New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-09
AFFAIRS ATTHE NAVY YARD
ARREST OF CONTRACTORS CALLS ATTEN-
T1oN TO A NEW PHASE OF MIS-
MANAGEMENT.
DOCTOR APPOINTED TO INSPECT THE WORK
OF MAsoNs-THE COLUMBIA SAILS TO JOIN
THE FLEET-THREE OF THE PURI-
TAN'S TWELvE-INCH RIFLES

TAN'S TwELvE-INCH RIFLES
IN PLACE.
While the absence of the fleet of Rear-Admiral
Runce on its summer cruise of evolution has
made the affairs at the yard relating to the
.oupment and fitting Of vessels for of less
,.,,ortance than they were a week or two ago.
.rother phase Of the business OF the North At
,.r,,c station has come before the public through
ne Office Of the United States Commissioner,
md there is a prospect that before the trouble
= settled there will be some lively times among
.or.ractors The arrest of the men interested
:, building the rubble wall at the Naval Hos
,itsl in Flushing-ave.. a full account OF which
has been published in The Tribune. reveals
nhase Of naval mismanagement to which at
,ention has been called before but which never
came out in such bold contrast to ordinary bust
ness methods as in the present instance. The
,,a,n facts Of the case are these. Here was a
contract calling for the expenditure of nearly
$4,000 OF Government money. intrusted to
Arm supposed TO be reputable and entirely COM
n.,snt TO carry out the terms of the agreement.
Thu contract called for certain quantity of
work Of certain specified quality, and it is we'll
known among contractors that the Government
.,.rdard is a high one. The original contractors
suhlet their contract. and visited the scene of
49, work occasionally. The work. according to
tho evidence vas carried on under a system of
s,snals which permitted lot of "scamping.
and the faulty work put into the wall was COW
rcd IN on the approach of the Government in
snector By dumping lot Of cement over the
r,aces where dry or nearly dry bricks had been
nut IN. The inspectors saw nothing wrong in
,he work. and soon as they had gone away
o.ren; and time. II was not until an expert
hsnpened 70 go over the work that the defects
we're found and then, of course an investiga-
zion followed The peculiar point brought out
BY the affair is the fact that it was a medical
officer. attached the staff of the hospital, TO
whom was intrusted the task of inspecting
the work Of the contractors. who were masons
and builders In view of this fact the pertinent
question has been raised to why member
Of the civil engineer corps not detailed to
the work instead of man who could hardly
be supposed to know anything about the techni-
cal details Of building a brick wall.
A COMPLETE OVERSIGHT
When the trouble was discovered the first
people called on were the civil engineers, bat.
as was said at the yard yesterday, there seer1s
10 have been an entire oversight Of the fact
that il a competent officer had been appointed TO
the duty Of inspection in the first place the
trouble would not have happened. 1t is we'll
known that an application for the post In con-
nection with the contract was made by Of
fcer Of the civil engineer corps, but the appli-
cation was refused. and a doctor appointed.
leaving the possibility open that civil en-
sjneer might be appointed to inspect a supply of
medicines for the use of the doctors, on the
princjple that turn about is fair play Just
how the affair will turn out cannot be pre-
dicted but II is hoped that the present entangle-
ment together with the knowledge that large
mart Of the wall built will have 10 come down
and be reconstructed. with the probability or a
large loss in money aud much inconvenience
n the vav Of trouble and delay to the 'vern-
nent. will show the authorities that IT is just
as we'll TO nut men on work with which they
are familiar and that since the day OF the spe-
cialist has come in and is recognized in all other
bl anches OF work. public and private. it Is BET
ter to put a specialist in that work TO watcn
& tricky contractor who wants TO make a big
profit on a brick wall contract. than to trust
the work TO the inspection Of men who are more
familiar with other lines Of duty.
sANDs-sT. GATE STILL CLOSED.
The same contractors have apparently weak
ened'' On the contract for the quay wall at the
end Ct Main-st.. work on which has been at a
standstill since July B No further word has
been received from the sureties Of the contrac-
tors and at present the attention Of the yard
engineers seems TO be occupied with the hospital
wall case and other work in hand. Reports
have been received that the new shpwrght
shop. building No. a. is completed and the big
building No. 10 will be finished within a week
as far as construction is concerned No settle
n1ent has been made Of the trouble over the
new Sands-st gate, and the expert carver who
was sent for last week 10 pass on the merits
Of the carving on the stone gaterosts, which
is the point in dispute, evidently thought the
affair entirely too trivial TO be worth attention,
for he decided that some one better acquainted
with stonecutting would be the pioler person 10
mass al, oDinion on the work. And there the
matter stands The public is compelled TO go
around by the noisome, dirty way leadlng 10
the York-st gate, passing through one o. the
flthiest parts Of the city If business OF pleas
rre calIs for a visit to the most important naval
headouarters on the Atlantic coast, while the
Commodore and the contractors Tor sna
piece Of work are at odds over the merits Oh tle
carving around the tops Of couple OF gate
posts
THE CRUISER COLUMBIA SAILS.
The SQUADRON. which was due at Hampton
Roads YESTERDAY is still short NUMBER OF YES
sells the Raleigh and Columbia having remained
in port all last week. together with the monitor
Terror and the ram Katahdn The latter VesseI
will not take part Ia the manoeuvres as II IS now
announced that she will remain at the yard until
October as it will require until fall 70 make after
a,iors fo,,nd Ia he necessary. The Terror and the
Raleigh are practically ready for sea, ana tnat the
departure Of the Columbia was expected al an
early date was shown by the sending down on IL
day Of detail ~ sailors from tne IeIels -
Ysrroon, for disrihution among the other SHIPS or
the feet The cruiser left port YESTERDAY aitei
noon bound for Hampton Roads. Inc old lailii-
Jar cry Of a scarcity of men has again oeSn W
and the ships Of the feet. especially tie Nc" ~,
and the Montgomery. which Is on duty al hey
West are deficient in numbers This latest can
tor more men is due TO the fact that ares nun.
month "a tho Denartment Is having much DIM
Gully H. ~ ,,i, nr', erIistments The present