The evening times., 1898-11-23
Report of the Chief of the
Navigation Bureau.
THE MILITIA OF THE SEAS
Many of the Reserves Not Vested
With Nece sary Experience.
Commodore Crowninsbicld Recon-
nends That Congress Authorize
EnIistment OF 10000 Wcn.

commodore AFOAElflSIitiNs NiaAtA " AAA-
bureau of navigation, has tranmitted his
annual report 10 the Secretary Of the Ma
w. The report includes a detailed ac-
count of the movements and duties OF
the ships Of the American navy during
the year, the reports of The super -ntend-
ent of the Naval Academy, the command
ing officers OF the naval training station,
the CHIEF Intelligence officer, the COM
manding officer OF the naval home, and
of the superintendent OF The Coast Signal
Service. The appendix 10 The report OF
Commodore CroWnnshield contains cop
les Of documents relating TO the conduct
Of the war with Spain. The report for
The year has been made more comprehen-
sive than usual and has been carried up
10 date in order to make available i'm
portant information relating 10 the war.
Commodore Crowninshield in part says:
THE bureaus method OF correspondence
and OF record and file, have proved them
selves satisfactory and adequate TO the
greatly-increase sed demands made upon
them as a result Of the disaster TO the
Maine and the war with Spain.
''Hlfty-eiEht thousand seven hundred
and fifty-siN numbers were given 10 doe
lIltlflS IEGElA tL III lLt btAA all " SGAAN DHN
from H. during the thirteen months end
ing July 50, 1898. This number probably
represents about 100000 papers. The in
crease during the war period over the
business OF ordinary times was about 40
per cent. The foregoing figures relate
10 papers sent out or taken up for record.
All correspondence OF a trivial nature Is
omitted. Probably 100 persons can claim
that the sinking of the Merrimac was due
m h.a
ment.
ITO properly handle the increased vol
ume Of work most OF il of an original
character, requiring much more thought
and attention than the ordinary routine
work OF the bureau, the force Of officers
and clerks had TO be increased, but
methods were changed little throughout
The active period of the war, and until
The middle Of August one or more Off
GERS were on duty both night and day,
and a large part of the force worked
habiIually We'll into the night Most Of
the clerks. both OF the original and in
creased force performed their duties
admirably and with conscientious deYo-
Iion. In certain cases their untiring Ia
bor merits the highest cOmmendation,
and il viii be a pleasure to the bureau
TO suitably reward them as opportunity
offers.
zone hundred and tWenty-nine applica-
tions for naval pensions We're received
during the fiscal year ending July !. 1895.
one hundred and ten claims were allow
ed and twenty-six claims were disaIlow-
cd during the same period.
Number of EnIistmeuts.
"The statistics Of the fiscal year in. re-
gard to enlistments, discharges and ciri-
zenship OF apprentices and general serv-
ice men. including petty officers, show the
total number Of men enlisted in the gen.
eral service 10 be 2OS02. and the total
number OF apprentices to be 2,026. OF this
number 3.2l9 are serving under continuous
service certificates. There were dis
charged during the year S2l9 men and 399
apprentices. OF the number of men in
the general service there are 6,429 petty
officers. OF this number 63 per cent are
native born and IS per cent are citizens
Of the United States and of the remain
der. u per cent have declared their inten-
tions to become citizens. OF the "a 35l
men in the general service holding other
ratings, 66 per cent are native born, and
q per cent are citizens and of the re-
mainder. a per cent have declared their
intentions TO become citizens. OF the
2.O26 apprentices in the service. 90 per
cent are native born. OF the whole num-
ber or men in the service. 90 per cent
are native born. and 50 per cent are citi-
zens. OF the remainder. % per cent have
declared their intentions to become citi-
zcns.
The war between the United States
and the kingdom Of Spain began on April
n. 1895. On that date three Heutenants
and one lieutenant junior grade were
given acting appointments to continue in
force during the continuance of the eXi-
gency which required their issuance and
the pleasure Of the Secretary of the
Navy Further appointments were made
in the various corps and grades from day
10 day as the eXeencies Of the service
required. Up to October J. 1898 $50 ap-
pointments Of officers for temporary serv-
ice were issued. One hundred and ninety
four candidates who passed the required
examination were not appointed by reason
of their services not being required. Their
names remain on the eligible lists.
The Office of Naval Intelligence.
Estimates are submitted for the main
tenance Of the office of naval intelli-
gence. This Office has for some years
performed duties Of great Importance 1t
collects and classifes practically all i'm
portant Authoritative information publish
ed in regard to the growth and progress
Of foreign naVies and of the material and
personnel. 1t also keeps informed of the
defenses Of foreign ports. At the begin
ming OF the war with Spain ii furnished
the department with much valuable and
accurate information in regard TO the de-
fenses of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Phil
fppines, as well as with accurate informa-
tion TO the location of all the strong
AH-U AR s-~ A