New-York tribune., 1896-05-03
,rFAIRS IN THE NAVY YARD.
ACTION OF THE SENATE CAUSES
'nA MUCH COMMENT.


c.apISc sPoNsoNs-NoTEs AND iNO'DAN'''
.,na, tonic of conversation and COM
The Pi >,,,v Yard Yesterday. and the one
men o,srshadowed all the lncldehts VI .''
whic" tho action of the Senate in reducing
week. - of battle-ships to be provided lor'
'ne ,,rse " only one opinion was eNpresseu' D".
OF cou'se' - vavs in which that opinion was
Inc ,or,b Furnished an interesting prase "a o'0
p"' no al the home station OF the No'.
.,. oe' SQUADRON. 1t was not 10 De exp +.
lan'N r,ho smoke on the subject wou!d 90 % III
oh'.e o-o,,e terms and 1t took considerao'e
iS'O.. ..oront to sustain the course oi '"e
TO a''e'"' .,o tsce of the opposition manifested
lators III .a, condemnation visited upon those
ara '"' !, fsvor Of the reduction. Inc nope
who -.ssod that after all the four oa''ie
was cap ,ou,, MANNED for would be built TO-
sh'ps 9th the full supply of torpedo-ooa'S
gethe' 49, cose last week, the Indiana was
AS "" 80 attraction to visitors to the yard'
inc -oare,s were freely expressed tha' ."e "d'
81. .o,ts did not follow the example oi "e' oo"
sachu'' d oon,a TO New-York. The work OF
pah'o" .ha minor repairs needed on the lnu'aha
n'aS'Ne .,r,rIeted. and 1t is expected that she
- =. ready for sea in two weeks a. NV
Will De dooartments of construction and re-
sue I'D steam engineering are push'ne '"e''
pair anu ~ Zoe, az possible and unless some
WORK a"e" ,o,o,. occurs the battle-ship will take
uh",s IN the feet sooner than was at hrst
her place IN ''e
expected. ..,a,,e-un" Of the vessels
1ne'' yesterday. caused by the necessity
I. o,,,g room for the Newark. whlch Is eA-
o. IA q, The yard In day or so for shor'
pec'eu ,,o drvdock The Atlanta had been
stay - ovsr from the Cob Dock wall TO the
p'o'e uall and tied up outside OF the C"-
MAIN ~. ,xo dismantled hulks forming sharp
e"e' =. % the trim and shpsfape lndlana anu
eo"''~ e.,u hut powerful monitor Terror which
"e awav. The Katahdin has oeen mo'eu
a'' I'D the new drydock. taking the place
Wy 'v occupied by the Chicago. and the Ter
w.. r.-nea ahead into the Katahdins oerth'
,'",.,,, the Cob Dock wall clear for the Newark
rso Katahdln. which came back 10 the yaru Oh
n,oa,esdav from the trial trip OF the Massa-
.,u,o,,s los, her davit anchor overheard whiie
she away
,x FOR DOING AWAY WITH sPONsONs.
Construction officers are at work on piahs io'
.be Chicago. and it is expected mat ac'iVe
onera,ions on the reftting of the old cruiser VIII
beg,n soon. Her engines are fairly We'll au-
,oncad and the last Of the big low-pressuIe
cylinders will go into the setting-up room IN
f.w days There is a rumor that the work OF
reconstructng the cruiser will be more extensive
than was al first planned owing to the propaoie
adont,on Of the plan recently formulated by AS
sistant Naval Constructor Robert b. Dashieh
.or doing away with the use Of sponsons. Inc
oues,on as TO whether ii was possible TO so
handle guns on cruisers that the unsightly ex-
c,escences on the sides of the ships could be
evo;dAd has been under consideration for some
time, and TO Mr.. Dashiel was left the solution
NJ the problem The wide arc OF fire required
and the need Of room for the intricate mechan-
Ism OF the modern breech-loadrg rife had been
supoosed 10 make the building Of sponsons pro-
,ec,,ng from the sides Of a warship necessity
The building was expensive. and while 1t was
admitted that they detracted from the appear
ance OF the vessel IL was thought that they
did not sufficiently increase the effectiveness
Of battery to overbalance their defects
Mr.. Dashiel has worked out an ingenious
method Of constructing the gun carriages. so
the sponsors will not hereafter be required, nor
will the gun ports have to be Increased In size.
This he has done by reducing the frontage or
the carriage and making the whole piece square
in front with a rounded rear. instead OF circular
as heretofore. His plan has been submitted TO
the leading experts Of the Department They
have approved 1t. and 1t will be hereafter applied
to all new ships, including. II is said. the kear-
sarge and Kentucky Two OF the smaller gun
boats being built will also be constructed on the
new plan, and 1t is regarded as probable that the
scheme will be applied to the Chicago and Atlanta
The announcement is made by the construction
officers that no other country has so far de-
vised any means Of doing away with the sponsor,
and this Government. as in many other instances,
has taken the lead in settling perplexing ques-
ton of the science of naval construction.
WORK ON THE CONTRACTS
On the yard contracts work is going ahead
at rate satisfactory to the officials Of the
Bureau Of Yards and Docks. The new gate
houses at Sands-st. will be completed on con-
tract time. according to the latest extension.
and will be ready for use by the middle Of
July Stone carvers are now busy with the
scroll and figure work or the s-snte copings,
and preparations are being made for swinging
the gate. The ir,n framework Of the new
machine shop is neahy a.. in place. and work
has been started on the brick and stone walls.
On the new drydock everything is going ahead
smoothly, and the principal delay at present
seems to be In the work on the new seawall.
The completion of this job Is needed. perhaps.
more than that OF any other in the yard. as
the shifting around Of vessels yesterday Is an
example OF the inconvenience caused by the
iack OF sufficient mooring space.
Inc new Office building. No. G. is in the hands
ot 'ne Construction and Repair people, and al
'nousn they ire not entirely settled in place.
enough has been seen of the new quarters to
make all hands appreciate the change from the
rooms IN the stone building across the street
mere Is some talk OF housewarming when
everything is Strengthened out. but 50 far II has
NOT got beyond the discussion stage and no
formal plans have been made.
SOCIAL AND OTHER MATTERS
social matters at the yard during the sum-
mer promise to be somewhat more lively than