The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-03-15

these ships Immediately but it Is not
know how soon they Will sail.
EXTRA HELP AT. NAVY YARDS.
This was the busiest day the navy
yard has experienced since the present
activity was inaugurated. The regu-
lar force Of the n~avy-yard proved in
adequate for the work on hand AM
sixty men were sent there from Cramps
ship yard. These included m~achinists,
shipwrights, bl~aeksniths and other
artisans.
New York, March 10.-Several hun
dred extra mechanics are employed at
the Brooklyn navy-yard. The dispatch
boat Dolphin has a swarm OF paint
ers and about 100 mechanics rushing
work upon her. Much work is being
done on the cruisers Chicago and At
lanta. Work on the torpedo boat
Stilleto Will be completed by the end
of the week when she will be ready
for sea.
POWERFUL RAPID-FIRE GUNS.
A test was made today of one of a
consignment of rapid-fire guns just re-
ceived from the Colt factory at Hart
ford. 1t is known as the six millimetre
rapid-fre automatic Colt, and is ca
able of firing 200 shots a minute with
a ang Of 1000 yards. The test proved
that the bullet would pass through a
steel plate q Of an inch thick, two
sides of a coil of pipe, 20 inches of wood
backing n another steel plate Of Is
of an inch in thickness. These guns,
of which ten lave arrived, will be used
along the rail of vessels against tor
| pedo boats and also in the fighting
top.
A large quantity Of ammunition for
use in the rapid-fire guns arrived at
the yard today.
ENGLAND OUR ALLY.
London, March 1O.-Mr. Ronald Nun
ron-Ferguson, liberal, asked the par
liamentary secretary for the foreign
office, Mr.. CurzCn, in the house Of COM
mons today, whether there is any truth
in the reports that communications on
the Cuban question have been excnang-
e1 between the British ambas s;.l0t at
Washington, Sir Julian Paun:efOte,
ard the government of the United
States.
Mr.. Curzon said that no cOmmulica-
tion had been exchanged.
Hon. Hubert Valentine DuIcombe,
| conservative, gave notice that he would
ask Mr.. Curzon whether, with the view
OF recognizing the identity of the in
terests of all English-speaking peoples,
her majeSty'S government will consider
the ACCESSIBILITY of placing the services
of the British fleet at the disposal CT
the United States, in the event Of COM
pl1cations between the United States
and any foreign power.
The question, however,, was not put.
Relative to the withdrawal Of his ques-
ton, Mr.. DuncOmbe said:
after consultation with my friends,
[ decided that the exact form Cf the
question mad it inOppOrtuna to put
ii. 1t was framed, owing to the widely
held opinion in the house of commons
that it is high time the foreign powers
| nCuld be told in unmiStakable terms
| that any blow struck at either Great
Britain or the United States was equal
ly g. blow at the other. l was profund-
ly convinced of This today. Many moro
members than I supposed would DO so,
came to me in order to say they heart
lily endorsed my question. l am con-
WINGED the government would Lave de-
| sired to answer my PROPOSED question
af11rmatively and would have done SO
it not involved other cOnSidera-
tens, beside expressing what l believe
the present government sincerely
| holds-that in the face of foreign COM
| plicatiOns the interests in the future Of
Great Britain and the United States
! are inseparably entwined. Today ? eX-
| preston and endorsement we Will
| eventuate so 500 as we can frame the
| question i'm the exact terms which
| Gle arly express the feeling of the house
| of commons-that any trouble threaten
| ing the United States will be shared
by Great Britain"
Other members of the house Of COM
mons VIII were interviewed on the
| same subject all spoke in d similar
| strain.
The New York correspondent Of The
Daily Telegraph says: Il nave 1t on
the highest authority that a triple al
! lance between Great Britain, the Unit
ed States and Japan is pending
SLOW WORK ON THE WRECK.
Havana, March 10.-Captain Samp-
| SON, who has been exposed to the sun
while on the wreck lately, is somewhat
in disposed today, but the doctor on
| the Montgomery says he has no APP
prehension of a serious illness.
The Spanish divers avoid the noon
| day heat, working in the morning and
| evening. Two divers were examined
! by the American court of inquiry to-
! day as to their recent observations at
the wreck.
The work of Wreckage appears very
slow. If any real progress is made 1t
| is scarcely apparent from day to day.
| Still, it is hoped that when the upper
| debris has been removed to the barge
] more bodies will be recovered. 1t may
| he, however, that the last body RETAIN
| ing a shape recognizable as human
! has been removed from the Maine.
Chaplain Chadwick today, from de-
| soriptiCns in enlistment papers, ldentl-
fled two bodies that We're buried at
| Colon cemetery together some days
| ago as those of Joseph I. Gordon and
! johnson, both colOred.
| The officers and men of the Mont
| gonery are still refused shore leave.
| The devote much time to drill and
! settling UP exercises, the latter exclt-
| ing much interest. especially TO the
| sailors ON the Spanish ships, where the
| tactics are quite different.
C~Onsul-General Lee called today on
| Commander Converse, of the Montgom-
cry. The congressional tourist are
likely to remain ten days or a fort
night, as the health regulations would