New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-18
NAVY YARD AFFAIRS.
r,.su,yG WORK IN THE CONSTRUCTION
DEPARTMENT.
,xc rlt MARDLEHEAD FOR GOING
INTO coMMsHoN-ApMIEAh pENHANS
r,,rrprAltNI-OTU MATTERS
or INTEREST.

RETIREMENT OTHER MATTERS
or INTEREST.
.. -, The busy Departments in the Navy Yard
Nc the very busiest IS the Constructor nc
pFoO''-' ,r,is l,es not mean that other depart .
pa -, r,, have their hands full but mat 'he
a. ..r,,.,i,n DEPARTMENT has It's names more man
49, , e,enincart fact is that OF all 'He WI Nm"
-, In the yard It employs more una" i"'l'
60 . nom. 700 men the books. ana the Co"-
.,..i,, Department Eas about "o OF 'hen'. "",
80 ,-..r, N. ca,,nct 90 of on its own track anu
-. -, ,l,re. the departments have II WORK 10
..ber and one is dependent on the others r'e" -
the work Of one does not com" iH'o Co''"O
49, ,nors This department could not puiu sup
o. . I'm, certain It Is that the Constructor
T,,,t,,en; does a large amount OF important WIN
-, ',~,,,on, s. in charge Of Naval Constructor
-, : F.rnal1 aided by Assistant Naval Con-
-,,c.o-s George ". Street and George H. LOCK am
az ,h,o c,rns of clerks. AMI 10 carry on Inc M0iN
M than 900 workmcn are employed 4"v'e "'"O''
49, ~. have 10 DO Office work. 10 attend 10 'he
'''' .i, - H., work but also have to so about
w. vi -, make sure. by personal superVision that
,..~,,b,r = being done property Il mas OFTEN pe''
CHARGED that N1vy Yard workmen are I'Ay anu III
fsci,rt AMI spend a large part q ther tlilie 'o'l
inc and doubtless ihis used t. he perfectly true
p,,. :, is no. true nOw-no: in the Brooklyn Navy
~, %, any rate In fact. just the opposite Is true
1 h, ,so free statement Of officers themselves
the Yard force works harder than the employees ol
private firms. This Is Gue - the aHhlIIaoie sHS-
t..a under which the men are emp'oyed, Inc system
= ono oc merit. The men hold their places on 'he"
merits and when dull times come the inefficient
reY are DISCHARGED first. Consequently, there is a
continual inspra;iOn 10 the men 20 90 COCA WORK.
anil lots 81 Il. An example OF the elnceh' an"
rsuil work may bc found in job when was dohe Il
fsv. Gays ago. II was in connection with the last
e.l.-srlnor pate PIT the Maine. At o'c.ock
.ha men began drilling. and they drilled thirty-sX
,l,. holes in the metal backing 10 the plate; then
~ lie twca.y-six-ton plate was hoisted from the
ground lowered into position. and the arm OF inc
~ no v,as swung back-and ii was ten minutes past
:, ,.cock AMI al this without any special nstruc-
,,,ns 20 haste The simply went about their
~. and were skIful enough TO do it in a short
,ica :, ,ha charge Of loaing ard ineiiciency does
not apply now
The work which the Construction Department has
ON hand at present is widespread. There are no
cruisers I'm the Yard to be repaired. but the work
& the building Of new ships or the rebuilding OK
ola ones. The department also mlintains some
,o,ch;n, shops The Steam Engineering Department
also has a machine shop. and a foundry as Well
and some Of the work done in the Navy Yard shops
C as difficult as is done anywhere. For instance
the making Of a crank shaft is said 10 De even
harder than the making Of one Of the modern guns.
The vessels on which the department is now en-
gagged and which make its most important work
are the Marhlehead. Maine. Cincinnati, Machias.
