The San Francisco call., 1898-03-26
Revenue Vessels Will Be Equipped for Hostile
 Service.
Some of the Graft Are COnSid- cred to Be Well Suited for
 Torpedo-Boats.
When the Little Fleet Is Equipped for Warfare It Will Be Sert
 to Key West
Special Dispatch to The Call.
Call Office, Riggs House,

Washington, March %.
 Captain Shoemaker, chief of the rev. enue cutter service, was busily en- gagged to-day in making assignments of officers to the revenue cutters de tailed yesterday for defensive service along the Atlantic seaboard. Every vessel in the service available for ac- tion has been, or will be, assigned to duty Even the new cutter Gresham on the Great Lakes, and the little cut ter Calumet, located at Chicago, have been called on, and in a day or two both the lake ships will be en route to the rendezvous at Hampton Roads
 The commanders of the revenue cut ters have been notified by wire to be in readiness to move as soon as their gen. eral orders were received.
 The revenue cutters which will be ordered into service and their present stations are as follows: The Wood bury, at Portland, Me; Hamilton, Philadelphia; Hudson, New York Manning, Boston; Calumet, Chicago; Gresham, Milwaukee; Morrow, Will mington, N. C., and Windom, Balti- more.
 Captain Shoemaker was of the opin- ion that it would require about a week for all of the vessels to reach Hampton Roads, or rather Norfolk, which will be their official rendezvous. At the navy-yard there the vessels will re- ceive their equipment-guns, ammuni- ton, torpedoes and supplies-and will make such other prepara tions as are necessary for fighting service. The new cutter Gresham. recently built at Cleveland, in a brief time can be transformed into a formidable com merce destroyer or torpedo boat. She was built expressly for such an emer- gency as she is now called upon to meet. She is equipped for a torpedo tube and can carry an ugly battery of rapid-fire guns. All of the vessels are first-rate seagoing craft and all of them are fitted with small but effective batteries. Their speed varies from fourteen to twenty knots.
 All officers of the revenue cutter service now on duty with the life-sav- ing service are being withdrawn to- day and assigned to duty on the yes sells ordered to Norfolk. Their orders are made immediately effective in every case, and they will report to the commanding officers of the ships as soon as the vessels arrive at Norfolk.
 As ssoon as the cutters are prepared for service at the Norfolk navy-yard they will be dispatched to Key West and placed at the disposal of Commodore Sampson, in command of the naval squadron at that station. The cutters will be employed as scout or picket boats, and will be prepared for both offensive and defensive service. It is thought they will prove to be pretty formidable ships even in aggressive tactics.
 The new revenue cutter McCollach left Baltimore several weeks ago for duty on the Pacific, going by way of the Mediterranean Sea and Suez canal. She is now somewhere in the vicinity of Singapore, and will be used as a dis patch boat on the Asiatic station. Un- less present plans are changed. a cable message will be rcnt to her commander at Singapore. directing her to proceed to Hongkong and place his vessel and crew under the command of Commo- dore Dewey, in charge of the naval forces on the Asiatic station.