The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-21
MARE ISLAND navy YARD.
The Place On Which the Eyes 81
the World Are at Present
Focused.
II Contains Many Useless Hulks
and a Few Good Fight
ing Ships.
Most on Thorn Ars Of the Obsolete Pat
terns-smuRglin. whisky TO thA
Sailor Rows.

e5@ 6THk--SlAuRklAu ~ SAu5%&&#N
Sailor Rows.
Just now the snme activity prevails at
Mare Island asvin other United States navy
wards, yat II aannet be aaid TO be r yl.lhlA
activity of that sort which prevails when q
country ID confronted with the almost in
evitable prospects of war. says the San
Franciaco Call. 1t is quite certain that
Chilli will not be mad enough to declare war
apainst the United Stairs, but those who
have carefully watched Developments at
Mare Island may we'll incline to the belief
that an ultimatum from this country ia not
only possible but probable. The only qnes-
ton that can arise after that is the ability
Of tho Pacific coast to resist attacks ~ q
rowing war-ship carrying the Chlllan pen
nant.
AZ a matter OF fact there are twelve ves-
soils tiying the p~ennant of the United ftates
at Mare Island, ant only two OF these are
serviceable. One ia the cruiser i'altlnore'
the other the monitor Comanche, single
turret. The swatara, Nipsic, Omaha,
Adams and Mohican belong to the obsolete
class Of wooden, slow-steamlng cruisers,
and may be counted ont. The Hartford
Farraput,s iagship ut Mobile, is deckless
and disrnasted. The Independence dates
back to 1914, aud has been bedded III the
mud az a receiving ship for years. me
rHassler, Patterson and Ranger are survey
ing vessels, about as effective for war pur-
posos as q mud-dredRer. But the Baltimore
and the Comanche could put in good work,
and the two vessels could probably dispose
Of the entire Gillian feet in q square fight
of the heads.
Since the Baltimore has been at Mare
Island it has been recognized that as 9
fighting ship she is a far more formidable
vessel than was supposed. Fast as the
Charleston and the San Francisco are she
could run away from both or she could
Gink both, She could steam all around the
Esmaralda or Law off and sink hor. Also
the Baltimore turns ont to nave been very
solidlv built. After the two years cruise II
has been found that not q rivet IN her plates
below the water line has been even ioosened,
= yery rare record in the history of fast
cruisers of n nationality.
A Call reporter who visited the Comanche
found that there was not the slightest
thinc the matter with the little monitor.
At present there are only two men on ooaro
OF her. y fireman and a machinlst. The
little craft, as seen from the shore looEs
exactly like the pictures of the original
Monitor of Hampton Roads fame; a cheese
on a raft. There ia nothing OF her to hit
but the cheese box turret and the smoke
stack. Every valve Of her engines - IN
order. the entire machinery is cleaned daily
and tested weekly, and dirty and grimy as
the craft looks externally, she could be
fitted for sea quicker than any other war
vessel at Mare Island, the BALTIMORE not
excepted. !,
powder. It would take just seven hours 70
coal the Comanche and less time 70 Ill her
three powder compartments. When the re-
porter went inside the turret and saw the
two ffteen-inch guns, With the intricate
machiner7 that operates the whole, in such
trim that the craft could have gone into ac-
ton there and tken, he was bound to rec.
opnize that tho commandnnt at the navy
ward has neither slumbe ed nor slept. LIZ
may be mentioned parenthetlcally, that Ad-
miral Irwin has not taken hls eJe on me
little Comanche ever since the Valparaiso
riot, now nearly three months ago.
The Comanche steams about seven and
one-half knots an hour. Her armor-plato
is not specially thick, but with the oak
backing 8 full four feet has to be pene-.
trated before a shot could land N . vital
part. and even this vital part is part Of a
very small target. During his visit to the
monitor. the Call reporter learned that one
of the sister craft, the Montauk. was hit
over two hundred times i'll various parts
during the civil war, and that several thou
sand shots were fired at her. Not ono shot
seriously hurt anybody on board. If !
had nv choice" said a man who had been
aboard the Montauk, between being on the
Comanche or the Baltimore in a close
quarter contest, I would take the Comanche
every time. If the Baltimore were to lay
of. far enough to be out of reach of the
Comancha,s n abe could not do the lit
tla craft any harm at all, because she could
not his hor. Tho Montauk was hit fire.
uuensly because she got to close quarters.
and in such a case the little monitors big
puns get in their fine work on an unarmed
Cruissr.'
About the only thing lacking ON the
Comanche ia comfortable quarters for the
officers and seventy-hvs men who compose
her crew. Still tho chances are that II the
occasion arose there would be no demand
for Palace hotel accommodations or hand
sopae reception rooms on tho craft. She
would 90 in for strict business, which would
be apt to be sharp. short and decisive.
Life at Mare Island is dull at the best of
times. The visitor IL made to feel that
from the moment he takes tho trip by the
ferry boat Ellen to tho navy yard he has
forfeited his personal liberty and become
nmenable to martial Law. He is glanced
at by s%entries. Intercepted by door-keep-
ers, stopped very stornly vixen he attempts
to light a Cigar, and fred out at once If he
has q whisky uahk RpOut nlI.
There are any number of s~nilora, with
nothing to do, at the island, and whom &
vessel like the Baltimore comes in and the
crew have been paid off q bottle OF whisky
rises in value from $1.50 to $40. Unde this
sort of protective tariff Smuggling from the
Vallejo side rises to the dignity of an in
dustry, and many are the ways that are
dark and tricks that are vain tesorted to by
the smuggling fraternity.
The most favored plan ID to hire a man to
get a job of work at the navy yard and
pack away the whisky bottle between his
pants and vest. But quite too frequently
the g%ate-keeper. "tumbles to tho racket
and then the oulprit il taken in charge by
Swo marines and the bottle broken before
his eyes, while the very marines themselves
shed an involuntary tear at seeing such 4
treat afforded to the fishes. Than the cul.
prit is taken TO the employment Office, his
description entered on the black list, and
nfter THAI he is free to enter the yard, il he
can, which 10 rarely indeed,
Another plan of whisky smuggling, which
has also been played out, is to attach a dem.
iiohn to one of the buoys by n loose fasten-
ing and then pull the ahors boat to the sid
of the vessel with the end Of q long cord
that hes been attached to tie demijohn.
Iiear-Admirnl Irwin, who is in command
Mt the navy-yurd is a gentleman of tho old
school tn the best sonse of the term. Few
federal officials are SO genial and approach
able. The present commandment of the