New-York tribune., 1889-10-13
WORK AT THE NAVY YARD
PLANS OF THE FLYING SQUADRON
A MAGNIFICENT SCHEME FUN
MANY CHANGES DEsIRED-soMh

which is soon TO start for Europe l"o VI uno
.aa.o,, tho Roston and the Yorktown, are aoouC
ready but the work on the other U"o ID n0'
oor,rIotod The cruiser Atlanta was put INTO
+l,e drvdocl, Yesterday morning where her oo''oi'
will be scraped and painted, ana alothel p,o-
noTor mt in place That she did not make
better speed in her recent trials at Ne"PorC 10
laid by some TO the fact that lase winter ner
,,uoro,ior rvae removed and q slightly smaller one
put in its place. Now the old propeller Is 70 NC
rorloced One end of one Of the blades OF this
was broken of when she was earelessy run A'nors
in Narragansett Bay about two years ago. "iiu
the broken part is to be rounded OIL
The Chicago will probably delay the squadron
mora than any other vessel. 1t has taken long
time to complete her, but it is now thought
fiat in about ten days she will be finished, and
that then she will 60 out into the stream to be
insnocted bv Admiral Jouett's Board.
There has been some talk that the new cruiser
Baltimore and the gunboats Petrol. Concord and
Remington were 70 be added to the Squadron OF
Evolution. but as new vessels will be needed IN
other souadrons II is doubtful If they Will be
added to Admiral Walkers fleet. 1t is not yet
determined that the squadron VIII remain III
European waters as there is scheme on 1oot
to have it 20 around the world, ana return mere
next fall in time % have an elaborate programme
of Naval manoeuvres in the Southern waters next
winter. The Dolphin is still at the Navy Yard
waiting for orders
THE. MONITORS ALL RIGHT.
"A startling disclosure began an article in a
morning paper yesterday, WHICH declared that lhe
great and costly doubleturreted monitors Mlan-
tonomah and Terror'are in sinking condition
that the Terror's bilges were filled with water
that came in through holes made by corroslon'
that the plates of the MiantOnomah were so
badly rusted through that the holes had to be
plugged up" that both vessels would nave 10
have new bottoms at great expense that the dam
age sustained was aScribed to nothing Short
Of carelessness and neglect" etc. etc. Several
Of the officers pronounced the statement as ehtlrey
false Captain j. n Miller the executive officer
Of the yard, said: am on Board OF Survey
of the Terror, and all day yesterday L
was on board of her and discovered nothing of
the kind. As all of the plates not in place,
when it rains some water gets into the vessel,
but there is no hat They are in a perfectly
sound condition" Another officer thought that
perhaps the astonishing statement arose from
the fact that as the drydock could Dc
made ready the two monitors were to be doelSed
and painted.
An interesting electrical machine can be seen
at work Oh the framework of the new armored
cruiser Maine 1t is an electric drill, which has
displaced the slow and tedious paul-and-ntchet
hand-dtilI used for so many years three-quar-
ter-inch hole through a steel plate three-quarters
Of an inch thick can be drilled in less than min
ute 1t is thought that in a short time electrical
drills will be procured for use in the whole yard
BEGINNING A NEW CRUISER.
When work is actually begun a vessel it
looks as if she were going TO be built; and thus
it is with cruiser No. z, the 3,OOO-tOn cruiser
which is to be built in the Brooklyn yard. The
work of laying the framework which supports the
keel blocks has been begun and piles are being
driven, and framework erected preparatory to put
ting into place the keel blocks. The new vessel
is TO be built alongside Of the Maine ship-house.
Commander f. NJ. Green, who has
been attached to the Navy Yard, in charge
of the branch Office Of the Navigation
Bureau, since March, 1885, has received orders
detaching him from the yard and ordering him
10 the command Of the Philadelphia nautical
schoolship Saratoga. This is the end of a long
struggle on the part Of the Philadelphians to get
a commander for that vessel, and Commander
Green Is q good SClecuon. lie is what Is generally
spoken Of among graduates Of the Naval Academy
as a mustang" having entered the service
a volunteer officer with the rank Of actin, master,
on june IS, 1861. He served throug ghout the
Civil War in the various squadronS, and was at
the capture Of Fort Fisher, reaching the rank
Of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Under a
provision of Congress he passed the required
examination. and was commissioned as Lieutenant
Commander in the regular Navy on December 3,
1868.
NEED MORE YARDS.
we need yards much as we need ships
was what the chairman Of the Board on Navy
Yard Sites said 10 Secretary Tracy when he re-
ported few days ago on the needed improve
ments at some of the large Navy Yards especially
of the one at this port, as planned by the Board
of which Rear-Admiral Braine is chairman. for
which Secretary Tracy Will probably recommend
that Congress grant the estimated necessary
appropriation Of ss,O00OO0. The outlay will be
about $500 600 a year until the yard is made
ffstclass. The plan Of the Improvements at the
New-York Navy Yard is the most comprehensive
one ever devised for the completion OF any naval
station in the world One of the most imnortsnt
innovations proposed is the construction of "A fresh
water basin Tor the Use of steel ships held i'm re-
serve, where they may be laid up without the
deterioration. TO their bottoms by foulng aud
corrosion big stone wall is to be built ali
around the Cob Dock with great gates al the
entrance TO the Whitney Basin, through which
ships may pass and be closed in,
Another innovation is the extension of the cIectric
plant. 1t is probable that the old machine shon
which has been used "A stCrehouSe for several
years, will be cleared OF the old pumping engine
and other machinery and used for the central
plan. The entire yard will be lighted by eIec
tricity so that work may be done at night nc
well as by day in case of emergency Biz der
rcks are TO be placed at all Of the doci,s
Enormous coal bins. capable of holding 10000
tons. are to be provided so that there NAV be
no embarrassment in case Of strikes, etc
MANY CHANGES PLANNED.
A new marine guard-house. a spacious bniIding
with modern sanitary improvements is n mo
built at the East gate, on the Fmshing-ave side
In the upper part Of the building will be otices
and draughting rooms of the Steam Enoinoorin,
Department. new central building for oe;cos
for the commandants and other officers is to be
built A huge basin will be excavated ybero 10 Ho
sawmill now stands, capable Of holding fonr or nr
five ships 1t Is 10 be used as a httng.out basin
and will be surrounded three sides by sbons and
derricks. N
In July, 1883, Congress appropriated sss 600
for the erectiOn of boiler shnn al the na..,...