Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-08-19
May Not Attend the
Conference at RaTitan
(Continned from page ID


erence to the removal of dangerous
explosives from Raritan Arsenal to
some place less populous you atten-
ton is invited to letter from the As
sistant Secretary of War to the Gen.
eral Ceramics Company, Metuchen, N.
j., copy of which is attached, which
letter was written in reply to a COM
munication from thai company re-
questing information as to the status
of explosives stored at the Arsenal.
The accompanying letter outlines in
considerable detail the present situa-
ton at Raritan Arsenal. The explo-
sion which occurred on August 4th,
which resulted in the destruction of
one magazine at Raritan, has been
very carefully investigated by a Board
of officers thoroughly familia- with
the character of the material stored,
and in fact, including in it's member
ship one of the foremost authorities
on explosives in this country.
From the evidence gathered at first
hand by the Board it is possible. If not
portable, that the explosion was
caused through carelessness and dis
regard of proper precautions on the
part of one or more of the civilian
workers employed at the Arsenal rath
er h a through any defect or inher-
ent danger in the material which ex-
ploded. Unfortunately as is usually
tll6 case, ln6 ulGu Ill the luI1euldL6
vicinity of the seat of the explosion
were killed, so that direct testimony
on his point could not be obtained.
"A careful examination, however, of
the condition of storage, the effect of
the explosion on nearby objects and
the entirely local character of the
damage caused only substantiates and
confirms the statements made in the
letter to the General Ceramics Com
pany that "the risk involved to the
inhabitants of the surrounding terri
tory is very small and is no greater
than in the operation of numerous
manufacturing plants, about which
no concern at all is felt by such in
h~abitants."
Very truly yours,
NEWTON d. BAKER,
Secretary of War.
General Ceramics Company,
Metuchen, N. j..
July 20. 1919.
Gentlemen:
Your letter dated July 20. 1919 "a,
o. 471.887l699) relative to the storage
of explosives and other hazardous ma
teriaI at Raritan Arsenal has been re-
ceived and has been given careful com
s~ideration.
The amounts Of explosives on hand
at Raritan Arsenal are as follows:
Lbs.
Bulk high explosive ,.......... None
Black powder ........... 3,000,000
Smokeless powder ....... IL, 100000
Wet pyro cotton ........ 100000
Data as to the amount of high ex-
plosive loaded in shells are not at
hand but there are approximately 49,
900 loaded shells at present at that
Arsenal. These shell are stored in
standard ammunition magazines de
signed expressly for the and
in the case of which the fire risk is
negligible.
In accordance with request from
Senator Frelinghuysen all bulk high
explosives have been removed from
Raritan Arsenal. 1t is contemplated
that this Arsenal will be used per-
manently for the storage of loaded
ammunition and smokeless powder.
Negotiations have already been en-
tered into for the sale of the wet pyro
cotton and it is expected that the re-
moval of this material will be accom-
plished in the near future. The black
powder, though not a high explosive,
will also be removed probably within
two months since the space occupied
by it is needed for ammunition being
returned from overseas.
With reference to your statement
regarding the danger involved in the
storage of smckeless powder, it is APP
parent that the situation is not quite
understood. Regardless of whether
this powder will or will not de~teriorate
in storage, the danger to the sur
rounding country, so far as all ex-
p%erience to date with this material is
concerned, is absolutely nil. There
Is no case on record known to the x
perts of the Ordnance Department
who are thoroughly familiar with this
powder of unconfined nitro cellulose
powder exploding with sufficient vio-
lence to cause damage to anything
over three hundred feet distant. Even
should the powder in any magazine
ignite from spontaneous decomposi-|
ton the powder in the ADJOINING
magazine would be perfectly safe and
about the only effect would be that of