The Progress., 1893-12-09

The report of the secreta V of the navy con
talns history OF the operations of the depart
ment during the past year. and exhibits mOsi
gratifying condition of the personnel of oul
navy. He presents a satisfactory account oi
char ges which have been made in the con
structiOn OF vessels and makes a number of rec
Ommendau ns. whirh are especially invited.
During the past six months the demands for
cruising vessels have been any and most
urgent There have been revolutions, ealing for
vessels 10 protect American Interests in Nlcar-
aqua, Guatemata, Costa Rica, Honduras,
gentina and Brazil, while the condition of
a fars in Honolulu has required the constant
presence of one or more ships. With all these
calls upon our navy, it hecame n cessary IN
order 10 make up a sufficient fleet to patrol the
Behring sea under the mOdus viviende agreed
upon with Great Britain 10 detail TO that ser
vice one vessel from the fish commission and
three from the revenue marine.
Progress in the construction OF new vessels
-aS not cen as rapid as was anticipated.
There have been delays in the completion Of
ruarmored vesse 5. but for the most part they
have been such as are constantly occurring
zen in countries having the largest experience
In naval ship building The most serious
delays, however, have been in the work upon
armored ships The trouble has been the
failure of contractors to deliver armOr as
agreed. The dithcult.eS seem now, however,
TO have been all overcome and armOr is being
delivered with satisfactory prOmptness.
As a result OF the expense acquired by ship
tdilderS and designers and material men, ii is
believed that the date when vessels will be
completed can now be estimated with reasOna-
pedoes and powder are beinl promptly sup
Piled.
The following vessels OF the navy have been
completed and are now ready for service
The double turreted coast defense monitor
MiantOnomah, the double turre ted coast de-
fense monitor Monterey, the arnOred cruiser
New Ork. The protected cruisers ! altimOre
Chicago, Philadelphia Newark, san Franc SEQ
Char. .estOn. Atlanta and Boston. the cruiser
Detroit, the gunbOats Yorktown, Concord,
bennington. Machias, Castine and Petrol. The
Htgn l1Oinhln r.
Bancroft and the dynamite gunbOat Vesuvius
The Bancroft, Machias. Detroit and Castine
have been placed in commission during the
current calendar year.
The following vessels are in process of construc-
tion;
Second-class battleships Maine and Texas the
cruisers Montgomery and Marblehead, and the
coast defense monitors Terror. Puritan. Amphrita
and MOnadnOck, all of which will be completed
within one year. The harbOr defense ram kalah-
din and the protected cruisers Columbia, Minneap-
Oils, olympia Cincinnati and Raleigh all of which
will be completed prior to July l. 1895; the first
class Dattleships Iowa Indiana, Massachusetts and
oregon which will be completed February l. ls.H,
and the armored cruiser Brooklyn, which will be
completed by August of that year. II is also ex-
pected that the three gunboats authorized blythe
congress will be completed in less than two years
since 1850 congress has ut each session au-
thoriZed the building of one or more vess, Is
and the secr, tary OF the navy presents an earn
est plea Tor the continuance of this plan. He
recommends he authorization of at least one
battle snip and six torpedo boats. While | am
in favor of consistently pursuing the
pD'sCN VIC nave VI DulluiilR up q tDOTOugn ana
eth, lent navy, | cannot refrain from the sug-
gestion that congr SIS should carefully Ia Ike into
account the number OF unfinished vessels on
our hands and the depleted cOnuition of our
treasury in considering the propriety of an ap-
at this time 10 begin new work,
The method of employing mechanical labor |
at navy yards through boards of labor and |
making efficiency the sole test by VII ch labor
trs aie employed and continued is producing
the best results. and the secretary is earnestly
tevoting himself TO it's deveIopment Atteu-
non invited TO the statement of his report in |
regard 10 the workings of the system |