People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1895 — Carnigie’s Pull. [ARTICLE]

Carnigie’s Pull.

The house resolution to test the plugged blow hole armor plates now on our waa? ships has been killed in senate committee. This has been done upon the advice and practically at the request of the secretary of the vyIt is an extraordinary and even a scandalous thing that Secretary Hurbert should have given such advice or made such a request. In brief, these are the facts: The government contracted with Carnegies for armor plates, bolts, etc., for our war ships. The materials were to be of the best quality which it is possible to make. At the very worst they were all to be above a certain grade, to be determined by official inspection and practical test. The Carnegies made much of armor of inferior quality. Many of the plates had blowholes and other defects in them. The Carnegies plugged up the blowholes and concealed the defects. Many of the plates were not subjected to the treatment required by the contract. The Carnegies concealed the fact. Many bolts upon inspection were found to be too short and were rejected by the inspectors. The Carnegie foreman fraudulently worked them in with those accepted. When armor plates were selected as fair samples of large lots and orders were given to subject ball tests the-Carnegie people surreptitously subjected the samples to special treatment so as to make them falsely representative. Some of the materials were forced upon the government by the use of false measuring plates and some were fraudulently marked accepted by the use of the inspectors’ stamp stolen for the purpose. When all these frauds were discovered the secretary compounded the swundle for a money mulct. The president cut down the fine to less than onehalf. As it was clearly proven that some of our ships are clothed

with dangerous blowholes, and plugged plates the house passed a resolution ordering the defective pieces taken off and tested. The secretary —who had meantime accented of the Carnegies another batch of armor which had failed under test —has actively interested himself to prevent the passsge of this resolution by the senate. He has conferred with Carnegie and has not only gone before the committee to plead for the blowhole plates, but has in writing protested against any remedial action in the case. It is a strange story when the secretary of the navy interferes to protect contractors in frauds which would have been criminally punished in any other country, and to prevent precautions designed to secure the safet.yof our war ships.—N. Y. World