Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-06
NEW YORK NAVY YARD
A Busy Scene of Activity at This Gov
eminent Shop
Progress of the Work ON the Various
Eesselsf-The Importance Of
the Marine Guard.
Correspondence Of The Evening Star
NEW YORK NAVY YARD.

Correspondence of The Evening Star
NEW YORK NAVY YARD.
| September ., 1891
| With sixteen hundred workmen employed
building and repairing ships and one hun
! dred and seventy-fve officers and fourteen
| hundred enlisted men a the yard and on the
! various ships in commission at the yard,
| this big government workshop is busy
| place. The work on the frst-clasS cruiser
| Maine Is progressing rapidly, and but little
! remains to be done except to mount her
| guns and put in place her boats and de-
tachable httings before she is ready for trial
| ana commission. She has b5en taken from
| the stone dry dock. where she has for
months been familiar sight, and the Quin-
tard Iron Work Company, who built her en-
gines, have made a dock trial of them, TO
see that everything works smoothly. They
express themselves well pleased with the re-
suit and predict that the engines will give
her the required speed of seventeen knots.
The ship has the broad beam and COM
paratively low freeboard of the battle ship
class. and with her square house-like super
structures and ungainly military masts and
the great turrets breaking the smooth lines
or hei sides, she does not have the trim
look OF the cruiser class; still, she has an
ugly, businesslike look. that is not belied by
her powers of offense and defense. Her bat
terry is heavy and she carries almost enough
armor to Put her in the battle ship class Of
ships. The ship will be ready for her trial
trip in a few weeks.
The place of the Maine In the stone dry
dock will sooE be occupied by the monitor
Puritan. which has been so long under con-
struction that people outside of the service
almost despai: of ever seeing her compiet-
ed. yet the work goes steadily on. and the
delay Is not due to the government officials
at the yard. but to the failure of the con-
:. q n lOh no MIA fnGf nr hnr
complete waterline belt. Most of these
plates are now delivered, or nearly COM
pleted. and the work of putting them in
place on the oak backing already mounted
will soon begin.
The othe- monitor long under construc-
ton hsre-the Terror-is nearly completed
her four ten-inch guns have been mounted
two In each turret, and when the turret
hoods are on and the minor fittings of the
ship In place she will be ready for duty.
Cnstine and Mnchins.
Next in construction work, the gunboats
Castine and Machias are nearly ready for
their crews. the officers having been detail
ed and ordered for the latter, and the gen.
eral expectation is that she will so to the
China station, where her light draught and
hardness will make her efficient In river
and harbor work. This sort Of work is
found particularly in China. where the
craftiness Of the people lead to building
the great cities At some distance from the
coast, shallow rivers effective
means of defense
The old wooden ship Lancaster. once a
pride of the navy: in the days of the Old
" OGDEN ships, has been dry locked, clean ed
and repaired, and lis almost ready for any
duty she may be Required for. These old
wooden vessels, with their anti-fcuing bot
tom sheathing OF Upper, are in some ways
better adapted forLrwork in the tropics and
On stations where dry docks are few and
far between than the modern steel ShiUS
which must be frequently locked to have
their bottoms scraped. Otherwise they are
cooler and II ere comfortable for the crew.
with the great clear gun deck. which. in the
modern floating castles, is cut into many
compartments and much of the space taken
up by the extra machinery that is needed
to give the racing speeds required to suit
the modern naval constructors ideas.
Besides these ships under construction,
there are of the ships in commission and ac-
tive service the New York. now flying the
flag Of Rear Admiral Meade, who COM
mands the North Atlantic station: the San
Francisco. erstwhile flagship of the Pacific
and then the North Atlantic stations; the
Atlanta. the pioneer OF the new navy,
and the Vesuvius. The New York is high
and dry in the Simpson dry dock. having
her hull painted. Her long soJourn in the
tropics coated her great txpanse of bottom
under water with sea grass and barnacies
until her speed was cut down several knots
from the fancy clip she showed on her trial
| trip.
Standing at the bottom OF the dock and
| looking Up, her sides loom up like the walls
| of an Immense building, and one Is struck
| by the comparative smallness of her two
| bronze propeller screws: and 1t Is hard to
| realize that 80 small fin can move so
| great a fish so fast.
The San Francisco is undergoing her first
| extensive repairs since she went in COM
mission. and when these repairs to her en-
| gines and battery are completed, she will be
| ready for a prospective cruise as flagship OF
| the European station. relieving the Chicago.
| hose engines are to be replaced at this
yard by new ones of more modern construc-
ton. which will greatly increase her speed.
| The Atlanta has taken on board a new
| crank shaft to replace the one which has
sent her many thousands of miles. once to
4 Europe, twice to South America and up and
down our coast. This work is to be done at
| the Norfolk navy yard. where a dearth of
| repair work may cause the laying Off, of
rany workmen. The Vesuvius is to have a
few REPAIRS and await the action Of the
| at tkorities as regards changing her into a
| torpedo chaser.
| The Largest Marine Post.
| The marine barracks here is the largest
pc st Of the marine corps, with the exception
| Of the Mare Island navy yard post; yet the
large amount of government property to
guard at this yard. where there is so much
building and. repair work going on all the
| time makes this the most important post
and IL is commanded by the only colonel in
the corps. he being next in rank to the
Commandant of the corps.
| Extensive repairs are being made at pres
| cnt in the quar- ers for the officers and men,
| which will make all at the station more con-
| tented with their work, and greatly add to
| the appearance and efficiency of the post.
At the post there are seven officers and DO
| II en-, and. though the work of guarding the
| large area of this big yard is severe on such
number of men, it seems TO be efficiently
done.
| The new gate at the foot Of Sands street.
which has already been started. is not to
be such an imposing edifice at first plan
ned. 1t was originally design I'd to be an
arch over the gateway, containing offices
and quarters for the guard on duty for the
| day, but considerations of The expense
| involved have caused the designs to be
changed. so chat IT will now consist of two
| buildings of one Sstory each, one at each
| side of the gateway, but SO constructed that
| they may atiany future time be built up
| another story and arched over the drive
| way. The entrance to such an important
| place as the Largest navy yard of the re-
| public shouldi certainly present handsome
| appearance, and Athe new one when COM
pleted will be great Improvement on the