Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-08
Places an Emergency Fund of $5O,OOOOOO at the
Presidents Disposal.
Spain Officially Disavows Request For Consul
General Lees RecaIl-Montgomery Going to
Havana-More ArtiIery-Purchase of
Warships Planned

needs, so that a fair proportion of The
| $50, ,0OO,0 900 would have to go to the war
department. These are abundant sup
plies of shot, shell and powder. The army
| is as short as the navy of these essen
t1al stores. 1t has been found that there
Will not be nearly as much difficulty in
securing modern arms for the navy,
even on war footing as was anticipa-
ted. This is because certain private gun
makers have just brought out type of
repeating rifle very similar in general
features to the army rifle, using the
same cartridge of 30-gauge, and with
about as great rapidity of fire The
plants of these companies are so extern
slVe that they could turn the arms out
very rapidly, so that the Springfield in
the hands of the militia could be re-
placed in short order
1t is said that no contracts for the pur-
chase of naval ammunition have been
closed, but the department has informed
itself fully as to how speedily it could
secure every kind of ammunition and
supplies in case of emergency. This in
quiry has shown that the facilities of
this country are ample to meet ny de-
maad for powder, projectiles, cartridge
cases, primers, fuses, etc. These supplies
are not kept in stock, however, and in
case of emergency they would have to
| be made on orders. 1t is said that the
luTnlIlR
brown prismatic powder required by the
naval department is 100000 pounds
month, which would more than meet the
demands of a conflict
While no exact estimate has been
| made of the share of the $50, ,00O,0 900 ap-
preparation to be allotted to amnlsni-
ton, it is roughly estimated that at
least $l0000,000 would be assigned, ow-
ing to the enormous cost of refilling the
ammunition chests of the warships now
in service. AT present there is not
enough ammunition on hand for one re-
filing beyond that now on board. A
single refilling costs $4,000, 900 Each
first class battleship carries 400 tons of
ammunition. With the amounts on
hand, and the refills which are being
calculated on, the navy would have an
ample supply of ammunition, even if
the ship were called into frequent ac-
ton.
The appropriation of $5O,OOO,0 900 for
the national defense will not involve the
issue of bonds. This announcement was
made by the treasury officials, who
stated that the treasury was amply pre-
pared to meet any demands that will
likely be made upon it, On Feb. 1 the
cash in the treasury amounted to $685.
81, 766, of which $204 063971 was gold.
$511, ,S5S,S3 silver, $107, ,564, 958 paper cur
rency, and $93,0S4, ,004 disbursing officers
dNdlidDIG
on hand, above all liabilities amounts
to $225, ,564, 203.
1t is not felt at the navy department
that the people of Montgomery are tax
ing any particular risks in going to
Havana at this time for it is said that
even should hostilities break out, it is
a rule of honorable warfare that they
be given safe convey out of the waters
of the hostile country. OF course Gen.
Lee and members of the court of in
quiry at Havana would be equally ex-
empt from molestation. The command
er of the Montgomery is Commander
Converse. The ship carries a crew of
22S men of all classes
Without delay the officers of the ad-
jutant generals department today gave
| orders for recruiting the two new artil-
lery regiments authorized by congress.
The purpose is to enlist such men as
have had service in the artillery Wher-
ever possible, and no doubt is enter
tanned that plenty of material of the
right kind will offer. The officers of the
new regiment are now being selected.
1t is the plan to assign 10 soldiers from
existing artillery regiments as the nu-
cleus of each new company to take hold
of and break in the new men who are
enlisted The headquarters of one of
the new regiments will be established
at Fort Slocum, in Long Island sound,
commanding New York. The destina-
tion Of the other regiment has not been
decided upon.
No report has come to the navy de-
partment since Saturday, relative to the
work of the court of inquiry at Hav-
ana and the news is confined toNthe re-
ports of the newspapers, which are
carefully scanned by the officers.
The Castine, which was docked at
Port of France, has sailed for Barba-
dos. The torpedo boat Winslow has ar
| rived at Charleston en- route to Key
West The Oregon, which has been fit
ted with bilge keels at the Bremerton
dock, on Puget sound, has sailed to
| San Francisco.