The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-12-12

t possible result of delay in making such pre-
: cusable, for the most important cities ar
: those whose destruction or capture would b,
(; National humiliation Adequate defenses
, ual expenditure of $6eOOO,OOO. SUM mucl
, less than victorious enemy could levy as
contribution. An appropriation of abou
! the work, and concur with the Secretary o.
Mar in urging that it be granted The Wa
De Dartment Is proceeding with the CONVEX
sioA of teninch smooth bore guns into eight
inclr>rlfics, lining the former with tubes o.
forget sr cOiled wrOugh iron. Fifty gun.
will THIS be converted within the year
This. hossyer docs not ooviate The
construction Of guns CT the highest power,
both fer the purpose of coast defense and
for the Al. arma am snt OF war vessel vessels: The re
April :, 1883, in pursuance of the act OF
! March DO, 1888, was transmitted to Congress
in special message Of February : 1874: In
| my message of March Is, 1894, called atteu.
ton to the recommendation of the Board
that the Government should encourage the
| production of private steel works of the re-
quired material for heavy cannon, and thar
il has received information which Indicates
| that there are responsible steel Eanufactur-
ers in this country who, although not pro-
| vided at present with the necessary plant,
| are willing to construct the same and to
| make bids for contracts with the Govern
mcnt for the supply of the requisite material
1
warfare. If a guarantee order of sufficient
magnitude, accompanied by positive APP
preparation extending over Il series of years
shan De MADE BY Congress s AL doubts ,b as to
| moved, l renew my recommendation that
such action be taken by Congress will enable
the Government to construct its own ord
| nance upon its own territory, and 80 to pro-
| vide the armament demanded by considera-
tons Of National safety and honor.
THE NAVY.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy
exhibits the progress which has been made
acts of August 5, lss., and March 8, 1851 of
the four vessels under contract: The "Chi-
cago," of 500 tons, more than half finished;
the ATLANTA" 3,Ul0 tons, has been success
| filling; the Boston, also Of 5000 tons, Is now
ready for launching, and the Dolphin. a dis
patch steamer Of $50 tons. is ready for sail
ing. Certain adverse criticisms upon the
designs of these cruisers are discussed by
the Secretary, who insists that the correct
ness of the conclusions reached by the adj
visory board and by the Department has
bee demonstrated by recent developments
in ship building abroad. The machinery o
the double turreted monitors, Puritan, Ter
ror and Amphitrite, contracted for under
the act of March 3, 1883, is in process of con-
struction., No work has been done
during the past year on their ar
priations. A fourth monitor. the Monodo-
mock, still remains unfinished at the navy
yard in California. 1t is recommended that
early steps be taken to complete these YES
sells, and to provide also an armament for
the monitor Hiantomomoh. The recommen-
dations of the Naval Advisory Board, ap-
proved by the Department, comprise the
construction of one steel cruiser of 4 800 tons.
one cruiser of 300 tons, two heavily armed
gunSoats one long cruising gunboat, one
despatch vessel armed with Hotchkiss can
non, one arnored ram, and three torpedo
boats. The general designs. all of which are
calculated to meet the existing WANTS of the
service, are now well advanced and the con-
struction of the vessels can be undertaken rs
soon as you shall grant the necessary au-
thority. The act of Congress approved Au-
gust Z, 1882, authorized the removal 20 the
United States of the bodies of Lieutenant
Commander George W. belong and his COM
panons of the Jesnnette expedition. This
removal has been successfully accomplished
by Leutenants Harder and Schuetz. Tae re-
nsains were takea from their graves in the
Lena delta in March, lSs, and were detained
at Yakttsk until the following winter, the
sestson being toe far advanced to admit of
their immediate transportation. They ar
rived at New York February ~, 1884. They
were received with suitable honous.
In pursuance of the joint resolutie1 of
Congress approved February b. lSs4, naval
expedition was fitted yut for the relief of
Lieutenant n. w. Greedy, United States
Army, and of the party who had been en-
gagged. under his command. in scientific OBJ
segvations at Lady Franklyn Bay. The fleet
consisted of the steam sealer Thetis, mar
cls,sed in England: the Bear, purchased at
u.
which was generously provided by the Brit
ISL Government Preparations for the tx
pStiition were promptly made by the Seere-
t Of tine fhe Sayy % tnS Wa ar's
George W. Coffin was placed in command of
the Alert and Lieutenant w. II. Ewing in
command of the Bear: The Thstis was en-
whom also was assigned the superintendency
Cd the entire expedition Immediately upon
its u,s arrival val Ct uppernavik the fest
Melville Bay, and in spite of every |
obstacle reached Little Island on June -. a
fortnight earlier thar any vessel had before |
attained that point. The same day If crossed
over to Cape Sabine, where Lieutenant Gree |
ly and the other survivors of his party were |
discovered. After taking on board the kv. |
ships sailed for st. John. where they arrived |
on July II. They were appropriately re-
ceived ut Portsmouth, N. H., on August l
and at New York on August 8. One of the |
bodies was landed at the former place. The |
others were put on shore at Governors |
Island with the exception of one, which was |
warded thence TO the destination indicated |
by friends. The organization and conduct of |
this relief expedition rejects great credit |
upon all who contributed to its success
HIS last MESSAGE.
In this the last of the stated messages |
that shall have the honor to transmit TO |
the Congress of the United States. i cannot |
too strongly urge on its attention the duty of |
restoring our navy, as rapidly as possible, |
to the high state of efficiency which former |
ly characterized il, as the long peace that has |
lalied us into a sense of fancied security |
may Mt amy time be disturbed. 1t is plain |
that the policy of strengthening this arm of |
the service is dictated By considerations of |
use, OF economy, of just regard for our |
future tranquility, ana of a true apprecia- /
ton of the dignity and honor Of the Re
public.
The report of the Postmaster General ac- |!
quaints you with the present neods of the |
postal service. 1t discloses the gratifying |
fact that the loss of revenue from the reduc- |
ton in the rate of letter postage, recon- |
mended in my message December, 1SS22, and |
effected by the act of March 3, 1852, has been
much less than was generally anticipated. |
My recommendation of this reduction was |
based upon the belief that the actual falling |
on In receipts from letter postage for the
rate, could be S3,OO0,0yO; it has proved TO be
only S2,2.5, 900. This is a trustworthy indica-
ton that the revenue will soon be restored
to the former volume by the natural increase
OF sealed correspondence. IcoNfidently repeat |
therefore, the recommendation of my last |
annual message that the single rate of post
age upon drop letters be reduced to one
now required by law. The double rate is
only exacted at Offices where the carrier sys.
offices where the carrier system is in opera
ton that the increase in tax upon local let
tiers defrays cost, not only OF its own collec.
ti0n and delivery, but Of the collection and
delivery OF all other mail matter. This is an
inequality that ought no longer to exist.
approve the Recommendation of the Post
master General that the unit of weight in
the rating of first class matter should be one
ounce instead of one-half ounce as it is now.
In view of statistics furnished by the De-
partment it may well be doubted whether the
change would result in any loss of revenue;
that 1t would greatly promote the con-
velience of the public is beyond dispute.
The free delivery system has been lately ap-
piled to five cities, and the total number
of offices in which it is ROW IN operation is