New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-05
WORK AT THE NAVY YARD.
THE WRECKED NINA AND GALENA.
REPORTS ABOUT THE WHITE soUADRoN-MR
H1cHBoRN ON sHEATHING.

nh ,, ,,,oboat Nina one OF the Naval vessels
which were driven ashore In Nlheyau 0ouuui
Mass about three weeks ago, is no" III '"o
Navy Yard The Nina, with tho sloopoi,""'
Galena in tow, set out tor fU.sinouUh' 49,
tbe latter vessel was to be fitted for sea ser
,Ico ond IN n heavy gallo on March IA both vessels
rcre driven ashore. Men were set to work on inc
sb,ns as soon as possible, and finally the Nina was
eoated off and brought to New-fork' she arrlVeu
here on Friday, reaching the Navy iard apou' :
O'Clock in the evening. She was put lhpo inc granite
drydock yesterday morning and as soon as tlo ""e.
had been pumped out of the dock the poat was " DO
oxamned 10 find the extent of the INJURIES WHICH are
40 10 nai,od Above the water-line the vessel showed
few SIGNS of iniury The Galena has also been hoated
and k N he taken II Portsmouth where, IL the cost Oh
repairng her injuries does not exceed ~ per oeIU Va
her original cost she will probably be repalreu n
court OF inquiry is to meet In Duluhs w. - III ''o
Navy Yard tomorrow, to inquire hlto the MIo'A "a
the Gaena and the tugs Nina and Trlana' Inc court
consists Of the following officers: captain II. "
Matthew's Commander G. w. Sumner Lieulel " Coi'-
mander A. H. H. Lille and Lieutenant NJ Il. osher'
The astnamed officer will act as 1udgeadVocae' is
court is as its name implies, merely 10 inquire nito
the circumstances Of the disaster, anu " uco,uo
whether blame can be attached TO any one cOh'eo'eu
with it sufficient to cause the summonins Oh court
martial to try that officer. -, .,...-
II was reported Yesterday that the steel cruisers
cb,caro Roston and Atlanta of the White squadron,
are so badly damaged from striking on the bottom III
the HAYS and ON the bars in the Gulf waters That they
are TO be sent North TO be put into lor eAa
inaton and repairs. The Boston has erouiucu ho ie
than three times at Pensacola ana lahpa Day anu
the Chicago which grounded at Tampa bay IL" uaS
ago. is coming to the New-fork hospiOi flo"i VI.
fact that three old vessels should have been wrecked
and tbreo of the new cruisers should have been run
acround during the last three weeks, there Is some
excnse for the big amount of growing that Is being
indulped in by the odstecs" about scamanshp III
the Navy. ,
The last week has seen little change In the Navy
Yard excepting in far the work has carried 1he
vessels along toward their completion Inc htuns out
NJ the cruiser Concord st carried on, although IL
largely LITTLE details that attract attention now Some
Of tle apparatus connected With the guns Is being
fitted The sailors were busy yesterday removing the
many tons Of coal from the ship, In order tlat uie
bunkers may be inspected. This is in accordance WIN
the contract The destiny Of the vessel ana "en sio
will sail IS s q riddle. The dynamite cruiser Nesu-
yius will pobaby leave the yard the latter part Oh
this week but whether she will 90 to Newport OF 10
the new proving grounds is still unknown, as
the orders have not yet been received. The w@k
NJ giving the vessel above the water-une
a fresh coat OF white paint will probably begin tofhor
row. There are some leaks in the connecting pipes OF
the auxlliaes, and these may be repaired before the
ship leaves the yard. To do this VIII take about
thrtyslx hours trials Of air pressure with the
pneumatic dynamite guns have been made, and 1t Is
nrooble that some further trials will be made in the
week. Before the Vesuvius sail from the yard and
90 TO the place where the tests OF firing her guns are to
be held the thirty projectes which have been prepared
must be put on board.
