Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-18
THE NEW YORK NAVY YARD
The Cincinnati and Maine Are Rapidly
Nearing Completion.
Problem Of Keeping the Bottoms Clean
"A Probable Increase In the Num-.
her of Enlisted New.
Cosrcxpondcrce Of The Evening Star.
NAVY YARD. NEW YO


NAVY YARD. NEW YORK.
July IT, 1894
The work in all departments here is again
in progress. about eight hundred men hav-
Ing been OFT for a week On account of IT,
failure Of Congress TO pass The naval an
preparation bin and thus provid- for their
pay. The flag Of Rear Admiral Stanton
mas been hoisted on the San Francisco
which Is 10 be the fagship OF the North
At'sntlc station. csmmorly called the
home station" While Admiral Stanton's
abAlty as feet cen IHan5e- Is well known,
the last year has been an unfortunate one
Tor Lin. First. he vas recsT He'd from the
command o: thu saath Atlantic station for
-a!2t'rg the -e5ei brazilian admiral. Mello.
and. vas place. IN command q the North
Atia1;ic squadron. We the historic old
-Ao--s-rse as IS Esss!.ip. After he had
been aboard but q short sifae the Kearsarge
was wreoAel on tAe E-ncalor reefs. and
though Admiral Stanton Was not held to
account tor Il il Was Uufo-tcuate coming
80 socl - CT the Brazilian affair In the
san frsu--sco the "a admiral has one OF
tie Finest ead LsSt ed-iplei .esse,s Of the
nAsy, and The desire is Unanimous that
Sod fgrtt-..e nay attend l...a during the
aii"ft tlnie lac Las 10 serve before retiring
| lor age.
The san Francisco hal not Eeer, docked
| fer d year when she y.CI.t iIt-O the Cry dock
| last week ant 3D.. coat az barnacses and
| grass covered her bs-----:. sTe-..y retarding
| Inc spe=,l- i.:e frequent .1-ess.ty ~ keep
ihg ships for lSas le-.S-s L. matters where
mere ale no facilities .ur dcc.k.ng them
and Cleaning. the growth tai - -ao.ily COL
| .ects on tA-.- bottoms, especially an trop-
.csl waters. has made lie question of a
ting FOR the VI .erA ater pAri CT a shin
Z very important ene for The naval con-
stractors- eiany Of lt.e si.qs N foreign
| 4asfes are sh satnei bsaeS.a TIE water line
WIN wood. upon which . Coaa.ag Of copper
| Plates may be placed. IS IL w0Sasn ships.
| which slowly eats away, "a. ~ he barna-
c.es ana grass with g.. Ills copper cannot
| be applied directly 10 the bottom plating OF
Inc steel ships. as the .iectro-ohemical ac-
lion which. takes place in that CO se eats the
| steel instead Of the coD9sr Various iacquers
aid paints have bsen triei, with varying
success. but SO far nothing has bcca found
that satisfies The ccnd.tiens
| In several cases here ships have been
kept for long periods In tropical waters the
bottoms have been cleared ~ divers but
this is slow and tedious, while there rs a
danger of scraping OF the paint with re
oarnacles. thus leaving the iron oare 20 the
action Of the salt Mater. The problem is q
aard me and must soon be met by estab-
hs.iins foreign naval stations OF a change N
the construction VI she vessels. 80 ~ =
| CtocfnaAh and Maine.
The Cincinnati is nearly completed all
her guns being mounted except some OF the
small ones in the secondary battery Her
officers say she is a model ship and ali are
well pleased. except the iun.or ofhcers. who
have the usual complaint to make Of very
| cramped. small quarters for them The
cruiser will soon he ready for her trial
trips. which are anxiously awaited by inter-
| osted naval officers. who wish TO compare
the results OF this ship built entirely I'm the
| government shops with the other vesseis
built by private contractors. The hard times
| In business add manufacturing circles
| bring daily a crowd of applicants to the
| yard who wish to enlist. but only those
having hrst-class discharges belonging 90
| the artisan class enlisted, as the ser
| vice Is nearly full up TO the Law allowance.
| The frst-class ermo-ed cruiser Maine
which has been so long building at this
| yard. is practically completed except for a
| few Of the minor details and the mounting
| OF her big guns. She has been built on an
| ola model. improved TO suit later ideas. A
japanese ship is very like her. and the Bra
lillian ship AQuida ban. which was sunk by a
| Whitehead torpedo In the late revolution in
Brazil, Is almost a counterpart. Those used
TO noticing the small space between decks in
| most ships. where a tall man bumps his
| head on the beams above will find a change
| in the Maine. where the space above the
berth deck is nearly nine feet. thus giving
tall men chance to stand upright. Those
| in charge OF work on the Maine say that
she will go into commission in three months
but IL may be some time after that even be-
fore she has her trials and rs ready for SER
| vice.
Enlisted Men VIII Ne Needed.
After all the vessels now building are
completed Il is generally thought that the
| present naval force viii not be large
enough TO man them. and In order 70 keep
| them all I'm commission IL will be necessary
to Increase the navy. As our ships as a
rule. carry more officers than the foreign
| ships Of their class. Il is not claimed that
| any Increase of officers will be necessary
| nj q cd xrfn h.
| sufficient In case no such increase is
| made, IL VIII be necessary to keep some of
the vessels out of commission. TIED up to
| the navy yard docks. ready for service IN
| any emergency. But these emergencies
| are constantly arising at all times. there
| Will be a strong plea for a naval Increase
! The work on the gunboats Castine and
| Nachias Is nearly completed. and they Win
| soon be put In commission. and probably
| sent &c the China station, where ships Of
light draught are needed for service In
| river work. Their designs. which proved
| faulty. and resulted In requiring a length
| enirg of fourteen feet in the vessels. have
| been costly experiment to the govern
| ment and will hardly b. repeated.
| The New York naval reserves who are
| using. the old ship New Hampshire as an
| armory and training ship. will soon have a
| week Of practical drills In modem vessels
The cruisers New York and San Francisco
/ will be used for this service. The reserves
! are enthusiastic lot OF fellows. and de-
vote much Of their time to drills. which are
snowy than the infantry drills of the land
| militia. The officers are many of them
| graduates OF the Naval Academy and ex-
| officers of the regular service who have
resigned to follow civil pursuits and their
know ledge adds greatly to the efficiency OF
| their service.
Their week of practical drills aboard shin
includes all the duties of sailors x,Innery
| practice, boat AMI sail drill. and even
| scrubbing the decks. and TO tire oflhcers IN
| the regular service IL seems strange that
the reserves. who are mostly men OF good
| financial ard social position. should will
| ingly do the hard duties OF common SAIL
| ors: but their enthusiasm and the novelty
| of the duty carries them through. and
| makes their week before the mast A
| pleasant memory.
The New York Will come to this YARD
next week to be locked. cleaned and re-
painted and have some minor repairs made
after which she will go out again. "as good
/ as new ID W
| Continuing the TriaIs.
1 The trial Of machine guns at the WASH
ington navy yard was resumed yesterday
under the auspices Of the naval board of
ordnance.