The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-22
TO HAVE FINE TRoOPSHlPs.
The War Department Begins at Once 10
Establish q Fleet of Them.
IN. Y. SUM-

| Some time ago the Sun announced that
seine of the transports bought at the be-
ginning of the war and fit them up us
model troopships. Yesterday it was an
nounced that the plans for reftting the
first of these had been approved by the
War Department end that the work would
begin tomorrow. The former Atlantic
| transport liner Mobile will be the first
ship to be overhauled. The Cramps have
| the contract, and the ship will leave the
| Erie Basin, where she has been for some
time, for the Cramps yard in Philadel-
phia. The plans and specifications were
prepared by well-known naval architect
and were inspected yesterday by COL
Frank ]. Hecker, Quartermaster, U. 5.
v; Major John W. Summerhayes Quar-
termaster, U. S. A.; Henry P. Kirkam,
ship outfitter of this city, and naval
artchiteot named Road. After the plans
were inspected the Mobile was ordered to
P Philadelphia. According to the plans,
! the ship will be overhauled from stem to
stern. The quarters of the officers will be
on the spar deok and there viii be state-
room Accommodations for eighty four OF
the men who carry swords. Each state
room will accommodate two officers, and
| there will be about one bathtub for every
| twsnty officers On the promenade deck
| after there will be a hospital, with ca
pacity Of seventy-six CO.'S. Inc hosploai
will have a complete disepnsary. an oper-
ating room and at least two bathrooms
| On this deck, forward, there will be
promenade, where the men may take ex-
ercise This will be covered with dark
! blue awning, as on the hospital SHIPS, SO
| that tho invalid soldiers may be protected
| from sun and rain.
| Amidships on the main deck VIII Dc 1ne
kitchens, FORWARD of the kitchens will
| be what will be known as the armory and
mess hall for the men. The room Will be
| fitted with racks for the small arms and
| sings and frames for the artillery. from
the ceiling of the room gymnasium ap
paratus will be- hung, so that the men
may have indoor exercise, and prsctlce
while at sea the army "sett,ng-up e1er,
cises. The mess tables will be so arranged
that, when the room is to be used as q
gymnasium, the tables may be folded back
against the walls. Aft OF the Kitchens, on
| the main deck will be the lavatories and
bathrooms for the men. Eaoh bathroom
will be supplied with hot and cold water
and shower bath.
The quarters of the men will be between
decks. The framework Of the hunks will
be tubular cast iron, and each bunk will
| be so fixed that it may be folded back
against the sids of the ship when not IN
use. This will make it possible, II all
the banks are folded up ut the same time,
for the men to have practically the entire
space tween decks from one end OF the
| ship to the other to move about In. Ac-
cording to the particular place where each
bunk ia located, it will have either two
! or three berhs, and each berth Will be
provided with mattress and blankets.
| There will be plenty of lavatories and
| few bathrooms in this part of the ship.
| The entire ship will be lighted WITH
electricity, and the space between decks
supplied with cooled air from large ven.
tiIating plant. A distilling, apparatus
having a capacity of 600 gallons a day
and refrigerating plant large enough to
keep cool an ample supply of fresh beel
and vegetables will also be Installed.
The next ship to be refitted will be the
Mohawk and the contract for the work
will he awarded this week. Other ships
to be refitted are the Mississippi, Michi-
oan. Massachusetts, Manitoba, Mime
Waska and probably the Roumanian, OBJ
dam and Panama. 1t Is the intention OF
the war Department to make these vessels
the fineet troopships afioat, and 1t is par.
tiouIarIy desired to make the quarters OF
| the men as comfortable as possible.