The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-07-09
A MILLION TONS OF COAL.
That Is the Expected Annual
sumption by the Navy whoe
Engaged In War.

The navy department expects TO use
at least 100000 tons OF coal during
fbe first year Of this war, If 1t lasts SO
long. Last year the CONSUMPTION was
only 13s,3fs tons, costing S656,OOoi but
the requirements are very dineren'
now. when every ship in the service
at sea and hundreds of auxiliary cfuls'
ers and mosquito craft are being used
The navy has to pay all sorts OF prices
for coal. from $1.90 to SIS teni II comes
at the latter figure in some ports Oh
South America. At Key West before
the scrap began, it cost the govern menu
- 90 a ton; now Uncle Sam pays $3.50
for it at that point.
The navy department is now pulldlhg
for war purposes two steel coal piers al
the Dry Iortugas, each of them 3l4 feet
long. 1t is also constructing as rapidly
as possible two steel sheds, each OF
which will hold 10000 tons OF COAL
These sheds are equipped with up-to-
date hosting apparatus, which is able
to handle the coal in enormous quanu-
ties and with wonderful rapidly. Giant
shove1s holding two tons apiece dive
down into the holds of eoal-laden YES
sells and grab the coal, lifting 1t out, and
then running back on carriages over
bridge and dropping the stuff into the
sheds through matches in their roofs
BY the same means the coal is hoisted
out of the sheds and loaded upon light
ers, which, when filed, are towed by
tugs to the warships. Then one or
more ports are opened like doors in the
side of the ship and the bluejackets car
ry the stuff on board in bags and bas-
lets. Chutes are used as far as prac-
ticable. The work is done with amaz-
ing rapidity, the sailors swarming over
the vessel like so many bees, until at
length the bunkers are filled. A deep
channel runs close by the quay on
which the piers and sheds described
are building, and dredging is being
done so that our men-of-war will come
right up to the wharves and take their
fuel aboard direct. This will save much
time and labor.
The channel referred TO will be lighted
on both sides by electric beaeons, so
that the vessels may steam in at any
hour in perfect safety. 1t is not wide
enough for big ship to turn in, but
the man-of-war can enter at one end
and go out at the other Such deep
channels in the coral formation are nt-
merous and intricate, and this is one
reason why the buccaneers of old re-
sorted to the Tortugas, which form the
most western group of keys to the
southwest of Florida. On one of them
is built Fort jefferson, an obsolete
structure Of masonry that cost Uncle
Sam $t4, 900, and here are placed the
new piers and sheds. The name Of this
little archipelago signifies turtles, :"
the keys being much frequented by
those reptiles at laying time. On East
Key Spanish galleon laden with gold
was once wrecked, and lighthouse
keeper in the neighborhood is said to
have found $4,000 of 1t.
1t takes lot of coal to run a war
tons into her bunkers. What is termed
her normal" supply is only 400 tons,
but for long voyage she gobbles four
times that quantity. Travelling at the
ordinary cruising rate of II knots an
hour, she consumes about rs tons in
"a hours, so that she could keep going
at this rate for 81 days, covering in that
time 5,544 knots, or 6,396 statute miles.
Under forced draught she could go at
a speed of nearly II knots, but her fuel
consumption would run up to 25O tons
every "a hours, and her coal would only
last her a little over six days. Every
43 tons of coal she takes aboard sinks
her one inch In the water. The big
cruiser New York can carry 1,290 tons
of coal, and is able to steam at a rate
of ID knots with an expenditure of 100
tons day. Going at 81 knots she uses
more than three times that much.
The water consumption of big war;
ship Is likewise enormous. Not less
than 80 tons, or 1900 gallons, of this
indispensable fluid are used by the In.
dlana every day-two-thirds of the
quantity for the boilers and the re-
mainder for drinking, washing, cook
ing, etc. The cruiser Brooklyn requires
about the same amount. Each fighting
vessel, when started from port, carries
only enough fresh water to fiji her
boilers; for further supplies she de-
ponds on her evaporators, distiling the
sea water. Every battleship and cruis
er has evaporators, and the most impor-
tant reason why special distilling ships
are desirable is that they save the war
vessel the coal that is required to run
the water stills. The ships require no
more water for steaming when going
fast than when going slow; it is simply
that more heat is put into the same
quantity of water by burning more coal.
III n,