Evening journal., 1919-09-03
SHELL LOADING SITE |
PARTLY INUNDATED
Materials of $4,000, 900
Port Penn Venture Piled
on Marsh
ORDNANCE OFFICER
DIMES HIGH. COST

cost the government sliOOOOOO. was
made yesterday by Lieutenant Joseph
Hayes. OF the Ordnance Department.
and Lieutenant j. c. Jones, CHIEF Of The
Philadelphia district. IN answer TO
charges brought by tire sub-commtlee
Of The House, now working on the in
vestlgatlOns OF ordnance expenditures
during the war.
There Is either a mistake or mis-
understanding, Lieutenant Hayes said
1T did not cost ~ 100000, hut only
about tenth OF Ihal probably si,JOO,0O0
as far as Il went The Original cost
was 81 10000, but Ike similar projects
II was later ampllled, so that The lnal
cost was estimated to be about $1,000
900. But only about si,jOOOOO was
spent"
}. e. Jones, chief OF the Philadelphia
district, also denies extreyagani waste,
| III my memory serves me right, IL cost
little less than SiOO0,O00 and there
was no prOilleerlng in this contract.
he said There We're. OF course, eX-
trayagances, as in other war contracts,
for which nobody is to blame. There
was no time TO pay less. Time, not
cost, was essential"
The report OF Major Clair Foster, OF
the construction division Of the army,
called attention OF the Investigation
committee TO conditions at Port Penn
shell loading plant. The contract for
the plant was let to the Marlin Rockwell T.
Company. II was unc0mpleted when /
The Tmisiice was signed. Charges by |
the investigation committee are made /
that the plant is 30 per cent under I
water. having been built on the bOgs, |
and that exorbtant salaries were paid
TO the officials.
A silent, deserted group Of ware
houses and barracks standing on the
high ground at The extreme edge Of
the inundated fields I'm the govern
ment tract Of S0S acres is all that is
left OF the great war venture, which
q was estimated would cost Sl,J00
900, Gnd was alleged actually to have
cost SiiO0O,OOO in the limelight OF Con-
stcssional Investigation which has been
thrown upon II.
According to r. C.. Wolf, resident man
ogcr operating under the Philadelphia
Board OF the army, 30 per cent.
OF the site is under water at the present
time. The whole strip Of land. how
ever. embraces the low-lying territory
facing the river near Port Penn
and can only be put in a ilt condi-
tion for a large industrial undertaking.
by costly and elaborate dixie and water
gate work along the banks OF the river, ,
which Is continually encroaching on
the fields
Already erected when the armisiica
called a halt 10 the preparations were
Of
twO-story and all Of them OF good size
There are administrative offices, ware
houses, bunk houses and huge COM
missary This latter building, Of cnor ,
nous size. was made TO be a complete
and dining hall for The !
plant. There were accommodations for ,
seating $500 men at meal times in the
great main hall. All Improvements had
been put in by November H. 1918. IN
,mding such details as an elaborate !
machine, holding nearly 4
100 dishes at one time.
Over 500 acres Of land were bought
rom the farmers in the vicinity. This
and, which is excellent for farming O
purposes. was bOght at war prices II a
'ells for about 500 an acre at the pres 5
mt time. A special railroad was built II
'Ost OF construction was unduly high. q
This was due to the fact that II was n
)uilt i'm a wartime rush as the place C
vas absolutely inaccessible TO get mate o
'ial to the spot before work could be 2
,egun. The right-Of-way through the ;
farms was obtained at j
ligh prices, the land in many cases a
icing condemned by the government. s.
The site now is covered with piles Of s.
umber. building tiles. sewer pipe. pill u
ng and other material 10 is estimated Il
" men who were employed there dur
ng the war that s3OOOOOO worth Of n
Material was delivered. A completely u
hospital stands on the hill a r.
hort distance from the main group Of u
Another expensive item was the Il
eparate port project for the plant '
'hich was erected along the river
ront u was planned TO have wharves
nd piers TO accommodate the largest
essels and ship the loaded shells di-
ectly from the factory. "
The charges made IN Congress that Ia
high salaries were paid ar
he officials cannot now be verified in q,
ny way at the plant but apart from M
his. II Is readily discovered that mil- dt
ons must have been spent in wages su
} workingmen and other employees an
lone. According 10 a man in this Nh
Ity who was engaged on helping audit
ne accounts. the weekly payroll of be
lc plant amounted to S9sO0O. At m
mes, nearly as many as 20O0 men IN
iere employed in the swarming sc-
witty at the plant preceding the ar
listice. all attracted by the high
ages paid. They were employed at wI
ar prices and their earnings were m
ugmenied by the high wages they re- in
siyed for working overtime and on 70
unday. iFc
The plant Is three miles from Della
are City. but the road has been in
ndaied for months and the only
lcthod OF ingrcss for several weeks y,
'as by a cicuitous detoIP from the ~
tate highway through 81. Georges. tI
ovcring twelve miles. The surround ~,
" country was flooded early in 1918, In,
lhen a protecting dixie along the river MI
roke. This has never been repaired
ally and st every high tide the water sn
ONES in, In times OF storm the land 81
flooded for many acres IN
The river can be kept out by repair co
~ this dixie, erecting land wall along Ia,
ne entire river front and by the use "a
T water gates, The problem OF drain "a,
20 would still have 60 be solved The an
igil portions OF the site drain them e.,
lives easily after rain, The nature "a
I the soil is q sandy clay composition fe,
nj wsteF will not soak through or mi
80 ~, A small aypaxatio,, oXpn On