Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-11

are urging. quite number OF establish
ments throughout the United States have
responded to the departments inquiries as
to whether they can assist in making these
guns. They include the army gun factory,
the Bethlehem iron works. the Griggs Ord
nance Company ana the American Ord
nance Company. The guns are mounted
without much trouble, and the carriages
are made in less time than the guns, so
that haste in the manufacture of the latter
are the essentials in the present crisis.
1t is now admitted by the ordnance Of
fic;als that directions have been given to
the various governn ent arsenals and arm
ories controlled by the government to in
crease the working force to the fullest
practicable extent with a view to hurrying
the completion of existing projects. Like
wise all firms having contracts to supply
the government with ordnance have been
requested to work their men night and day
in order to finish the work in hand and to
arrange their business with view to in
creased orders.
Securing Small Arms.
The acquisition of small arms and am
munition is also receiving the active at
tentiol of the War Department officials.
Gen. Flagler, the chief of ordnance, Is TAX
ing these steps at the direction of Secre-
tary AlGer, who has authorized such ac-
ton without waiting Nor the allotment of
the s5O,OOO,OO0 Appropriated by Congress.
Extra ammunition orders have been al
ready placed with the Union Metallic Cart
ridge Company Of Bridgeport, Conn.,. and
the Winchester Arms Company of New
York. The negotiations for the supply of
large numbers of small arms, army equip
ments and accouterments are now in pro-
gress. The bureau officials have not yet
II dicated the exact number which will be
ordered, but they do not conceal their
opinion that it will aggregate considerable.
The companies making arms, equipments,
etc, have been given the cue to make all
they can.
Communication Between Forts.
General Greedy, chief signal officer, has
War to proceed without regard to ordinary
restrictions in establishing rapidly tele-
graphic connections between the seacoast
fortifcations. So it will not be necessary
to invite proposals for furnishing supplies
and to follow the ordinary and slow meth
DDS of procuring the telegraphtc material
and doing the work. This rather extra
ordinary authorization was conferred upon
General Greely after a fercible presenta-
tion by him to the Secretary of War Of
the pressing demand for modern means Of
communication between the forts. He
showed that even in New York harbor
where the War Department has devoted its
best energies to the perfection of the forti-
hcations it requires three-quarters of an
hours time to pass a message from one
battery to another. Fort McHenry Bal
t.more, the main defense of that city, is
worse off, while strange as it may seem
the only method of communicating between
Washington and its most important de-
fensive work, Fort Washington, on the Po-
tomac, is by means of a messenger.
The representative of the Carnegie Steel
Company, Lieutenant Stone, was at the
Navy Department today in conference with
the officials respecting the naval work in
progress. The officers of the navigation
bureau were busy translating cipher mes
sages today. 1t was said that all of these
had come in over night, and presumably
they relate to the purchase of ships abroad.
Before leaving for the cabinet meeting
Secretary Long said that he had SO far re-
ceived no report from the court of inquiry,
nor had he ordered the fleet in China to the
Philippines. The Secretary spent a good
deal of time this morning in consultation
with Assistant Secretary Roosevelt and
Captain Bradford, chief of the bureau of
equipment, concerning the supply of coal
to the vessels now cruising to the south of
Cuba.
telegram received by Captain Lemly
from Charleston announced the sal,ing
from that port yesterday of the big derrick
Chief in tow of the Underwater, bound for
Havana to assist in the wrecking of the
Maine.
Movements of the Ships.
The two gunboats Wilmington and An
napolis reported to the Navy Department
ever night from the Caribbean sea- The
fcrmer sailed from st. Lucia for Barbados
and the latter from La Guayra for Cura-
Goa. The torpedo fotila at Key West will
soon be reinforced by two fine boats which
have been under repairs. The Winslow sailed
this morning from Charleston for Key
West, and the Foote from Norfolk for the
same port. The commandant of the Mare
Island navy yard reported that the cruiser
Mohican had sailed today with her cargo of
ammunition, which she will tranship at
Honolulu to the Baltimore for the Asiatic
squadron.
The naval officers who are endeavoring to
effect the purchase of ships abroad have
encountered an obstacle that promises to
give some trouble. This is found in the
difference between the calibers of the guns
mounted on foreign-built ships and the
United States navy standards. Not only
do these guns differ in caliber from our
own in most cases, but as they are almost
altogether designed for the use of smokeless
powder, their combustion chambers are too
small to use the ordinary brown powder
with which the American navy is still SUP
piled. This obstacle Is serious, but not in
surmountable. 1t will require the procure
ment in Europe of large quantity of am
munition in special sizes for these ships,
for 1t would require good deal of time for
our domestic ammunition makers to change
their plants and make the special sizes.
Torpedo Boats to BE Accepted.
The Secretary Of the Navy has waived
the usual formalities in the case of the
torpedo boats Gwin and Talbot, and has
directed their immediate acceptance for the
use Of the naval service. These vessels
were built by the Herreshoffs of Bristol,
r I under contract uyffh tho ooyarnp,anf