New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-06
AFFAIRS AT THE NAVY YARD
LITTLE TO KEEP THE woRKMEN IN THE
SHOPS BUSY.

vrssrrs AS SHOWN BY THE EXPERIMENTS
ON THE sTrLETTo - THE MENocAh
COURT TiAL-RE?AlRiNo III"
DAMAGED DRYDocK
,,,.,, The donor,urc Of the Brooklyn for Hamp-
.or poods an Friday the yard was cleared VA
,ossois II, commission. and nothing remains 10
,,oor rho sbon forces busy except the work on
,h. ch,o,go the Atlanta and the Dolphin al
,bree of the vessels being In the hands Oh '"e
ra,otrora The sailing Of the brooklyn "''
,,ade the occasion for starting story CONVEY
,rg tho ,mnression that she had been dispa'e"eu
FOR Pho nurnose or watching the movements Vi
.bo vi1cova the Spanish warship which Is vi
hor UNIV IN this mort II is not believed that she
h,. am, sucb mission, and the dates OF her
uirer.rv hear out the belief that her voyage mas
M connection with the coming of the SpA''S"
bottieehIn The Brooklyn has what ~ P'a'
ticalIv q rowing commission, with the ui'ue'~
standing that she Is 10 keep clear OF |uo'"
norris and her mission Is not one or war
ADVANTAGES OF LIQUID FUEL"
r,o u,,o torpedo-boat s,ietto. which has
beon tho subject OF a large number OF expert
o,,s os 70 tho availability Of oil for fuel. Is at
nresent resting. The experiments were con-
Engineer ]. c. Leonard and board OF en-
o,,oors ord the report Of the Board shows
great superiority Of oil over coal for small Ves.
ao,s Among the advantages which the Boar"
found tho I,ould fuel 70 possess were economy
COCO os handling. n reduced freroom force an
sence Of waste. and greater heating energy !"
,,oI ,,octice the torpedo-boat ran twenty
eight miles on one ton II coal and hf'y-s'N i'"''
- ono to, Of oil The oil IL conveyed TO the
ho,,,e h,,nl<ers and thence to the hrcroom u!
gravity recurring no handling and distinct
advantage IL in the speedy removal OK the o''-
turri,e an,,arat,s when oil Is unobtalnabe' per-
,,,,t,ry the use Of coal at any time 1t may De-
.oo,oa pecesearv The Board has recoTnmenned
that the apparatus already installed on the
c+i,otto no continued in use. md that provision
no made for utilizing the improved system oh
all the other torpedo boats. Additional expert
,nArts are TO be made to demonstrate the prac-
teal use Of the liquid fuel on larger VesSe'S
vbere provisions must be made to carry large
quantities Of crude petroleum
Word has been sent to the Navy department.
that work has been begun on the torpeoo-poa'
BAILEY. which is to be built at Morris Heish's
Her contract conditions call for speed OF 'hii "
knots. and IL Is expected that with the fhodei
adopted a speed of not less than 80 knots VIII
be attained under full power
WORK ON THE DRYDoCK.
VOL, an the damaged drydock has reached
tho stare where the end Of the apron building
ia in sight. IL no further accidents happen. ihe
bole made nv the Eruption OF a stream or fresh
water into the excavation Is being filed In and
surrounded with sheet spillng. and the wing
wall IN the west side of the entrance Is practl-
calIv connleted Work on the interior or the
dock IA going ahead. the replacing OF the dam
aped altar pieces being well under way. one
orninous feature OF the trouble is the STEADY
rnovement Of the eastern wall, containing the
grooves which hold the cesson. toward the Dig
hole caused by the cave-n The space between
the straight altar work OF the dock ana the
caisson section now measures more than eight
inches. and there is a movement or almost an
inch a day. How much further this can go
without a collapse is a question not yet an
swered but as an extremely heavy row OK Pill
ing has been driven on the side OF the hole
nearest the shifting WALL there is little danger
NJ q collapse unless the ping Is forced into the
cavity.
THE MENoCAL COURT-MARTTAIA
sooretarv Long has not yet chosen the men,
bers OF the court-martlal which Is to try civil
rnq,neer Menocal. and has not decided whether
mr. not any members OF the corps shall serve on
the court II has been determined however.
that neither Civil Engineers Asserson nor Endi-
cot, Will be detailed Tor duty The action Of the
renartment in the case OF Civil Engineer
II s G. white will depend the result OF the
trial Of Civil Engineer Menocal. Common JUS
tioe would seem to demand that the trial OF
an officer on serious charges should not be car
ried on without the presence on the court OF
members OF the same corps, and there Is a pro-
vision in the Naval Regulations covering the
pont Even II there were none, the we!l-known
fact that members OF the lire, who Will un-
doubtediy constitute majority Of the members
OF the court, are not by training civil engineers
should in itself make entirely Unnecessary any
doubt as 10 the necessity for engineers ~ MEM
bers of the body The latest phase Of the
matter from legislative point Of view Is the re-
quest by members Of the House Committee on
Naval Affairs that Secretary Long secure teeti-
mony from civilian experts as TO the character
of the ground underlying Drydock No. 3, with
View to learning whether the existence of quick
sand or other unstable foundation makes ii In
advisable to carry on The work Of rebuilding.
The committee might learn considerable in that
direction from a careful examination of Drydock
No. . the walls of which are only few steps
away from those Of No. $50 near. in fact. that
one pumping station does the work Of both
docks
The retirement yesterday Of Rear-Admral
Thomas q. Selfridge. jr., promotes Commodore
Francis NJ Bunce. commandant OF the yard, to
the grade of rear-admiral.
Commander w. NJ. Folger has taken charge OF
the Third Lighthouse District Offices at Temp
kinsvile. vacated by Captain Albert S. Snow.
who has been there since the detachment from
that duty Of Captain w. s. Schley, now chair
man OF the Lighthouse Board.
Lieutenant Colonel John II. Higbee. command
ing the Marine Corps has applied for retire
ment June !. under the provisions OF the
thirty years service law.
The last OF the Navy Yard dances for the
season is announced for next Friday afternoon.
CHANGES OF THE WEEK
Among the changes Of the week are the fol-
lowing affecting officers and ships OF this sta
ton:
Passed Assistant Surgeon b. r. Ward when