The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-12-02

In fact, an examination Of TIE pumps At
the Puget Sound naval station should con-
vince him. as they were built b. Moran and
ara the largest and finest al any navy yard
In the United States.
Commodore En1ico;t says IN as report
mat .'wiaen naval vessel has been locked
and repaired. skilled men have been suo-
pied and transported at great expense fram
the Mare island yard" When the Oregon
was locked and had her bsige ksels put On.
some sixty men were brought from Mare
island. when they could have been readily
obtained here This fact was well known.
and our newspapers and mechanics pro-
tested a. the time Furnish work az shA
naval station, and workmen will never hs
wanting.
ConcIusiv=Iy, then, the great
navy yard Of the coast sheuld be
on Puget sOund, because Of Its
many and undeniabIe advaa.
tages.
Pursuing this subject a little further, we
md that notwithstanding that Commodore
Endicott states the irnpossiblIay OF our bat
usehips ard cruisers approaching the
wharves of Mare island. ne recommends an
appropriation Of ss5i.aso far that yard. But
the objections TO this yard are the very
ones he urges against the Puget Sound
naval station at Port Orchard It In on an
Island and has only water communication.
and 10 twsnty-elghf miles from San Fran
cisco. where mechanics and ali materials
are obtained. except coal and lumber, which
come from Puget sound. 1t IL true that
mechanics live In Vallejo while work %
furnished them. and drift hack to the city
when the yard lie closed down. But the
commodore goes furthsr and says: While
the government could construct the COM
piete dock facilities on San Francisco bay.
there would still re 45o miles OF the south
ern boundary Of the United States where it
II quite az important 70 have a naval sta
ton as on the Eo.taera boundary, al Puget
sound"
Where. Sir. Commodore. would you put
your dock? There are only two places pos
sible. San Diego and San Pedro. and no
battieship can get into either. The gov
eminent IL about 10 spend several millions
10 make hatbcr at San Pedro. and then
. dock could possibly be built there. But
Il Will be 400 miles further than San Fran
cisco from the coal lumber and steel. and
only orange growers for mechanics. While
tho commerce of Puget sound during the
last few years has been increasing by
leaps and bounds. that Of California has
been at standstiil Far more vessels sail
from the Sound than San Francisco and
in less than ten years the commerce Of
the Sound viii be only second 10 New
York, while the population of Seattle and
Tacoma combined viii exceed that OF San
Francisco. Southern California can never
have much commerce. Where. then. are
the mechanics. as we'll as the materials
for the southern navy yard recommended
by Commodore Endieott, to come from?
The commodore's reasoning is not very
clear. for after the animacversinns on Pu-
get sound he recommends Key West for an
Important naval station with a population
OF cigarmakers. hundreds of miles from
all materials and indefengible from bonn
bardment by a foreign fleet. The Brook
Ign navy yard, the most important con-
strucfion yard In the country. Is on an
island and all materials are brought to IL
by water.
Many millions are being spent
annually ON the eleven naval
stations ON the Atlantic and
Calf, while one yard II virtually
all that receives any npproprin-
tion ON the Pacific. and this in
the face Of the fact that more
than half Of the navy must he
kept in the Pacific In the future.
Commodore Endicot, is the first civil en-
xsnesr 10 be made chief OF the bureau OF
yards and docks. Heretofore they have
been regular officers Of the line OF the
navy. For nine years previous to his pro-
motion he was the assistant In the bli.
reau. and the civil engineer adviser OF
Commadores White. Farquhar and
Mathews. During that time the big dry
docks az Brooklyn. Port Royal and Puget
sound were built The two former were
failures, and have required several hun
dfed thousand dollars each 10 make them
serviceablc. The Port Royal dock today
cannot be used for The large cruisers and
hattieshlps on account OF the shallow chan
mel and insufficient depth OF water at the
entrance ELI Neither of them could ba
used during tho war. and the BROOKLYN
dock was finally completed after Naval
Constructor Bowles was placed in charge
Civil Engineers Menocal end White ware
eourf-martaied and found guilty OF neglect
or duty during the construction OF the
dock. ON the other hand the dry dock
at Port Orchard vas built by ior con-
tractors excent the calss0u finished on
time. and has been perfectly e!flclen, from
tho first. II Is the largest naval dry dock
In the country and will take IN ar battle
ship afoat.
The celebrated Oregon The
pride Of our NAVY. was three
months In the Puget sound ar,-
deck, rnd thorough ~xnmtna-
lien "ftrrward couia not detect
that the bottom OF the dock had
s~ttird oue-thou~and.h pnrt af an
snch. Except for her clean bot
s"m the Oregon cou.,. not have
made the worlds record on her
trip around the Horn. aud rx
cent fer her biige keets. uut TN
to our dock, she would h,xs
have rolled 50 much at ~.uf,,r,
ms to be almost useless. ~ gum
platform.
New Les - examine Comnlo,lare r7al-