Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-05
THE NEW YORK NAVY rARp.
Work Being Pushed Upon the vessels In
Course of Construction
THE crsHrSo's ronrrDors-Eow THEY Will rx
TIRED AND rur METHODS or THEIR ATTACK
NAVAL suRsEoS's VIEWS on Iag TREATMENT
OF CHOLERA.
rrespondeuce O. Tie Evening Star

Inc approach OF colder weather and the
presidential election Is eniiyening the work q,
the navy yard. and several ship. Of the North
Atlantic feet are expected in before long One
Of the important pieces Of work to he done d.
OF the monitor 'Mianton oman" whose ven,i-
lsting system has been found inefficient. No tina,
when at SEA, in any that the matches
must be ba.tenei dosn. IL il almost suffocatine
below decks. Assistant Surgeon lakewood ~ the
Misntonomah has thoroughly investigated the
Sentilating question. aud has devised method
which is TO be tried on her at the earliest OPP
portunity. The success of these trials is verv
important. as upon them depends the plan 20
be used In al the monitor type OF vessels now
building.
Strong pleas are being advanced by the su-
thorities here. especially Naval Constructor
fernald, FL building one of the ships lately APP
propriated for at this ynrd thcv claim that
the Maine and Cincinnati are ayble proof %
the excellence Of such work, but believe the
Terror and Puritan. which Vet incomplete
after eight wears work, are not used argu-
ments in favor Of navy yard work. The ;roabl.
seems 20 he not In the excellence of the work
but in the slewness, which is largely the result
OF no competition. Recent changes in the sys-
tenn of promotion and wages among the work
men is expected To give good results, IL tends
10 lessen the power of local politicians. whose
influence over government workshops and navy
8
OF the "o.k and Is generally deplorable.
THE CUsHISa's ToRPEDoEs
The torpedo boat Gushing received her tor
pedo guns and torpedoes the first OF the week
and left the navy yard Yesterday for Gardeners
Bay, where the contractors trial Of tie torpedo
guns and torpedoes is 70 take place. She has q
stationary torpedo tube in the bow and what I
can best describe a ''double-barreled" gun.
mounted ainidships and having a train from
twenty IPQrteS each how 20 lacr,..s
on each quarter. When ready for action she
will carry Whitehead torpedo in the tube
ready to fire and one in each barrel of the gun
and one extra torpedo. The plans we're ar
ranged TO fire the torpedo from the tube by
means OF compressed air, but il has been de-
cided that small charge o! gunpowder j. more
effective and certain. The Whitehead torpedo
II a cigar haped steel With a set Of pro-
nellers and rUd3ers al The tail. The case is di-
yided into three compartments. The forward
one contains the charge Of high eNplo-
a|es, With ile contact fuse in
the point or head the mil.hip
chamber contains What not loag sin,e
known as the "zecret.' and carefully
guarded by TN" makers. but which. thanks 20
our naval intelligence bureau, Is now thor
oughly understood. This ''sacret'' is the clever
mechanism b.. which the rudders are 80 raaniu-
uiated thai the torpedo will continue in the
direction II is fired. and will keep a uniform
distance below the surface of the water The
hood engines for propeling the torpedo and
the highly compressed air which is the motive
power. There ere ireans provided on tn,
Gushing for charging the air chambers OF the
torpedoer The operation OF firing thcm il very
simple Charged AMI loaded the torpedo IL
placed in the tube. and the snail charge of
gnnrowder IL in = cartridge the rear side Of
the tube. Upon firing the same trigger that
discharges the powder charge sets the mechan-
ism OF The torpedo IN motion. and upon striking
aa..--
keeps it BY the action If the rudders The
Whitehead IL an English torpedo but is in com
mon ia many navies
No AMERICAN INVENTION YET An IMPROVEMENT.
Several American inventors have claimed im-
provements upon il, bit for reason or an
other their efforts have met with little success
Notable among the American inventions are
those of Capt. Howell. L. =. "; Simms and
Laison. The Gushing will fire her torpedoes nj
various speeds and ranges into net. SO that
ther exact target merit may be ascertained.
All o. the new ships except the Chicago At
lsHta and Boston are fit.el for torpedoes and
these ships sill be f.ted as practicable
IN der the appropriation of the last Congress.
The Bliss Company fitted The tubes and torpe-
docs for the Gushing. and il her trials are
successful they hope to receive large contract
! from the government for fitting the ships
nov IN the sc Wee with tubes and
firing mechanism. After the completion
, Of her trials OF torpedoes the Cushing will pro-
coed to Newport, where official speed trials Of
the Philadelphia, Chicago and Gushing are 10
be held. The Concord came into the yard yes
ter,iay from New London. She will coal and
proceed Immediately to La Guavra. Yenezuela
to protect American interests there during the
revolution She wall touch at 81. Thomas and
Curacao en- route. These unexpected orders are
great disappointment To the officers and crew
OF the Concord, they had expected TO spend
several weeks in the navy yard and be present
at the Columbian celebration in New York
harbor in October. and the prospect Of spend
ing some OF the hottest months of the wear In
the poorly protected harbor Of Ia Quay ra where
both yellow fever and smallpox are epidemic
and cholera probabie,is not pleasant to contem-
plate.
NAVAL SURGEON ON CHOLERA.
Speaking of cholera 1 recently had con-
versation with several naval surgeons who had
spent considerable time in Asiatic ports when
cholera was prevalent On several occasions
cholera had broken out on the ships, but the
prompt treatment and Xtra sanitary precautions
readily ended II. The cases We're generally
traced to overripe fruit and strict quarantine
measures we're the best preventative. Surgeon
\. McP. Ferebee, who spent several wears In
China during an epidemic of choers claims |
that the wide flannel belts worn by the ''blue |
jackets" on the China station are an excellent |
preventative and protection against the dis |
orders that lead TO cholera. The wearing of \
these wide flannel bands about the waist IL re- |
garded by many ar sailor superstition" but |
at least one good effect Is seen here. The ex-
celient hygienic precautions taken on our men, |
of-war has kept the crews in good health in ports
where epidemics we're raging in all countries, |
from fever in Rio Janeiro to cholera in Hong |
Kong. and all this ssurely great recommends- |
ton for the naval surgeons. The Chicago il |
expected to attend the opening ceremonies Of |
the Naval War College on the 5th OF September |
large number Of officers on shore duty and |
the north Atlantic station will be ordered TO the
War College for two months course in naval |
tactics. gunnery and electricity. The course of |
instruction will be done by lectures and dis |