Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-19
COST OF CRUISING.
WHAT IT COSTS TO FIT OUT GOVERN
MENT VESSEL.
Responsibility of the Officer Who Orders
the Supplies-The Paymaster's
Difficult Duties.

ping interests cannot readily form any
thing like a correct idea of the immense
expense in fitting out one of Uncle Sans
vessels for cruise in foreign parts. The
work also requires attention TO mass of
detail rather appalling to a landsman, but
accepted as matter of course by the pay
master of the ship, whose errors of judg-
ment may sometimes cause privation and
discomfort to the crew. 1t is not the case,
as might be supposed, that when fitting
out, the heads of various departments
officially notify the paymaster of their
probable wants on the proposed cruise.
That officer may. and often does consult
with them informally on the subject, but
the Navy Department supplies him with
requisition blanks, on which are listed all
the articles ordinarily used on board ship,
and he thereupon estimates the probable
needs of the vessel and crew for three
months, makes the necessary acquisitions
upon the proper bureau of the Depart
ment, receives the stores from the store
keepers, and slows them aboard.
1t is interesting to follow the labors of a
paymaster of a 1900 ton cruiser of the
ordinary type in fitting out for sea. In
the first place, the Government provides
the hull and engines The standing rig
ging and masts are actually in the hull at
the time, but they are inyoiced to the pay
master, and here his labors begin. He is
provided with set of books, rather intri-
cate in theory. and clerk to help him
keep them, together with a small iron safe.
| These are then turned over to him by in
voice. along with other articles invoiced to
| him at different times. He next turns his
attention to the naval stores, of which the
first are the bowsprit, masts, yards and
sails. The bowsprit costs him (theoreti-
cally) $500, the foremost $775, foretopmast
| $50, and foretop gallantmast S25. Then
| the mainmast costs him 1925, the main
topmast $50, the maintop gallantmast S25,
the mainyard $3.50, malntopsail yard 800,
maintop gallantsail yard sos, mainroyal
yard $45 main gaff $50, mainsail 1915,
maintopsail 1888, maintop gallantsail 800,
main royal $685. and main trysail S125,
making in all 1850 for the mainmast and
| its furniture alone, exclusive of running
rigging and the extra set of sails that
ship must carry for emergencies. In addi-
ton, all the other masts, spars and sails,
cables, anchors, blocks, ladders, buoys,
gratings, awnings, boats and their equip
ments, furniture, glassware for command
| inc officer (other officers providing their
own. and numerous small articles to the
value of nearly $4,000. These things
being brought aboard and properly slowed,
| Il furn at 10
| engine room stores, consisting of cocks,
gauges and valves machine tools, hose, oils
| for lubricating machinery and illumina
| ton of engine room, packing miscellaneous
tools and hundred or more smaller arti-
cles, aggregating in value about $4,000.
Since the furnaces must be properly
| fed, he lays in a stock Of coal, for ship of
the size mentioned, about $50 tons, enough
to last for about twenty-five days constant
steaming. The cost of coal varies so that
what may cost here So ton may cost in
foreign port $50 ton, but the average
cost for the vessel is estimated to be about
| S. go per ton. 1t should be mentioned
here that one of the old cruisers, the
| Kearsage, in her active cruising of the
last five months, has sailed $4,000 miles,
consuming coal to the value of 1886.
| The new cruisers, however, consume much
greater quantities of coal per day, owing
| to their greater horse power.
| The ordnance stores next require atten-
ton. The battery may be already on
board the ship, but it is now invoiced to
the paymaster, each gun and each carriage
representing separate values. On the old
third-rate cruisers the two eight-inh pivot
rifles are invoiced at $4,000 each and the
whole battery at about $4,000. The bat
teries of the new cruisers are much more
elaborate and expensive. For them the
paymaster issues requlsition for about
six tons of powder, 10000 cartridges for
small arms, eighty rifles and 500 Shells
shrapnel and shot, the whole worth S10,-
600. When the boat stores are included,
all the ordnance stores are worth In the
neighborhood OF $4,000.
Navigator's stores are next required.
These consist Of lamps and fixtures, worth
about $500; Illuminating oils, worth about
$780, flags, signals and pyrotechnic sup
plies for signaling purposes. These are
very expensive and are generally worth
about 81, 800 the outfit Of flags alone cost
ing nearly 81 900, making an average of
81. 200 expended for stores issued to the
navigator of the ship. In addition to these
are the navigator's instruments, which are
not in charge of the paymaster, but of the
navigating officer himself, consisting Of
barometers, glasses, technical books, COM
passes. chronometers, sextalts, charts and
the like, which are very expensive, each
chronometer costing from $500 to So00, the
entire value Of the outfit being not far
from $4,000. 1t is the policy of the Navy
Department: to become as Independent as
possible of the charts supplied by other
Governments, and to this end the Hydro
graphic Office is getting out its own charts
of the world, which are more expensive
than foreign charts, and which are
thoroughly trustworthy. The captains OF
the merchant marine are furnished with
monthly coast charts in return for abstracts
Of their logs, and navigating officers In the
naval service are required to make numer-
GUS daily and accurate observations Of their
latitude and longitude, with temperature
of water, direction of the wind, state OF the
weather and other meteorological incl
dents. These details are all sent to the
Navy Department and are massed by the
photographic Office for the preparation OF
various charts. The result of this has
been that the United States is far IN ad.
vance Of other nations in the matter of
charts and records of meteorological OBJ
servations. On any sort of cruise, the YES
sci requires charts which embrace the
minutest details Of the entire shore line Of
two or more stations which she may be or
dered to visit, and these are worth about
$1,000.
On all the vessels of the Navy there is a
small miscellaneous library Of from 500
volumes upward, ranging in value from
$1,000 to 1880.
Before beginning cruise there is a va
riety of smaller naval stores TO be laid in,
such as canvas, rope, leather, tar, life-pre.
servers, handouts, etc, to the value of
$500 and carpenters stores, worth about
&c 900 no.,s;.Ii.,. of t.anlS lumbar and gem