Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-19
TORPEDO BOAT BID S
Proposals for the Construction of Three
New Vessels.
sNavy observation-disclosures Inn
pOrtant Changes.

american Sh1pDulldlnS IS NOT uedu, io-
marked Assistant Secretary McAdoo this
noon, as he took his seat at the head OF
long table in the office of the Secretary of
the Navy to witness the opening OF the
bids for building the three torpedo boats.
His utterance was justified by the presence
in the room of at least two dozen repre-
sentatives of American shipbuilding works
and a formidable pile of bids and designs
upon the table before the judge advocate
general of the navy. There were many
faces familiar to the department people in
the crowd and some new ones, too. and
the only notable absentee was Mr. Cramp,
who, it was said, had his eye on the battle
ships, which 1t is hoped Congress will pro-
vide for. and consequently did not stoop to
such little craft as torpedo boats.
There were MIR. Scott of the Union works,
the blind boatbuilder. Herreschof. Frank
King of the New Sparrow Point Works
Loar Baltimore, Mr.. Malster of the Column
bian Iron Works, Baltimore; Mr.. Ramsay
of Perth Amboy, n. j.; one of the Dia-
logues of Camden, n. j.. Holland the de-
sigrer of the submarine boat and repre-
sentatives of the Dubuque Iron Works, the
builders OF the Ericsson.
Changes In the Proposals.
The departments proposals for bids in
the case of the torpedo boats differed in
some important respects from any other
ever issued.
In the first place, the provision for a
bonus to the contractor for speed above
the contract requirement had been dropped
but the stipulation for deduction in case
of deficiency was retained. and in this
case 1t amounted to $4,000 per knot Then,
for the fSrst time, it was permitted to bid
ders to submit proposals for building the
boats of other material than steel, thus
throwing open the field to aluminium and
bronze, such as the Vigilant was built of.
The general dimensions of the boats, as
prescribed in the advertisements, were as
follows: Length, 16O feet; beam. 16 feet;
tor mage. about 13S, is more than the
Ericsson; coal capacity, 43 tons. Engines
triple expansion, twin screw, of 1000 horse
power; speed, "a IL knots, or half knot
mere than the Ericsson.
Bidders We're allowed to submit two
kinds of proposals, one under the depart
ment's specifications and one under their
own designs. This last permission was
freely availed Of and some bidders sub
mitted several sets of original designs.
The Bids Submitted.
The bids were as follows:
Bath Iron Works of Bath, Me-, for all
three boats, under the departments de-
signs. $4,000 each, or $426,0OO In all.
John Dialogue & Sons of Camden, N. j.,
under the departments designs, for one
beat, $139,OOO; for two boats. $4,000 each,
or S2I4,OO0 for the pair; for three boats
Columbia iron works of Baltimore. under
their own designs, for one boat, S1OI 600;
for two boats, $1O3,OOO each, or S2O6,OOO for
both; for three boats. $4,000 each, or s2o2,-
500 for all.
Hugh Ramsay of Perth Amboy. N. j..
his own designs for all three boats. $685.
COO. another set Of his own designs, for
all three boats. s37S,0OO; under the depart
ment's designs. for all three boats, $37S,-
600: another bid under the departments
designs, for all three boats, $3i7.IOO; an
other set of his own designs, for all three,
s347, 600.
der the departments designs. one boat for
s135OOO; two for $129.OO0 each, or S2oS,OOo
for both; three for $12OoOo each. or $56o,-
600 for all; under their own designs. one
boat for s125,OOO; two for s120,OOO each, or
$40 600 for both; three for Sll6ooO each, or
s3 Is 900 for ALL Another set of their own
designs for one boat of 24O tons and speed
of 2S knots, s243,OOO.
works of San Francisco. under the depart
ment designs: For one boat, S14S,OOO; for
two. S2.U,UOO; or $4,000 each.
The Iowa iron works of Dubuque, for all
three boats, under the department designs,
S411, 900, or S137,GUO each.
The Herreshom Manufacturing Company
of Bristol. X. L., under their own designs
for three steel boats. sl13.s5O each, or
sign, with the lower hull, Keel,
stem and stern posts. of high bronze and
upper works and coal bunkers Of alum
mum, for all three boats, H14,oOO or 1885,
600 each; another design of composite type
for two boats, $4,000, or S13S,OW each,
and one steel boat, s113,S5O. another de-
sign: one composite boat for $l3S,OW ard
two steel boats for $113,S5O each, or 21,dOO
for the last pair.
As to the Award.
As will be seen from the list, the bid
ding was very complex. and it will require
much time and examination by the depart
ment experts to come to a conclusion as to
where the contracts will be bestowed. Un-
der the departments designs Hugh Ram
say of Perth Amboy has the lowest bid at
S341 600 for the three boats, but he, as we'll
as everybody else. is much underbid when
it comes to original designs by the Column
bia iron works of Baltimore, which sub
nnits an aggregate bid of 500, 500 for the
three boats.
The figures are not a sure indication of
what the department will do in The matter,
for there are many considerations to take
into account. such, for instance, as the ad-
ditional cost of sending a boat around to
the expediency of using bronze and alumni
num- instead of all Steel and, lastly. the pro-
priety of taking up the offer of the Union
works to build n large 2S-knot boat like the
most speedy and modern of the British tor
pedo boats. Mr.. Scotts last proposition II
not In conformity with the advertisement.
but If 1t is possible to build this boat and
have enough money left to construct two
other smaller boats 1t may be that such an
arrangement can be made.