The San Francisco call., 1898-03-25
ACTIVITY AT
 MARE ISLAND All the Talk at the Navy Yard Is Now of
 War.
Blue Jackets, Marines and Off, cers Envy Their Brethren
 in the East and South.
Spirit of Patriotism Possessed by the Mechanics, Who Are Rushing
 w Ork on the Warships.
Special Dispatch to The Call.


 VALLEJO, March 24-All the talk here is for war. "Jackies" speak in en- vious tones of the fellows who are serving on the Atlantic coast; the ma rines who pace the peaceful sentry beats of Mare Island are as alert as though they momentarily expected to stumble upon a landing force from some Spanish warship while the of1l- cerS hustle about in the full glory or their brilliant uniforms, hopeful that the authorities at Washington will rec ognize the value of their swords ana summon them to more promising scenes of activity. Even the hundreds of shipWrightS, calkers, triggers, 1ouh- drymen, machinistS and other mechan- ics employed at the yard go at tnelr work with a vim that shows thelr hearts are in their work, and that It needs no overseer to hurry them along.
 Not for years has there been so large a force employed as at present, ana day and night the navy yard is aglow with the glare of furnaces ana re- sounds with the ring of hammers. sun day sees no cessation of the war prep arations, every available man ana boy working day and night, with no inter vening day of rest.
 The cruiser Philadelphia has been hauled in from the stream and lies alongside the quay wall, near the Charleston. The gunboat forKtow1 Il has also been lowed to the wall, and all three ships fairly swarm with men at all hours The Charleston Is rapidly nearing completion, and will De ready to go into commission in compara- lively short time. The Yorktown, too' is nearly ready for sea, and the pur- chase of supplies for both is now being made.
 The Philadelphia will take longer to get ready for service, but those Tn Charge of the work on her say she will be completed by the time her guns get here. When she went out of commls- sion her guns were shipped 10 WaSn- ington to be remOdeled into rapld-nre pieces. a work that requires considera- ble time. When orders were received to get her ready for sea at once 1t was reported that the YorktoWns S guns would be mounted on her, put thlS seems hardly probable, as they are comparatively small and few in num- ber and the big cruiser would De no more effective with them than the smaller craft would be, so it IS likely that she will wait here until her own weapons are returned to her.
 No assignment of officers to either of these three ships has been made yet, and there is much speculation as to who will be placed in command or them. Moreover, men will have to De enlisted to make up their crews, for 1 there are only a few available seamen at the yard There are at present 196 marines at the yard and when details have been told off for the three ships more men will have to be enlisted Tor that branch of the service, provided all the ships now on the coast are kept in commission. Then there arises the question of seamen and marines for the revenue cutters, provided they are transferred to the navy. Those vessels ordinarily carry only enough men to work the ship, and if more guns are mounted it will be necessary to provide larger crews. So it looks as though there is likely to be a heavy demand for sailors and marines Tn the imme- diate future.
 Lieutenant Commander Thomas s. Phelps Jr., formerly executive officer of the receiving-ship Independence, who accompanied President Dole of Hawaii on his trip to Washington as naval aid, has been appointed chief aid to Rear-Admiral Kirkland, com mandant of the Mare Island Navy !