New-York tribune., 1890-01-12
WORK AT THE NAVY YARD
CONSTRUCTION OF THE CRUISER MAINE.
THE NEW RAILWAY-JUNIOR offlOh'9
ING FOR LEGI sLAT1oN-THE MAINE
UOSPITAL.


II tbo office Of Rcar-Admiral Brainc at the
Navy. Ward are two half models of the hull OF the
ho,,Iosrin Maine. now constructing in the yard
Those models ar, fastened upon the wall, one repre-
sentirc the mort side and the other the starpoar"
eide oC tbc vessel and upon them is marked 'ne
nlace in which each bar and plate are 10 III
mt When the workmcn are preparing 10 laS'eh
a nlatc upon the vessel in the shiphouSe' piece
of blacl, napcr is put upon the correspondents
snot ON tbe model and when the plate mas perh
riyeted in place, the spot is painted pid'A' iS
this means the commandant Of the station IL
enabled TO keep track of the progress o' 'n'
work unon The largest vessel now pul"IhS ~
the Navy. There is also in the cohlhah"'"''
oeicc model of the vessel as she Will appear
,vbcn finished 1t is abo ut five feet long, anu
is compctc in every d,tail of rigging steam
launches and other small boats, turrets' ana guns
large and small. -.
.bou; the most important work now eoinR
on AZ the ward is that on the MPlne. lhc Pi''i'o
on the lower part OF the hull has oech P"V III
nlace and rivctcd, and this work has pe'" 'o'"
nIetcd ND 10 the armor belt ana the pI"",o'loi
and arn,or decks. The work has hecn ucI'A'"
somewhat bv tie fact that some oi ue pl'"'
for the protection and armor decks al" III"
cos,-stcel propeller Shaft tubes nave nov Sc'
arrived With what material IS IN the NdIu' "o"
over the work on the armor deck is going ioI""iu'
This deck is 10 be two Inches lhsulCh"cSN '
Tin, of two onc-inch steel plates. and lies
forward and aft of the armor ncIt inc p'"'"
,ior docL j. also 10 bc two inches thick, lying
above the armor belt, and the work on uhlS Is
we'll undcr way. The plating known aN the
q. ,Io,ir, b7c, Of armor" Is also laying. aud the
,r,por shelf. ON which Is 80 rest the armor bc'''
N.N Z. mating Itfh
of armor" are 10 hc wooden beams called " back
ir, about twelve inches ia thickness. ana
Fastened to this with great bolts Is the armor
holt consisting Of belt of steel eleven lhchcS
,bicL and about SIN feet wide. and running about
,,yotlir,l, the length Of the ship above ana '"I""
,tc wafer line When in place this armor belt
* 10 come flush with the outside plating oil me
vessel The worlmcn are also busy running the
bulkhcads, transverse and longitudinal
THE Nrw CRUISER SO. :.
The keel blocks for the new cruiser No. : arc
re,d,. for tie keel 10 be laid just as soon as the
materials arrive M tie ward. About thirty plates
came 10 The ward from tlc steel works about TWO
week, ago. and d.ru- tire last week onoiher
invoice of about forty plates and angles arrived
byt there wee only few keel plates among
them The fcH whicI hlyc already come are
lciur slapcd and the riyct holes are being
nuuchcd but 81 hc1inuiu- of lovin- the keel cannot
bc made until more OF the kcclplaics and the
angles which belong with them are sent
The rlI, and s'rr.crs for tine new railway
which is buildiue alou side of Cruiser No. Z,
and also throl-h tire shlp-Loue" in which the
parily-built Ncn-York hy until She was No.d
layc arrived and force of wor.,mca Is cm.
ploycd on the WORK, and il Will probably soon he
completed
Tie Niantouomah. i'm the drrdoct is 10 hc
thoroughly cleaned and as her bottom presents a
large surface the men a,c busy get m chipping
off the corrosion. The painting however. Las been
begun and ncr bottom IS TO receive three coats
Of brown paint and one coat Of green paint
IooK1NG FOR NATIONAL LEGIsLAT1oN.
For several years tie various corps ana
grades Of the official personnel Of the Navy have
fclt the rcccs,ity ot hayine Congress- do somcthnf
for the general benefit Of the service, and have
presented their grievances b. friends in Congress.
hoping that some general legislation would follow
20 relieve them O.: many present cinharrassmcnts,
but not succeeding, thcy have had bills presented
i'm the present Congress looking toward relief one
of the measures 10 which Congress Is asked TO give
attention is urged by thc junior officers Of the
Navy, many Of whom have grown gray before get
ting beyond the Grade of lcutcnont In fact. one
OF liit N'Il'I lHi''IliuiN hi iif Navy l"ih II
now forty-four years old and as gray as q
man of sixty. For the purpose of improving the
status Of tAc junior officers Of h"tn line ard STAN
tLc officers ranking with ensign ask thai on
cress shall protiie that thc' may be- entitled 10
promotion 10 Lieutenant, Of The junior grade after
being ten years IN Tie service Ihi, wll give
them the rank and quarters ON board snip 10
which they believe that their aIc and experience
shall cntitlc them. The existing laws for rank
and pay passed In $50, when the average
age al reaching the rank Of lieutenant, junior
eradc. was twenty-five years The officers pre-
sent table showing that the avcr.-" axe of uhi-
GERS before they now att an that rank Is thirty
three. years. From the date Of entry in the ser
vice. in 1oGi, 10 the time an officer would reach
the lcutcuancy. junior grdc, there was n lapse
Of five years and ten months. hut there are now
officers who have been IN tie service nearly fiji
teen years who have not reached that Grade.
\ meeting of officers was held IN Washington
Yesterday which was attended hv some of the
officers from this yard. for the purpose of dis
cusSiou. with the view e. uniformity Of action
i'm the matter of Gcorcani/ng the Navy. The OBJ
lcrt is 10 di,spatc the CAUSES for the quarrel
which has existed between the line and the staff
officers many years over the question Of rank
and title and to harmonic all differences for
the benefit of the entire service. II IS believed
that the bill framed by them yesterday viii hc
substituted for the Cowic bill and al other bills
introduced, and that i viii probably pass. The
bin is comprchcnslyc in its details and is rccoc-
nizcd as lust and reasonable, and free from the
objections urscd AGAINST other measures. II re-
stores the grade Of admiral and Nlcc-admlral;
increases the rcar-admirlls from siX - twelve,
commodorcs from ten 10 twelve, commanders
from cicity-fvc 10 ninety, Lieutenant command
err, from scvcuty-lour 10 roo. leutenants
(scnior cradle. from 80 10 %2j; hcutcn0uiS
iiunior Grade. and cnsiers. from $50 10 500.
II also makes a slight increase in the number of
STAFF officers, in view Of the greater number of
ships in the service
THE SANITARY INTERESTS.
Tic medical officers report that the sanitary
condition Of tho Marine Hospital has greatly
improved Notwithstanding the feet that the
AVERAGE number of patients has been over one
hundred and completely filling the hospital
Among the improvements and repairs made.
electric cal ll-bclls have been put into the various
departments thus facilitating the call of doctors
and attendants. and general improvement q:
the sanitary conditions has been made An
Improvement rccn- ucndcd Is the placing Of the
l-nInDllnl hrirl- hullnt LII fhn