The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-02
ON NAVAL AFFAIRS.
Summary of the Annual Report of
the Secretary of the Navy.

the Secretary of the Navy.
Washington. Dec. 2-The annual report
of the Secretary of the Navy shows that
there have been six warships added to
the navy during tlfe past year. namely.
the Olympia, Minneapolis, Indiana, Maine,
Texas and Amphitrite. The three first
named were built under contract and
the three others at government yards.
The ram Katahdin was refused accept
ance from the contractors, for the rea-
son that she failed to attain to the
speed of seventeen knots an hour, as i'm,
peratively called for in the contract. The
wording of the contract leaves the de-
partment no alternative but TO refuse the
ship under the circumstances The con
tractors insist that the failure OF the ship
is due to no fault OF theirs. inasmuch as
the departments plans for machinery,
etc, were scrupulousiy followed. The
secretary places the matter in the hands
OF congress, and says IL is that body :,
duty TO say what shall be done in the
The secretary touches upon the fact
that congress has from time to time remit
ted penalties imposed upon contractors
Tor failures to complete work within
specified period, and for other shortcom-
lngs, and reminds the executive body that
the department cannot hope to enforce
the carrying out of contracts according
TO their terms as long as the contractors
have well-grounded reasons TO believe con
gress Will override the rulings of the de-
should be understood at the beginning
that every dollar earned will be paid, and
that every penalty forfeited will be ex>
acted. to the last penalty.
1t is the hope and expectation of the
department that the Terror, Monadnock
and Puritan will be in commission by the
in the navy yards has been unavoidably
delayed, owing TO the inability of con-
tractors to deliver armor on the contract
ed dates and to the further fact that for
ces employed on the construction of new
ships were taken from that work, accord
ing 10 custom, and put to work on urgent
repairs when the repairs were urgent.
The department has instituted a change
in that particular, and has ordered that
tull forces shall be kept on the work of
construction. The secretary paws a high
tribute to the workmanship of the contrac-
tors and of the navy yards in the building
of the vessels. The secretary renews his
RECOMMENDATION of last year that as little
WOOD work as possible be put into new
ships, as a precaution against fires. The
Chicago, the Hartford and the Atlantal
he says, are in need of extensive repairs
Machinery to increase the speed of the
nrst and the last is recommended He
urges that an appropriation be made for
the armlng OF the auxiliary fleet of the
navy. There are now four splendid mer-
chant steamers, the New York, the Paris,
the st. Louis and the st. Paul, in the
auxiliary fleet. There is not a gun for
them. An appropriation was made for the
first two, but 1t was clouded in its word
ing and insufficient in amount. The gov
eminent is now paying the ships large
sums of money annually for carrying the
mails, but is not in position to get sat
isfactory service from them in case their
services should be needed in defense of the
country.
The new small arms of the navy. the
23-caliber rifles, are described, and shown
to be more powerful weapons than the
Springfield or the Austrian Mannlicher
rifles.
The department has been recently some
what inconvenience for want of a dock
large enough to take the larger class Of
naval vessels. The Texas, it was believed,
could not be safely locked at the Norfolk
yard, and 1t was therefore decided 10
send her to the Brooklyn yard. BY TAX
Ing advantage of a high tide the ship was
locked without touching. This want of
larger docks has not been unforeseen, and
II builders had fulfilled their contracts
there would now be two docks on the At
lantic coast ready and able to take at
any time any ship in service or now build
ing.
The large dock at Port Royal, S. c.,
was to have been finished according to
contract on April %, 1898 There were
ported as ready for use some time since,
and the Texas might have been locked
there instead of being sent to New York
bur for interrupting certain work now be-
ing done on the dock which the depart
ment decided upon for the purpose of
further Strengthening this structure
This dock, 1t is believed, will be turned
over to the government within the pres
ent calendar year.
Dock No. g. now under construction at
the Brooklyn navy yard, will also be large
enough to accommodate our largest yes
sells. This dock was to have been com
pleted by Sept. 20. 1895, but the builder
Mr.. Gilies, failed to comply with his con-
tract Work upon it is progressing sat
isfactorily, and it is expected to be ready
for use by June !, 1895. We shall then
have upon the Atlantic coast two docks
of sufficient size to accommodate our
largest vessels.
With reference to the authorizing of
still other new docks, the Secretary says:
I'm my opinion it would be wise to invest
whatever moneys are to be expended up
on the navy, beyond its current needs and
in the construction of new ships and not
in building docks.
The Secretary says it would seem to be
all important to reOrganize the line of
the navy so as to bring about the pro-
motion of officers to command rank at
an age when still young enough to learn
and vigorous enough to be seif-assertive
now approaching command, rank
These officers come now first into
command at a period of life when the
habit of relying on others has become
second nature. He recommends also an
increase of 1900 i'm the enlisted men in
the navy. The retention of the marines
on naval vessels is strongly urged. The
naval militia, or naval reserves. has
grown to be quite an important branch of
the service. It now numbers nearly 1900
two are in Georgia.