Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-12-01
SUPREME TEST OF WAR.
When 1t Came the Ships and
Sailors Were Fully Prepared.
NEEDS FIFTEEN NEW SHIPS.
The Present system of Rewarding
Officers for Gallant Conduct in EattIe
il Declared 10 be Unjust-A Remedy
Proposed.

Washington, Nov. 27.-The annual
report of the secretary of the navy is
much longer than usual. The first sem
tence explains this, as follows; For
the first time since its rehabilitation
the navy has been put to the supreme
test of war Years of patient training
| and development had brought it to a
point of high efficiency, which resulted
in the victories at Manila and Santia-
go-victories which have given the
names of our naval commanders world
wide fame and added an additional
page to the glorious naval history of
our country"
The story of Dewey's victory at Ma
Mia is old and of it the secretary says:
aside from the mere fact of having
won without the loss of a single life
such a brilliant victory at the very
outset of the war, with all the conf
dence which it infused throughout the
country and into the personnel of
every branch of the service, it removed
at once all apprehension for the Pacific
coast. The indirect pecuniary advan-
tango to the United States in the way
of saving an increase of insurance
rates and in assuring the country OF
freedom from attack on that coast is
incalculable."
One fact disclosed by the history of
the days before the surrender of San
tiago is that Sampson asked to be rep
resented in any conference held to ar
range the terms of surrender of San
tiago, by virtue of the fact that he had
engaged in the joint operations. Shat
ter replied that he should be glad to
have Sampson represented, but the
surrender took place before his repre-
sentative could reach the camp. Samp-
sons chief Of staff did arrive before
the final articles were signed, but
Shafter declined to permit him to be
one of the signatores.
\ brief chapter in the report tells Of
the operations of the blockade. 1t is
said that this was of an extremely
arduous character, generally unre-
lieved by the eXhiaration of combat.
Many crews from the beginning of the
war till the end rendered most valu-
able service, without opportunity for
winning distinction in battle. High
praise is awarded to the marine corps
for their work.
Touching upon the naval militia,
Secretary Long says these OrganiZa-
tiOns were largely recruited outside of
the seafaring class and lacked the ex-
perience in gunnery. navigation and
the habits of the sea which are essen
tial to immediate efficient service in
the navy. On the other hand they
We're men of high standard of edu-
cation and rapidly acquired while on
shipboard the knowledge necessary
for their efficiency.
Ft.isc is accorded to the officers and
men connected with the auxiliary
naval force and the coast signal serv-
ice. Secretary Long gives ii list of all
the merchant vessels and yachts that
We're acquired by lease or purchase for
the navy. and in each case shows the
purchase price. There were 11O of
these vessels, including the warships
bought abroad. The most expensive
ship was the New Orleans, which was
bought from Brazil. She cost our
government 81, 429.215, while her sister
ship, the Albany, cost $1,2O5, 600.
The secretary includes in his report
a statement of the operations of each
of the bureaus of the department, and
submits estimates for the next fiscal
year aggregating $+7. .09S, 25l, which is
an increase of 50. S69,1 over the APP
propriations for 1899 and contains ew
items aggregating 81, OF. Ssh OF these
new items the most important is ST.
729 800 for yards and docks.
In reference to the workings of the
system of labor employment at navy
yards the secretary says that III con-
tinuation of the policy of giving prefer
ence in appointment to veterans of the
civil war, he proposes to give prefer
ence now to those who served during
the Spanish-Am war, rating as
first those who served in foreign
waters or on foreign soil, and next
those who served in the United States
or its waters providing they have had
honorable discharges.
The secretary calls attention to the
injustice of the present system of re-
warding officers for conspicuous con-
duct in battle. 70 cure these evils
the secretary recommends legislation
and submits bills providing that in
rewarding one officer injustice shall
not be done to another and that
where officers have been jumped in
the present war that fact shall not
operate to their disadvantage nor re-
tard their regular promotion. 1t is Il
recommendation of the department,
though no names are mentioned, that
the grades of admiral and vice admiral
shall be revived temporarily as before.
The most importan. chapter of the
report is that relating to the increase
of the navy and indorses the report of
the nav | board of bureau chiefs look
ing to the increase of the navy by Is
ships, some of the most powerful char
acter.
Steamers Collide.
Duluth. Mimi, Nov 26.-A 1880 this