New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-19
.rrA1RS AT THE NAVY YARD.
,,,cv WEEK AT THE HOME NAVAL
STATION.
,,,n,ANA COMING TO THE YARD-A GOOD RE-
.,r IN THE GRANDDAUGHTER MAT

.,,r INDIANA COMING To The 'A''A wv ~
,r IN THE KATAHD1N-oTHER MAT
TIERS OF INTEREST.
100, things happened to make the week just
-. =, interest at the yard, among them
tho commissioning Of the monitor Ierror'
u." so,urn Of the Katahdin from her trial 'rips'
". arrival of the flagship New-York ana 'he
".,,ssr Columbia in port. and the oetachi'''"'
service In the Bureau Of Yards ana DOCKS
.c,,n Engineer Robert E. Peary. the Arctc eA-
,..or In addition to these incidents the shor'
,.,. ~ Field Marshal Yamagata. OF Japan ihaoe
,,t,e furry Of excitement, ana, aloee'"ei '"e
.,a,,on has been a little more busy thah usuai.
~. Terror "a not vet ready for sea. the olcial
.,ow,ng of her percentage of completion having
, nor cent Of work yet to be done on hei' i"e
chief work necessary Is connected WIN "e'
.,ne-room and the turet-moving machinery .'e
latter not being entirely sausiac'oi!' III"
-r,res under the care Of Chief Engineer Conrad
- uah,ehurst, are rapidly being brought 10 the
.ximnm standard Of efficiency. and 1t Is ex-
80, that q dock trial Of about four hours Will
=. GIVEN them this week. In the Tean time the
.ra,s will be attended to. and that missing l
- cont will be wiped out in q short time.
catering report Of the trial trips OF the ram
v...hd,n has been made to the Department by the
p,.rd which had charge Of the vessel during her
-ooert cruises In the Sound and at sea. rev
.nanees unimportent in character, are recon-
rsnded including the erection OF guards aiounu
~. batches to prevent water from entering 'he
.,.r,or of the ship The reports from the engine
oor, state that the main engines WORKED wen
.rd the Journals and bearings showed no tehoeh-
=, N heat Air and circulating pumps worK'o
,s,, and steadily. and maintained fair vacuum
~. run was made overout and return over a
&c., used with full power with the exception OF
40. hour during the westward run, when 1orceo
rs..rvht q, Is inches pressure was used, the same
,rsak In the run being made on the eastward
-, The speed Of the ship varied from thirteen
,x.oar knots under a steam pressure Of l6O
"a. The corrected time for the westward
w. was 2e hours with the current against the
.h,n the whole distance. while the eastward run
n,. made in 271 hours. with favorable current
o., two-thirds the distance OF the run
MOVEMENTS OF THE SHIPS
xo,.,er the New-York nor the Columbia came
m TO the yard. and the members OF the TWO
,rsvs who had shore leave started on tner
..ur,evs from the anchorage off Tompkinsvie,
see, Island Some Of the officers OF the SHIPS
.aa Visits ashore and there were many callers
=, thu vessels. which were here only for their
,sro, visit when the men entitled TO leave.
Gu. assertions were reported but the per-
o.n,ooa was not so large as to cause any par
ucu,ar comment and many OF the names posted
as deserters were guilty Of no more serious OIL
fence than overstaying their time. the Coiun-
h,a which was slated to start on ner return" "ip
=. u.r,,or Roads Yesterday afternoon, Is. 1t Is
..,s u,,,a short of men in her ireroom force.
~, that "a Incoming an old story. as the same
difHculty is present on the monitor Ierror' no"
Of th ward fitting out. Those missing from the
vewyork are less in number than those from
Tho Columbia. and for this various reasons are
advanced
The Indiana sailed from Hampton ROADS yes
terday for Nevv-York and on her way up her
battery will be subjected to series OF tes's.
She win probablv reach the yard tomorrow. ana
will be the chief "show piece" OF the station WINE
she is here There are to be some slight repairs
made n the battle-ship while she Is in port but
thew will not take long, The official report OF her
trial trip has been received at the Department.
and Is full Of praise for the vessel IN detail
and as a whole. On the trip between Port Royai
and Norfolk, which she made in forty hours
under natural draught and with four poliers
only making steam. she averaged thirteen ana
q half knots which Is regarded as an excellent
showing for a ship designed to make nfteeh
knots under the best conditions. This trial COM
Melted the official test Of the ship and the per-
centage of the contract price which was WITH
held to insure any changes or repairs for which
tho contractors might be held responsible, will
low be paid to the Cramps.
The fact that the Department has detached
Lieutenant Peary from his duty in the Yards
and Docks Bureau at the yard and placed him
on waiting orders has caused considerable COM
ment and has revived the rumor that he was
making preparations for another trip to the
frozen North. The authorities at the Depart
ment. however say that the action indicates no
such trip on Mr. Peary's part. who. 80 far as
known has made no application for leave OF
absence At the yard 1t Is said that there is no
knowledge that eny such trip Is intended ana
Mr. Peary himself. who was In Rutland w. on
Friday night delivering lecture, also denies
that he ia bound for the North. In the mean
time there is no explanation Of his detachment
from active duty Civil Engineer FRANKLIN Z.
R1nde who was detached from the bureau
shortly after the transfer Of Chief Engineer As
serson, has returned to the yard on temporary
duty and 1t is regarded as possible that his stay
will be made permanent, owing to the absence OF
Mr. Peary.
b. WORK ON NEW VESSELS.
There is a strong probability that there may
be change In part Of the armament OF the
bastle-ships Kearsarge and Kentucky. Inns re-
lates to the 5-inch guns. The Ordnance bureau
Is DESTROYS OF substituting 6-inch guns for 'he
smaller type. and in any event, II the opinion
OF Captain William T. Sampson. chier OF '"e
bureau prevails. the battle-ships to be au'hoi
lied at this session will have 6-inch guns as
portion OF their main battery. The kearsarse
and her sister ship are to be armed each with
four l3-inch. fcdr 8-inch and fourteen o-ihch
guns, besides those composing their secondary
batteries Captain Sampson would like TO nave
about ten 6-inch guns part OF their ariha-
ment. While before the Walker Board, whlch ~
cOnsiderino n. o,n.tion of armament for the