonate heated
nitrate OF ammonia by the use of d
very heavy detonating agent ana
undoubtedly the detonation of the nj
trate of ammonia buildings mentions
ed above was brought about by
heated conditio due to fire therein and
the injection into them OF one or moro
high explosive shells which detonated
and thereby caused the detonation
;of the nitrate of ammonia"
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