The Portland daily press., 1886-12-04

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Clifford has gone home without seeing the
President He did not call at the White
House today. He would not have been of
fered the Turkish mission If he had called.
But this would not have disappointed him,
for he neither expected nor 6esired the Turk
ish appointment. The only thing he wanted
in political way was the suspension Of the
postmaster at Eastport, Me-, and the an
pointment of his friend McGraw to the va
cancy. He presented this proposition to the
Postmaster General. But inasmuch as the
present postmaster at Eastport Is satisfacto-
rily performing his duties, and has not been
guilty OF pernicions activity, he will proba-
bly, not be suspended. Mr. McGraw will
have to wait until his term expires.
Report OF the Secretary of the Navy.
William c. Whitney, Secretary OF the Ma
Wy, has made his annual report, of which the
following Is an abstract; From an inyento-
ry made IL appears that there is a very large
and unnecessary accumulation of stores and
supplies at the different bureaus, aggregat-
ing over 10000 900 in appraised value. The
board reports between three and four mil
lions in value to be obsolete and useless at
the present time, only entailing expense for
keepers and constant care to preserve them
in condition. Among these accumulations
some very absurd facts appear. AT the eight
navy yards there have accumulated altogeth-
er of augers and bits, 1885, of which 1924
lave been lying for several years at closed
yards, where no work has been or is likely to
be done. Twenty-nine thousand five hun
dred and f0rty-two gross of screws are on
hand, 1896 gross lying at closed yards.
There are 146 3S5 files in stock, AZ, ,142 of them
lying at closed yards. There are II, ,813 paint
brushes in stock, 2246 of these in the stores
at closed yards. All of these tools are SER
viceable, mostly new.
There are found to be over 1900 tons of
cast and wrought iron lying in scrap about
the yards, 10000 pounds Of composition and
brass, $4,000 pounds Of old copper, and l93,-
600 of old lead.
which. at the present rate of expenditure, it
would take fifty years to use up.
These stores Of tools or machinery are pc
riedically oiled or painted; in the meantime
require large storage room, a force of watch
men, ETC., and are constantly becoming obso-
lete and useless.
THE ADDITIONAL NEW CRUISERS.
The experience of the department in its
first attempt at the creation of modern yes
sells of war has been such as to excite the
greatest concern and disappointment. An
examination of the facts with reference to
them demonstrated that an entirely new de-
parture was necessary in undertaking fur
ther similar construction. The one charac-
teristic which an unarmored cruiser must
possess is great speed. This IS determined
by the function which she is expected to
perform in modern warfare. She is ''com
merce destroyer" She must be able to es-
cape from irOn-clads and 0utrun, so as to
overhaul, merchantmen. If slower than
iron-clads, she could not keep the sea, and if
slower than merchantmen she might as well
stay in port.
The Dolphin and the Atlanta having both
been completed and having had trial trips, it
is possible to compare them in their re-
suits with similar vessels built contem-
poraneously elsewhere. The Dolphin, of
1900 tons displacement can be compared
with the Alacrity and Surprise, English des-
patch vessels of 1,400 tons each, and the
Milan, a French despatch vessel of 1850
tons. all built conter poraneously. The Dol
phin was designed for $500 indicated horse
power, the Alacrity and Surprise each 5000,
and the Milan $500. The highest mean
horsepower developed upon trial was, in the
case Of the Dolphin, less than 2.2O0; Of the
Alacrlty, 3,1T3; Of the Surprise, 3,0T9; of the
Milan, 4,l32. The highest speed of the Dol
phias-iHaaallssipg from several trials was 15l1
knots; Of the Surprise, IT'S knots; Of the
Milan, 1874 knots.
The Atlanta is of 5000 tons displacement;
the Esneralda, 1920; the Giovanni Bausan,
3,06S; and the Mersey, $3.50. The Atlanta
was designed to attain an indicated horse
power Of $500, the Esmeralda and the Clio
vanni Bausan each $500, and the Mersey
6,0OO. The trials had Of the Atlanta indicate
that her engines will develop less than $500
horsepower. while the Esmeralda developed
Mersey 6,626. The maximum speed Of the
Atlanta will be less than 10 knots, while
that of the Esmeralda was 1928 knots, the
Giovanni Bahson 17.5 knots. the Mersey
17.5 knots.
