The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-04-20
TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP, THE BOYS ARE MARCHING
Some Places Schools Are Dismissed Factories the Entire Popu
Lines the Streets and Cheers the Soldiers
Starting for the War.

tional Guard at this time after deduct
Ing those who are sick and otherwise
! incapicitated for immediate service.
The total strength of the guard report
| ed TO the president is IL, 900 men.
Secretary Alger made several allot-
ments from the emergency fund. One
million dollars was given for the quar-
termaster's department alone TO meet
extraordinary expenses in the trans
portation of troops and munitions Of
war: $4,000 for work balloons and $780,
600 for perfecting the army telegraph
service. Genera Greeley. the chief sig
raj officer. Is staunch advocate of the
use of balloons at the various ports of
the country am In regular field service
great dea1 OF Indignation has been
expressed by naval officers over the
cold-blooded ottempt of persons own
ing vessels. or acting as their agents, to
extort from the. government sums of
their worth. Some complaint is also
made as to nfany kinds of military and
naval supplies. although II is gratifying
to note that in few exceptional cases
among the tube-making and boiler-mak-
ing firms. and some ammunition and
gun-making people every disposition has
been shown to give the government the
best terms in price and time of delivery.
The navy department has arranged To
place some light armor on the four
vessels acquired from the Morgan line.
the Prairie, Yosemite, Yankee and
Dixie. The Carnegie company has un-
dertaken to roll Immediately light steel
plates one and one-half inches thick.
Two layers of this plate will be placed
around the boiler and engine rooms of
the boats. making about $50 tons of ar
NOR in each case. This Will be sufficient
at least to repel the fire of machine
guns and perhaps 10 keep out the muir
derous six-pounder shells.
The navy department has received
satisfactory Information that the coal
loaued at Newport News upon the Brit
ish tramp steamer Hampstead. is not
as was supposed. intended for the Span
ish naval craft at the Cape Verde ISL
ands. but is for line of merchant
steamers, so that apprehension from
that source has been removed
Applications are pouring in to the
war and navy departments for the inn
mediate protection of supposedly ex-
posed points on the Atlantic and Gulf
seaboards. Some towns ask for the i'm
mediate construction of batteries. while
others want warships stationed off the
shore, vast majority of those appli-
cations are from very small towns.
The officials say IL is manifestIy i'm
possible to comply with these requests
and have no hesitation i'm declaring that
the apprehension among the people of
these towns is entirely groundless. They
say that there would be no nducement |
for Spanish naval force to attack un- |
fortified sea coast towns. 1t is also |
said that the rules of civilized warfare |
require that no unfortified town shall !
be bombarded without at least "a hours |
notice, the object of the delay being to |
allow non-c n-combatants to retire To a |
place of safety.
navy department this morning and was |
Immediately assigned a place at the |
desk in the Office of the secretary of the |
navy to ac. as official adviser of the |
secretary. Nearly all naval officers on |
detached or shore duty have put i'm ap- |
plications TO be restored Immediately to |
sea service.
There appears tn be a mistaken i'm |
preston in some quarters as to ihe |
functions of the so-called mosquito |
fleet. 1t is not designed for shore guard. |
nor yet for attack, but. as explained |
by one of the naval strategists the pri-
mary use of the vessels of this fleet |
Will be to protect the battleshlps and !
ironclads from attacks by torpedo boats
and destroyed. The hoard of naval
bureau officers is considering the ad-
of utilizing some of the old
smooth-bore guns for the
night. and using up the raw material
for the manufacture of guns as rapidly
as IL can be produced, the naval ord
nance bureau is unable to supply the
enormous demand now made upon IL
for guns of medium caliber. This is the
case. Notwithstanding the fact that al
most all available ordnance of this
character in foreign markets has been
purchased. A large part of the guns
that have been set apart for the aux
Iliary navy have been absorbed by the
recently purchased Morfan line YES
sells. and IL is the intention of the board
to supply deficiencies.
These guns are not really smooth
bores at all. but are cast iron guns.
lined with steel tube. fully rifed.
They are not. however. breech-loadere
so they will be necessarily slow in ac-
ton. Their weight is eight tons. and all
that would be necessary to tit them 10
vessels of the st. Paul and New York
class would be the laying of a deck
track and the fastening of a couple of
heavy ring bolts for each gun. They
fire a solid armor piercing shot weigh
Ing $50 pounds, or a bursting shell with
10 pounds of powder. weighing l56
pounds. With an accurate range of
from two and a half to three miles. they
would be effective weapons against any
ship. IL Is the intention of
the navy department TO replace them
upon the vessels by modern weapons
Just fast as the new guns can be
turned out.
Two assignments to naval commands
were announced in the published orders
to-day. Commander J. j. Eaton taking
Of the Resolute, lately the
Yorktown. and Lieutenant Commander
r. T. Jasper. now at the naval acad-
emy, taking command Of the late light
house tender Suwanee. in place Of Com
mander J. F. Moser. who goes TO the
AlbatrosS.