Castine Terror. Puritan and Nina. This is large
list for one Navy Yard, and as there Is large
amount Of worl; on them, everybody is Kept woe
awake during work hours The Marblehead Is 10
h. nut into commission April 2 and al WORK
on hey is being hurried forward in order 70 have
her ready bv hat time. Those OF her officers VINO
had not already been on duty on her in connection
with fitting her out reported for duty aS' "c''e'
day. Next to the Marbehead. the Cincinnati Is the
nearest ready 10 go into commission both 'hese
vessels now look trim and shipshape az .edst' -, -
ternallv The date for putting the CinclRntU mo
ieriay but it not eXpectei !hat II W s% daVs
before the frs. Of May Not uniL ne ia., "a" en-
mander Henry Glass. who is on duiy al me .iai
Island Navy Yard mas Deen none Of her other
oHcers have ben ordered ana II IS No, Pi'o"''e
The material for Engineering the Machias af t the
Casne is expected 10 arrive before ule "a" 49, a.
Ie9av been begun. The last two plates for the the
monitor Terror have been en-, put i n.I hSWveT viii be
yesdy 10 come out OF the drydock in few days
The dG9H T bened ' unless the Marblehead and the
Cncnnati are locked first to be painted me WI :.
On the sfay Mh IN the Dock at least until after the
two the idearmcr plates nave rH pssh and as has
been stated before. she is being rebuilt renort for
several officers haV on o Apr and this
inSicata ina, che will go into commission on or mar
gard 10 the condition of the Boston, the AtaNt n IS
sister ship which is undergoing repaa a ting is
baiy scorel hat the condition Of the boilers rs
bad that a complete retuDing Is Sin is again
that il viii be some time before the snip u "s"'
One ogicer Who will go of active service IN
r an IN o. term Of active and highly credit
oSle sc-,tce is Admiral Benham. HIS duty az NIo
ma W. mo from active service with this duty
SIN making bis name h2n0raaoi avn 81 the Dag and
the reronishing Of command from that time on on,
after perhaps forty or NOR y eaiS ~ about IT For
after so many years Uf activity and so many ~
81
comparaii1e auiet ana particularly when one of
Win service such as Admiral Benhams , since M
went Brazil. Then in particular clnSrnanI IRON
The masthead BOT to every officer docs IL haiI rf
to end his service w;n So, saGn Rchbam's flagship
has been ordered to Iueneds r.,Iont,c anad
Brazil deaches him from the 6Dmand Of the Nortf
Atlantic Squadron. But as he VII nav have man
DAYS to command at Buefeds II IS PrGDa raI Zen H
Commodore r. W Meade VIII 5uccee. ,IIan'nii" SQUAD
nam i i i',et hen or where he will assume com
mand is not known-it may be at biueii'''' -
T8 restoring Of the squadron to bette ber 9e
has been Dcsuh a Il" res tor To- the North Atlantic
squadron ana the cruiser DETROIT h3 vors s' ~ RIO
With Captain j. w. Philip, the senior oI nc fnrce
on' and consequently n S2Ira1rai stanton viii b
sent back 10 Brazil to command the 'oU''
mater which Is Of great importance 10 oo u,
rarties concerned Is the investgatOh nv ~ nae,
aifion Of the affairs IN connection WIN rf
Sr,5o,k In course OF construction in 'he y ai
Ttls Investigation Is being conducted by INN or
= + Harrington. ana he is aided by tne ~ ,, -,
ploeer of the YARD who is chief Of the DtPii ~
81 Yards and Docks. This investigation wac -, -
on gor a argc part OF last week and was sli d,
rrog-'ss We terday. IL is. however. secret anu :,
daIy findings are not made pubic, but the TO-. IeS
80 me report VIII be awaited with much inter
The Naval War College the Torpedo SENIOR a.,
the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport are nov "
h administered under one command. Secretary ~
bert issued the order for their consodatipn "a, ,a
week believing that better results VIII be optal.,
,k.t- n4rif 10
command OF the senior commanding olhce' ""
Is on duty at the Newport Naval station
Whether the naval militia, or naVai reserve, az
IS frequently called. has come 10 stay VIII nave
be determined ny time But certainly the orgdhi,%
ton s attracting a great deal OF attention III WHY
separated parts OF the country. ana Is recTNI
support from a large number OF men. Now 10
the body has received official recognition ana SUI
port in the shape OF an appropriation for It's equ
reat This appropriation IL given 70 the nav
m!i.ia-for arms and equipment connected tneTr