New-York tribune., 1895-10-13
AFFAIRS AT THE NAVY YARD.
,v GOING ALONG At AN EVEN GAIT.
TWO HIGH OFFICES TO BE Fii'l'Eo-'''''''''
THE ENGINEER roRcE-NoTEs On

..r.> ,,,cu OFFICES TO BE Flll'Ep-S'''i"''' ~
THE ENGINEER roRCE-NoTEs ON
NAVAL MATTERS.
~. hron,c.e of affairs at the Brooklyn
-. Wv, contains nothing startling as mat'ers
xo core along at their usual gat anu "''"ou'
, curry of excitement The Maine II "eeN
oa-o- co,,netlon. and the same may DC sau ol 'ne
,uo monitors the Terror AMI the fur"a"' me o'
<,o,o Minnesota has been hauled aroHho 10 'he
- val o, the Cob dock for repairs. ana the
80, e ,a,,r IN the timber dock but VII probably
rre ont this week. There IS little left that can Dc
done n the Chicago. In the way OF ht'lhS her o"'
80 sor now machinery until the Puritan is ahoat
ogaIn and as this vii not be for two or 'hree
,,bs the white cruiser will have to keep on wait
49,, - ,ho ,,slorious idleness which Is shared by her
uor sistcr the Atlanta. The Lancaster VIII
60 sou;hvard On Thursday, and as soon as the
,.,arta is noated the Maine vii go into dock and
be cleaned
In the shops the principal work Is that OF hnisnng
ard se;ting up the steamng apparatus for the Chi
ago and the last Of her big low-pressure cylinders
s in the hands OF the inishers preparatory TO being
mt in pace for tria, in the shop
c,,,sin Fell has started with the yard tug. the
Nina for the deep water course from Cape Ann TO
Cane Porpoise. which he Will lay out for the trial
of the new batte-shp Indana which is to come of
IN few days This trial trip will be noteworthy
from, the fac, that II is the first time ship has
heen tried which has been complete In all
res2ects In the past II has been customary
% try ships without their batteries and
good deal Of their equipment. the absence OF
weight being made UP by increased coal supply.
The Cramps made application last spring TO try the
vessel without her turrets and battery. agreeing
=, nut a sufficient weight board to make up for
,h,s defciency. The Secretary, however, consul
+aflon with board OF naval officers denied the
rlication and informed the builders that the ship
must have her batteries and turrets in position.
1T
OF the Navy TO be tested under these conditions.
The question as 10 who would succeed Rear-Ad-
,ojral Kirkland as commander OF the European
Souadron and Rear-Admiral Carpenter OF the
,satic Station provoked considerable discussion,
and there was O runor afioat at one time that Com
Tnodore Scard had applied for the European billet.
The rumor was correct. and as it is practically
settled who will be selected for the appointments
1reDaratory orders ore expected at any time. Com
,nosore + V McNalr will! probably succeed ADMIRAL
Carpenter in Asiatic waters This Will be his first
duty in command Of a squadron. and he will prob
ably 80 out as relief early in January In order 10
give Admiral Carpenter plenty of time TO return to
the United States before his retirement which takes
place in February. Commodore Thomas o. Selfridge
IS mentioned 10 take the pace made vacant by the
return Of Admiral Kirkland, with an alternative in
the person of Acting RearAdmral Charles s Nor
ton. now in command of the South Atlantic Station.
Both OF these officers have fled applications for the
command or the European squadron Inc chdhceS
favor the appointment of Admiral Norton. as 1t is
wei known that the Secretary is much pleased
with the way in which he accepted the command OF
the most undesirable station OF the lot the South
Atlantic Commodore Selfrldge has been ordered TO
examination for promotion. in anticipation Of the
vacancy he made by the retirement of Admira.
Carpenter and the present slate appears to be the
assignment Of Commodore Selfridge TO Admiral
Nortons place and the transferring Of the latter to
the European Station, in place Of Admiral kirkland,
who was his predecessor in the South Atlantic.
THE SUPPLY OF MEN.
Rear-Adriral Ramsay chief of the Bureau OF
Navigation IN reply to the statement that there
trouble IN enlisting sufficient number Of men for
TIRE needs Of the Navy, gives the following ngures:
In 1892 45l5 and $50 apprentices were enlisted
The same year 1861 and l.4G0 boys who applied
for entrance into the service were rejected. The
following year 4.250 and 6i6 apprentices were
enlisted and 5.96s and Ill boys were rejected
IN 1894 total Of 1878 persons applied for enlistment
into the naval service G,31S than the law then
allowed OF those making applications only 1926 55l
Of whom apprentices. were enlisted The fig
ures for the last fiscal year give equally as good a
showing You can see" said the Admiral. that
we can afford be very particular In making selec-
tons and boy in order to get into the
service must be Al In every respect. We are now
doing everything in our power TO make the Navy
strictly American. and IN order 20 attain this re-
suit enlisting men only who have the requi-
site physical qualifications and character and who
can produce evidence OF their citizenship. We
are obtaining large numbers of applications for en-
Mstment but unless the applicants are frst-rate
men we reject them. No advances are made TO
boarding house keepers for bringing men to receiv-
Ing ships for enlistment. and any evidence OF the
crimping system is sufficient for the immediate re-
lection Of the applicant. Strict orders have been Is
sued 10 recruiting officers In way incur ex-
pense in ensting men. In consequence all men In
the Navy arc there of their own free will, and every
of their pay IS delivered TO them ana not 10
any promoter Of the 'crimpirg system. The men
In the Navy are better treated and have lighter work
than In any other service in the world. | have
heard and have good reasons for believing it to be
true that there is great deal of harshness dis
p.ayed in the merchant service toward the men
But that has nothing whatever TO 60 with the
Navy"
George w. Melville, engineer in chief, in his an
nual report, being prepared, will cal attention
TO the fact that under existing conditions the YES