Salt Lake Tribune | 1915-01-14 | Page 3 | Says U. S Shells are out of Date

SAYS U, S, SHELLS ARE OUT OF DATE WASHINGTON' Jn- 13 Louis Gathman, who claims to be the mventoT j of the high eiplonve shells Germany is using in her monster guns which 6wept away the costly defen es of Liege and Antwerp told a majority of the sen ate on expenditures in the war depart ment today he had been endeavoring to interest the ordnance off cials of the American war department for many years and had made no effort to g vo his invention to foreign governments until it had been repeatedly refused by 4mer can army officers. He charged that the facts had been suppressed by the ordnance bureau. Gathman said that n tests in 19 before American ordnance off cers h s shell had b own to pieces six and ten inch armor plates when merely leaned aga nst tbe steel and exploded The whole theory of shell fire had been so changed bv the adoption ot h gh ex plos ves shells in place of armor pierc inr projectiles he said that the coast defenses of the United "Hates virtually were useless because they still used the latter type of projectile Officers of the German navy he said had informed hrm that armor percing shells had been d splaced on German war vessels years ago It had been demonstrated he said that armor pierc ng shells had never sunk a h p He cited the case of the Mar a Theresa one of the Spanish h ps beached when she took fire alter the flight from Santiago Two twelve inch armor piercing Ehells had struck the sh p and exploded m her yet t was poss ble to ra se her and send her to the Un ted States. Navj officers had test f ed he said that had a high ex plosive shell stru k the esel the whole stern would have been torn "Gathman also attacked the coast de fense mortars on wh ch the Un ted States, he said had expended $100 000 000 These, be said have a range of only six miles use only armor-piercing shells and cannot pierce armor ata mile as a major tv of the blows woul 1 be glanc ng Tqu pped w th h gh explo ? ve hells he sa d the r lire woul 1 be deadlj