Evening journal., 1897-02-18
BBiUjNCE FINDS DEFECTS
Does Not Like the Performance
Of His Fleet.
INTIMATEs FAULTY CONSTRUCTION


The Maine. lie Says. Has Too Much Super.
structure. the Monitors should Have
Their superstructures Removed and the
Montgomery Should Have Lighter Guns
NEW YORK, Feb. lS.-The suns Wash
ington correspondent says:
Rear Admiral Bunco, commanding the
great blockade feet off Charleston, has
made report 60 the department that has
caused surprise to the officials who have
learned Of its contents. II his statements
are warranted by the facts, three or fom
of the vessels must be materially altered
before they are sent to sea again with the
chances of being overtaken by such gale
as ragged OFF Hatteras ten days ago. Ad-
miral Bunce finds specific fault with at
least three Of his ships and has submitted
reports on the performance OF others,
which show that he is not satisfied with
them. He praises the seamanship Of Off
GERS and men and lays especial stress on
the bravery Of those who rislSed their lives
to save three men washed overheard. The
admiral however finds fault with the
nfeboat that picked up these men and
says that the life buoy that held two up
until rescued by the Maine is not the best
the service should have. Altogether, Ad
miral Bunce is not pleased with the per
formance Of bis great feet and assigns as
the reason why several OF the vessels did
not behave better that one has too much
freeboard, another should have had her
superstructure removed and third carries
too heavy battery The New York
which carried the admiral and his flag
seems to be tho only ship in the feet that
fc f-aa from, fnnlt aqrordfno fo tbe nd 4
miral This vessel, he says, took the seas
like the best Of the merchantmen and
could have made Charleston without delay
but for having to stand by other Ressels
which were in danger.
Criticism OF the Monitors.
Admiral Bunce, according TO his report,
does not think that vessels OF the monitor
type should have the superstructures on
their decks, between the fore and aft tur-
rets, which are deemed essential to prop
erly house and care for the crew He con.
tends that ships of this class, whose decks
are buried under water i'm heavy seas,
should be constructed so that the waves
would have a clear sweep and not encoun
ter obstruction which tends to bank VI
the water on the deck and prevent the shiT
from making good weather. The admiral
many years ago conducted the old monitor
Monadnocs around the Horn to San Fran
cisco through the worst weather he ha,
ever experienced, and the manner In which
she took the waves convinces him that al
modern monitors should be constructed
with flush decks
The Amphitrite, one Of the ships attach
ed to his feet has the superstructure, ant
while she stood the recent gales equally a
well as the other vessels the admiral ha
recommended TO the navy department tina
the superstructure be removed. The con
struction officers will fight the admiral
recommendations on the ground that tn
Monterey recently passed out TO sea in
gale that a big merchant steamer dareI
not face and stood the waves in a wa,
that her commanding officer Captain
Kempff, says would have permitted hin
TO fight his guns This ship has the super
structure and has found no difficulty wit
IL. Monitors like the Amphitrite and Mon
terey the constructors claim, cannot e
TO sea without it, owing to lack of accom-
modations for the crew.
Don't Like the Maine.
Admiral Bunce has found serious obies
tion also to the battleship Maine, which
he says has too much superstructure an
should have most of it removed. The shi
now, he says, is dangerous to her crew i
a heavy gale, but officers here cOnten
that none of the men washed overboar
would have been caught by the seas ha
not the admiral ordered them down a rOp
ladder forward, where they were expose
TO almost every sea that boarded the shiI
The Montgomery is reported as havin
too heavy ordnance for ship Of her dis
placement, and it is recommended tina
lighter guns be substituted. Structurall
all Of the ships are perfect. but the adm
raj is Of opinion that the seagoing quail
ties can be improved by the changes h
suggests.
The chief constructor Of the navy, {
whom these reports will be referred b
the secretary, will answer the admiral /
a spirited communication, in which h
will show that whatever the experienc
the admiral may have had with the shiE
each one of them is about as perfect q
can be constructed.
Captain Sampson, the ordnance chic
will vigorously oppose any attempt TO les
en- the ordnance, and the equipment bi
reau will not permit the number or weigl
of the boats to be reduced if they can hel
it. Admiral Bunce is an officer, his frien,
assert, who insists in pushing fel
through the heaviest weather, with a vie
of thoroughly testing the sea qualities
each and the seamanship of the office
and men. He is severely criticised by son
naval officers for ordering feet formatio
to be maintained when, had each ship bee
left to make her own way, the acciden
that caused four deaths and the smashir
Of the Montgomery bulkheads migl
have beon avoided.
Kidnapped His Son.
COLUMBUS, o., Feb. lS.-About ye
ago W. g. Shepard, a well known mag
zine writer of New York and his wifi
Caroline Shepard, separated. the husbaf