In the ship-building policy of other naval
powers and the designs of war vessels re-
Gently laid down great value has been given
to the Importance of high speed and to the
gradual development OF the type known as
the protected cruiser. In some cases the
aA ic OF
knots, while a speed of nearly 10 knots has
been attained by several vessels already in
service.
As a result of the maneuvers Of the French
and English squadrons Of evolution, 1t has
been demonstrated that the type of torpedo
boat 200 to ITO feet in length hitherto ac-
cepted as capable eff efficient service upon the
open sea is too small for such work, and that
its role In war must be restricted to opera
tions along the coast or harbors. An in-
crease Of size has consequently been demand
ed, and torped0-bOats intended for service
extending beyond the limits Of the coast line
are built of lengths varying from 100 to 15t
feet and in displacements from so to 80 tons.
"a still larger boat has been built for the
Japanese Government; length 166 feet)
The Department in July last appointed a
board to examine and report upon the adap-
liability Of the Stiletto, a boat built by Her
reshoff Brothers Of Bristol, X. l., for service
| as torpedo boat. The board reported tht
| Stiletto embodied the qualities which a
modern torpedo boat should possess, al
| for future boats
The steam trials of the Stiletto were ex
| ceedingly satisfactory, and when the. small
type (but. go feet length Of the boat Is con
| sidered they compare most favorably Will
| those of boats built abroad.
| On July I'd, with 10 men on board and
| about ton of coal, displacement about 2
tons, this boat made four runs over tn
measured mile in rough sea and fresl
| wind. The average speed was 22.12 knots
On July 30th six runs were made, with
men on board and the same amount Of coal
| The average speed was 22.89 knots. Tn
| same day the boat made a'run Of 80 knots
at an average speed OF 1852 knots: On tn
| 7th run to Block Island and back wa
made in rough sea, and an average spec
of 1862 knots for the run was obtained.
SALES OF PUBLIC PROPERTY.
No public vessels have been sold durin
the past year From the sale of public proI
erty under controlof the Navy Department
from Nov. /, 1885, TO Nov. l., 1856, the sum {
$50, ,224. SO has been turned into the Treasur
as miscellaneous receipts and S28, ,050..
returned to the several appropriations
which the property pertained, making
total of S110,275.44.
BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAII
The report of Naval Constructor Theodor
D. Wilson describes the operations Of II
Bureau Of Construction and Repair durin
the past year. The steel cruisers Atlant
| and Boston are at the New York navy var,
where they have been docked. cleaned, an
painted, and sundry alterations and add
tions have been made to them. The Chical
is still at Chester, and the work upon her
now being rapidly pushed towards compl'
tion. The amount appropriated by the a
of July 26, 1886, will not be sufficient to finis
| these vessels, and an additional appropri
ton of $4,000 has been asked for. which
is expected will be adequate for the purpos
| if no further alterations or additions are +
commended by the Naval Advisory Boar
During the past year the second-rate pa
die wheel steamer Powhatan, the third-ra
screw steamer Wachuset, and the tug p
| grim have been condemned. The Tenne
see, the only first-rate vessel in active ser
ice is so decayed that she can remain in IL
but few months longer. The Lackawanl
| and Shenandoah are in such a condition tn
they cannot be repaired for service under q
existing law, although the Lackawanna mi
; be made suitable receiving ship for q
Mare Island navy-yard. OF the other secol
rates now in the service. IL appears til
! three can probably be continued in use
ten years longer, two for six years, al
three for I'VE years. OF the sixteen wood
third-rates, one, the Mohican, will be avail
: BILE for ten years, seven for six years, and I
l. remaining eight Tor bnly five years. I
Board OF Constructors convened in Augu
[ last for the purpose of examining into t
o present condition of the four double turret
monitors and prep airing plans for their co