The herald., 1898-04-16
PICK OF OCEAN LINERS
ARE ALL TO BE ADDED TO THE
AUXILIARY FLEET
NEGOTIATIONS ARE RESUMED
For the Purchase of Formidable War
ships and Torpedo Boats From
Chile and Argentina
Associated Press Special Wire

WASHINGTON, April 15.-Several I'M
portant and decisive steps in the work Oh
war preparations were taken by the navy
department today. 1t was decided 10 as
sign the naval reserves of New YORK, New
Jersey. Massachusetts,, Maryland ano
Michigan to the five auxiliary cruisers
hereafter to be known as patrol boats. The
ouestiou of the American line steamers
was also wound up today with the deci-
sion to charter all four of them-the st.
Louis. st. Paul, Paris and New York. The
two first mentioned have already been ac-
oIlired by the department, though the form
of ACQUISITION was tentative, the DEPART
ment being undecided whether 1t word
purchase two only or charter all four. With
the announcement that these magnificent
ships have been added to the auxiliary
fleet came the statement that the depart
meut had purchased the Yorktown OF the
: Old Dominion line and the Yumuri of the
Ward line. With these additions, the fleet
of converted vessels now includes the pick
of the ocean liners and coasting vessels
running under the American flag.
But of greater moment than any of these
Developments was the reopenfng of the ne
gotiations for the purchase of two war
and Argentina. One of the cruisers is the
Chilean cruiser OHiggins, just completed
at an English yard and regarded as one Of
the most formidable of her class af1oat. 1t
is intimated that the international dispute
between Chile and Argentina was assum-
ing such satisfactory shape as to warrant
the presumption that they were not averse
to parting with a portion of their navies.
u. 10 fnr N a
fair way of removal. Mr.. Flint, who is con-
Quoting the negotiations, said that the
ablest and most conservative men in Chile
and Argentina are in favor of reducing the
naval establishment ard econ omizing ex-
penditures. 1t has been suggested that
Chile shall sell the OHiggins and one tor
pedo boat, while Argentina shall dispose of
their Garibaldi or the San Martin, both
fine cruisers, and two torpedo boats. This
would leave the two navies in about the
same respective condition.
Should Chile and Argen tina decide to sell
these vessels it will be to practically as
sure that they would be added to the naval
list of the United States.
Orders have been issued to the naval re-
serves of Massachusetts, Maryland, New
York and New Jersey to hold thems elves IN
readiness for duty on patrol ships, but the
militia will not actually go into service
aboard the ships until it Is certain that hos
tilities are to ensue. The patrol ships will
be assigned to the Atlantic coast line and
form part of the general plan of coast
defense. The scheme, as understood, is to
assign one of the patrol vessels to each of
the five divisions that have been mapped
out for the mosquito fleet, under command
of Commander Horace Elmer. These YES
sells will be the flagshtps Of their divisions
and will be under the command of naval
officer. These assignments have actually
been made.
The only other officer of the regular
navy aboard will be one engineer. The
rest of the officers and the crews are to
be made up of the naval reserve, with the
possible addition of volunteers. If volun-
teers are assigned to them, they most
probably will be the regular officers and
crews of the ships, it being the desire 81
the department to retain as many of these
men as possible.