The sun., 1896-09-16

only es5, 900 apart, and the highest and
lowest OF four out of the five only $50, 600
apart. II IL Just inference from such
figures that there Is no longer anything ex-
perimental in the building Of battle shipsRn
this country. and that many different firms
can hit with remarkable accuracy on the
cost of such ships.
There is every reason to suppose, too, that
the Navy Department is entirely satisfied
with the lowness of the bids, and perhaps
even relieved. 1t is true that the Kentucky
and Kearsarge, of about the same displace-
ment as the new ships, are under construc-
tion by the Newport News Company for only
2,25o, 900 each, whereas this firm. again
lowest, makes its present bid for one ship
$685. 900, against se,35o, 900 for ono
last year. 1t has been suggested that
the rise in the price OF coal, used
in large quantities in manufacture,
will account partly for the average
rise in prices. But there is also another
fact worth considering. Tho remarkable
gap between tho Newport News Company's
bid last year and that Of its two competitors
was largely ascribed, in public comment. to
the desire to make sure Of the contract. On
the Iowa its bid had been the highest Of all,
the other three competitors being among
those whom it has underbid this year, and
two Of them being underbid by 1t last year
Undoubtedly there is a great advantage in
the celebrity given to firm by its construc-
tion of Government ships, and the euterpris-
ing Virginia yard was determined to secure
this advantage. Indeed, the same spirit has
been shown In It's surprisingly low bid for
the Nashville, Wilmington, and Helena, the
three light-draught gunboats.
But as that motive Is presumably no
longer as active, We may perhaps regard the
present bid Of the Newport News Company
as normal, based on work for profit, the
establishment having already two battle
ships to occupy it besides its other engage
ments. And again, we find that the other
two bidders or last year, the CRAMPS and
the Union Iron Work s, have actually bid less
now than then. The former last November Of
fered to build one battle ship for So. SEC, 900,
or two for $a,75O, 900 each; but this year it
offers to build either one or two for ST.
100000 each. So the Union Iron Works
last year bid 92,74O, 900 for one, or SO, $780,
600 each for two, and now offers to build
one for S2,674,95O. 1t secures that
one, because under the law it has
an allowance Of four per cent. to repre-
sent the cost OF carrying to San Francisco
material only to be obtained in the East,
or obtained there to greater advantage. An
allowance of a gross sum Of 5000 was
made in 1890 to the same firm in building
the Oregon. That is to say, the CRAMPS
had offered to build two ships for
S3,02O,oo0 each, or one for $780,
600. The Union Iron Works was &C.
cordingly allowed to reduce its bid OF
SO, 3,24O,oOo for one to S3,ls0,OOo, and
Is that both firms have materially reduced
their bids OF last November in spite of the
rise in coal; while the new battle ships are
of about the same dimensions, having in
fact the same length and mean draught.
The figures just given suggest one moro
important fact namely, the great reduction
in the cost of battle ships from that Of half
a dozen years ago The Indiana, Massachu-
setts, and Oregon then cost S9,22O, 900,
and yet they were only 34S feet long on
the load water line, 69i3 feet in ex-
treme breadth, and 24 feet in mean
draught, displacing lO,2Ss tons. For the
three latest armorclads, the three lowest
bids, taking one each from the Newport
News Company, the Union Iron Works,
and the CRAMPS, aggregate little less than
$7,920,000, and yet the new ships are
twenty feet longer, about three feet broader,
and with six inches less draught exceeding
our Indiana class in displacement by many
hundreds of tons.
These bids, it will be understood, are for
and hull. The arnor is furnished
by the Government, but the recent bidding
on the kearsarge and Kentucky shows that
that also has fallen heavily in cost The up
shot is that our battle ships. which have
always been admirable in quality have be-
come very satisfactory in price.