New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-18
AFFAIRS ATTHE NAVY YARD
PLENTY OF WORK GOING ON AT THE
HOME STATION

THE PURITAN ORDERED TO sEA--cHANoE"
AMONG orricERs-aoop WORK OF BILoE
KEEls-vLANs FOR THE sum
Mnn MANoEUvREs.
Already the hum 1T psS3aration ii hearo IN
the Navy Yard, and before the hSkt two weeks
have passed the home Of the North Atlantic
Squadron will be bare Of ships in commission
with the possible exception Of the monitor Ter
ror and the battle-ship Indiana. The gunboat
Helena was flying the red warning flag showing
that she was taking on board ammunition yes
terday. preparatory to sailing for Washington
tomorrow to receive silver service, and as
soon as the work of taking out the bow torpedo
tube of the flagship New-York is completed
she will lose her present bloodthirsty appear
ance and be changed back into the trim white
cruiser in which NEWCOMERS take so much
pride At present she is streaked and bespat-
tered with red paint. fore and aft and amid
ships. and looks If she had taken part IN
bare -knuckle prizehght. The Texas. which at
present occupies the most conspicuous place IN
the yard, at the ordnance dock, just ahead OF
the receiving ship Vermont. will probably nave
q new commanding officer within short time.
The sea tour of Captain w. c. Wise, her COM
mander will expire soon, and 1t Is UNDERSTOOD
that Captain A H. Mccormick now captain
the battle-ship The engines Of the Puritan are
working in a manner which gives great salts
faction to all her officers. including her new
commander Captain Purnel F. Harrington.
who came to her from the smaller monitor Ter
ror, and she has been ordered to be ready for
sea by next Sunday This will involve cessa-
ton Of work the furnace crowns which col
lapsed recently but, has been stated in this
column, her boilers can make all the steam
necessary without the furnaces which have
been disabled. Her engines at present are run
ming smoothly at about fortyfve revolutions
q minute and the results Of the dock trials
show that she will be able to develop about
nine knots of speed in a fair seaway. The Ter
rors engine-room is still in the hands Of the
machinists and she will not be ready for duty
for some time 1t is pleasant to note that there
Is one thing about the Terror which is declared
TO be complete success, that is the pneumatic
system of working her turrets, the great hoods,
with her 1O-inch rifles, beginning to move in
less than three seconds after the signal is
given
CHANGES AMONG YARD OFFICERS.
Commander ]. j. bunker has been detached
from the Bureau of Equipment at the yard, and
will go sea duty as captain Of the Annapolis,
when that gunboat goes into commission, on
timber drydock. but her repairs completed.
and she will be foated within the next forty
eight hours. Lieutenant G. w. Metz. who has
been on duty assistant inspector Of the Third
Lighthouse District, in the Tompkinsville office,
will be her executive officer.
1t will be good to many people to learn
that Commander William Swift VINO as leuten-
ant-commander was executive officer on the In
diana when Fighting Bob Evans was her cap
tain. is to come to the yard and assume control
of the ordnance Office, beginning his duties on
Tuesday next Commander Swift is one of the
officers who has friends everywhere, and on
board ship we'll shore is highly regarded
by all with whom he comes in contact.
The coast survey steamer A. d. Bache has
gone I'D the Hudson to a point off Irvngton,
where mile will be measured, under the dtrec-
ton of Lieutenant Commander w. j. Barnett,
for the speed trials of the torpedo boats
The mile will north toward Tarrytown, and
II is expected that as the Rodgers now in the
hands Of the Columbian Iron Works at Balti-
more. will be ready for test by the first OF next
month she will be the first Of the little flyers
70 be speeded over the course.
The laying up of the two cruisers Minneapolis
and Columbia will result in placing Captain
James H. Sands of the Columbia, in charge OF
the reserve fleet. while Captain Colby NJ. Ches-
ter is slated for detachment from the Minneapolis
and ordered to the Cincinnati. which will be the
flagship of the South Atlantic Station, replacing
the Lancaster.
NOT SATISFIED WITH THE FINDING.
Secretary Long is not at all satisfied with the
conduct Of the Court which recently found Ser
eeant Michael J. Lyons. Of the Marine Corps,
guilty Of drunkenness. and sentenced him to six
months confinement and loss of pay The Sec
retary points out TO the attention Of the Court
that 1t admitted hearsay evidence. and adds
that II the prosecution had been dependent on
the testimony of Captain G. F. Elliott, of the
marines who gave the testimony referred to, ne
would have dismissed the sentence. He also
says that the Court had no right to permit wit
nesses to assail the character Of the defendant.
as IL is directly contrary to a well-known rule
of evidence preventing the consideration Of evil
dence Of that character unless the defendant
raises the issue The effect of this will be to
cause future courts martial to be more careful
In the conduct of trials although 1t VIII not aVah
In the case of Sergeant Lyons.
The need Of bilge keels on the Dattle-snlp IN
diana is emphasized by report recently mace
by Captain Frederick Rodgers, or the Massa-
chusetts, Of his cruise to st. johns, ~ r. Inc
ship ran between thirteen and fourteen knots
an hour using four boilers and natural draught
In describing her action in a storm, he says:
1.-THE wind began TO shift from the southwark
20 the eastward with a falling barometer. and
finally blew with force Of ten miles the snip
was slowed down, and the course was signify
changed so to bring the sea more on the star
board bow and to get further from the path or
the storm which was evidently cyclone or
hurricane. During it the ship behaved beautl-
fully never making less than six knots per houI'
and never rolling over five degrees Her steadi-
ness was so remarkable during the whole pas
sage that it must be in a great measure attrib-
uted to bilge keels
PREPARING TO REPAIR DOCK NO. 3.
And this leads up to the question, How much
longer must the Department wait for the COM
pletion Of repairs to Drydock No. 8. which is
the dock needed to take the broad beamed ship