New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-21
WORK AT THE NAVY YARD
THE BENNINGTON IN COMMISSION.
NO VESSELS IN THE DRY DocK-rRoGREss VI
cDTyrcEpS

representative of the c0mmandalt, NdPt"'
Erben lie read the orders from the secretary Oh .o
Nayr and delivered the ship from the yard into the
hands OF her commander. The officers and ere" "elc
called nj muster or the quarterback. The snip VIII
now rapidly be fitted for her first cruise al sea-
although there is still much to be done upon her
before she will be ready. The crew will take up It's
quarters on board. The officers quarters are not oil
finished and only part Of the officers can hVe oh
hoard The wardroom Is in condition for use, Duo
the cabins OF the commander and the staterooms io
the executive officer and one two Others are not
ready as some changes are being made In them'
few changes have been made in the electric h'tihss
Of the vessel and the electric light cannot De use
ot present The work Of relaying the gun tracks
still continues and there IS much of the furniture anu
fittings to be put into place. The complement Vi
the crew is not yet full but part OF the force mas
been detailed to the ship, and the rest Will be ADDED
when enlisted. The officers who have been
ordered to the ship as follows: Com
mander ROYAL B. Bradford, commanding; Lieu
tenant Andrew Dunlap, executive; Lieuteual'
Charles F.. Gotham navigator; Lieutenant Thomas b.
Howard chief engineer, Ralph Aston; paymaSei'
Lawrence G.. Boggs; surgeon, Thomas H. sVrcc's' ;
passed assistant engineer, W. p. Wnchell; ensigns
John NJ Elcott and F. W Jenkins naval cadets, H. IT,
smith, John H. Rowan, R. NJ. Watt and A. L. Willard.
At present there are no vessels in the drydocks at
the Navy Yard The painting OF the bottom Oh the
plnboat Petrol having been completed, she came ont
OF the timber dry dock In the week. The nagshlp
Philadelphia, the last vessel in the granite dryaoeK
has been out for several days but the armed cruiser
Maine will soon be put In the granite drydocK pVDd
ably next week. This vessel has not been locked since
she was launched on November IS, and her bottom Is
so foul that il will need scrapng and pointing which
will be done while she IS in the dock. The scrapihg
and painting are the only things to be done on 'le
Maine while in the dock this time She WILL however,
be put into dock some time later to have the ne"
struts for the propeller shafts put on in the place OF
the defective ones The ship will be put in the dry
dock too when the heavy armor plating arrives TO
have It put into place
The work Of preparing the Launching ways
for the new cruiser Cincinnati has gone on
steadily on the vessels that being constructed
and those that being reconstructed, the work goes
on much the same as it has done for several weeks
The building OF the superstructure on the monitor
Terror attracts much attention 10 that vessel
The vessels Of the North Atlantic squadron are being
made ready to start on their trip to Portsmouth But
few repairs have been made the Enterprise since
she returned to the yard, and she is to be ready Tor
sea on Wednesday She Is to start for Portsmouth on
Wednesday or Thursday Of this week. The other YES
sells Of the squadron will follow little later, perhaps
starting from here next saturday. Orders have been
sent to the Rearsarge to 20 to Portsmouth where she
will meet the rest Of the squadron. The gunDoat
Petrol Is about ready 10 sail Her bottom has been
nition and Is 10 be cOaled in day or two. The re-
pairs that were made upon her were not complete
and exhaustive and it IS probable that she VIII
return in the autumn to have them finished. Being
lust at the close Of the fiscal year, as 1t IS. the money
TO carry on extensive repairs is not available. II is
probable that several vessels OF the squadron, or per
hans all of them, will return after the
simmer manoe1ivres TO receive
pairs. The ammunition which was removed from
the magazine OF the Philadelphia Friday was taken
to Fort Wadsworth yesterday. At the time Of the
slight fire in the fore-hod of the Philadelphia on last
Monday the magazine flooded with water for
safety Now that the ammunition is out, the magazine
will be cleaned and dried. At Fort Wadsworth the
ammunition will be tested to find whether II was in
jured by the water The shells made to withstand
certain pressure of water but they may have suffered
damage nevertheless. Some of the ammunition for
the small arms some Of the powder may have been
injured. The caulking Of the decks and other Jobs
still continue on the ship, but she will probably be
ready TO sail in about week.
The sloop-ofwar Yantic now hes at the ordnance
dock. whittier she has been moved No work is being
done upon her. but she Is soon to be coaed 1t is
said that the report that published that the Yam
tic would be employed TO carry stores to the South At
lantic false, and ridiculous too inasmuch as the
vessel cannot carry stores for herself excepting for
short cruise. The vessel is now very shOrt-handed
Rear Admiral David b. Harmony paid visit to
his flagship the Lancaster, Friday. The visit was
not official He is to hoist his flag the ship on
June %, but tho vessel Will probably not sail for
her station as flagship OF the Asiac Squadron before
the first of July The report publishes that forty APP
prentice boys sent on from the training squadron
at Newport had deserted from the ship denied
by of the officers Of the vessel yesterday. The
fact was that the Lancaster had received draft OF
about forty apprentices, but these boys had not made
a cruise, and so when the training ship
rpfu fhpV pTSa fran 10
their places were supplied by boys just
returning from a cruise the training ship. The
first draft Of boys were smaller than those from the
training ship, and picked boys, and the officers
sorry to lose them. The boys themselves, too.
liked the big, comfortable Lancaster, and looked
forward with pleasure TO voyage to India China and
Japan. Hence they did not want to be taken from
the ship so five OF them deserted But all excepting
these few we're transferred to the training ship.
Chief Engineer william ". DUNCAN completed his
three years term of service connection with the
Engineering Department at the Navy Yard on Wcdnes
DAY. and was relieved by Chief Engineer : L. p
Ayres Commander DUNCAN will have two months
leave of absence, and will then. it is believed, be
ordered to duty In charge Of the con-
structon of the boilers and machinery for
the new cruiser No 10. which is
to be built The bids for this vessel were opened
az the Navy Department on June l. but the award has
not yet been made. There were three bids for this
vessel, as follows; Union Iron Works. san fIaclS'o
a2703OOO; Cramp and sons, S2,745,OOO; Bath Iron
Works, -, 600. 900.
The bid Of tile Cramps just $4,000 less than the
limit of cost fixed by Congress, and the company is
building cruiser No L. sister ship, they did not eN
pect that any would bid below them. In fact they
were surprised when there lower bid from the
Bath (McD Iron Works and it was the lowest of the
three The report has been published that the bid OF
the Bath Works would probably not be accepted, but
that the award would be made to Cramp because
they have complete plant for the construction of the
vessel and machinery. II Is denied BY officers who
have peccd the Bath Works that II has the plant
sufficient to build so large vessel They aver that
the plant OF that company Is OF the best in the
country and that the Qulntnrd Works, TO whom would
e gvcn the contract 10 build the boilers and machinery
has every requisite for tie work. Besides, Mr..
George ". Quntarl has guaranteed 10 the Navy De
partmcnt 10 go on the bonds Of the Bath Works. The
machinery for several OF the vessels that have been
built, and are now being built Is contracted for 10
others who not cOntractOrs Tor the Vessels. The