The Steam Engineering Department has begun work
on the monitor Puritan Two Of the ten boilers which
were originally in the ship have been removed me
eight boilers which remain 10 be fitted with the
lima Of
both of the turrets advances well. On the monitor
Terror also good work is being done, which carries
that vessel rapidly TO completion The frames
near the Of the Cincinnati are now being erected
ard thus the work this part of the vessel Will have
a chance to catch up with that on the other parts
Rapid and at the time excellent, work IS done
upon the supersructure and turrets of the cruiser
Maine.
The working up. verifying and correcting OF the In
dicator cards Of the BennngtOns trial is job requiring
several days, and the officers are still employed at it,
The opinion is that the trial successful, and
the Official report of the result is being awaited with
interest.
Those who have kept watch Of the increase Of the
Navy unless they CHANGED to have the privilege Of
going through the various branches of the Navy De
partmcnt at Washington, have not had their attention
directed to what the officers themselves have done in
the matter Of inventions. by which, because Of THEN
being part of the Government itself, the in
veGtor cannot profit would people outside
of the Navy. Besides, most Of these inven-
tons are specially adapted TO war vessels them
selves. For instance, there IS Captain John A.
Howell at present chairman Of the Steel Inspection
Board. A few years ago he invented submarine tor
pedo which being put upon nearly all of The vessels
of the Navy. Passed Assistant Engineer John a.
Tobin is the inventor OF bronze metal which has re
celved much attention and general approval IF IT'S
melis in its specified fer certain machinery OF all
the new cruisers constructed or in course of con-
st1ction. 1t IS being manufactured for the Gov
crnment by the AnsUna Brass and Copper Company
and experience shows that 1t can be forged and
stamped as readily as steel that 1t can be drop
forged in the Steel that II possesses
great tensile strength. tOughness and elasticity when
drawn into wire that the manufacture OF gunpowder
IFS unllability 70 give of sparks makes il valuable, and
the result Of the tests in comparison with Oter metals
shows many advantages
Assistant Engineer Il. W. Kncaid has recently In
vented an improved rotary engine, which, 1t Is be
lieved will prove a strong rival of the electric dynamo
now in use board of vessels lie Is stu at work
perfccting some Of Its parts Passed Assistant In
a,ncep " 3D. Weaver has invented a indicator for
counting the number Of revolutions of The engines, and
for telling whether they are gong aheiu OF aSeTh az
testing instrument for engine indicators ana gauges
The latter machine saves the labor OF several Iheh
formerly required several men. la the former michlne
the data Of the speed Of the engines REGISTERED each
quarter Of a minute on paper tape BotE are
"o r ~ ,tcEuders and other electric apparatus In
vented by Lieutenant Bradley A. Fske have heretofore
been mentioned In the columns OF The Tribune The
finder is a simple and exact instrument, its chief
feature being a small telescope placed on the same
vertical horizontal plane as the gun. so tLat the
uarallel The observer holds the electric firing Ian
Ward i'm his hand ready 10 fire the gun as soon as lie
makes the correct aim.
Another invention which has attracted much atten-
tlon is the steel stOckess anchor Of Lieutenant H. o.
Innn The crown and iukcs rotate on a pin that
Joins them to the shankhead, and as II has no stock
and both ukcs hold at the same time, the anchor can
never foul the chaln Will the ship be In danger OF
grounding her own anchor In shOal water, rs has
freuenty occurred with other anchors
Naval Constructor Philip IlichbOIn, Assistant Chief
Of the Bureau OF Naval Construction, came ON from
Washington on sunday and after short visit TO the
Navy lani Monday, went 20 EhlaDethPOrt 10 In
spcct the works Of tlr ;. L. Moore sons company,
where is under construction the steam cruiser which
is 10 be used for practice cruising by the cadets at the
Naval Academy. Constructor IichUOrn has given
vast deal OF att ntOn and study OF the question Of
protection Of bottoms Of the new ships from foung
and corroson by the action OF seawater and whether