The evening times., 1899-10-13
bids FOR new CRUISERS
The Ships Can Be Bnilt With the
Money Available.
Many Firms Now Want the Con-
tracts-The Proposed Vessels to
Resemble the Raleigh and Ctncfn-
nati-Less Power and Reduced
speed-Triple Screws to BE Used.

officials whether shipyards, in view of the
rapid advance in STEEL could bid within the
limit of the appropriations for the six new
cruisers for which proposals are 10 be
opened on November /. Assurances have
already been received. however, indicating
that number of the firms will contract to
build the vessels for the money available.
The law limits the cost Of each to ST.
100, 900, but of this the Government re-
quires about $lG0. 600 10 equip each ship
after delivery to the Navy Department.
In order that the builders may be able TO
| undertake the vessels within the limit, 1t
is understood naval officials will waive the
amount that should be set aside for their
use, and ask for special appropriations to
cover the deficit; otherwise, ii is conceded,
it would be impracticable to build all the
vessels for the sums allowed with the pre-
vailing high price of steel. These vessels
are part Of the programme of increase of
the navy authorized at the last session
This programme also includes three large
battleships and three armored cruisers,
equal in steaming and fighting effective
nesss TO the most formidable of their type
in the British service.
Owing 10 the unsettled condition of the
steel market, and the failure of Congress
and the armor firms 10 come to terms, no
!
aration of the designs of any of these yes
sells, and no steps in that direction can be
taken until the Navy Department is au-
thoriZed to purchase armor at higher rates
than those now allowed by law.
So determined are the armor manufac-
| turers to force the Government to accede
to their demands, il is said, that it is real
iZed by ordnance officers that the Govern
ment must make its own armor or pay the
nrira demanded hy ha which have
furnished all the armor heretofore sup
Piled if the work of increasing the navy
is TO continue.
The firms are in a position TO concede
little, owing to the abundance of other
work which they declare is more profit
able than contracts with the Navy De-
partment. The six new cruisers, however,
require no armOr and can therefore be
built regardless of its cost. Should they
have had even thin protection on their
water lines, it is doubtful if the vessels
| could possibly be built under present con-
| ditions. In any event, they will be more
| costly for their displacement than many
of the recent ships of equal class that have
| been built.
In type these cruisers will be not unlike
! the Raleigh and Cincinnati, but with less
horsepower and reduced speed. The for
mer vessels have frequently been said to
I nave NAlbAAGS pOhtAlul tIOuSu IOl DdllIS-
| ships and as coal burners are the most ex-
pensive in the service. The new ships will
! have displacement of 3 100 tons, a speed
! OF seventeen knots, and large coal ca
! pacty and steaming radius of action. The
! interest manifested by shipbuilders indi-
Gates that bids viii be received from all
the leading firms Of the country, and pos
! sibly many of the smaller. A firm at
Richmond Va, is to be among the COM
. aT+A ~. L.
capacity TO undertake the work.
/ The firms which are certain TO bid are
the Cramps. the Newport News Company,
! the Bath Iron Works, the Harlan & Hol-
! lingswOrth Company, the Columbian Iron
Works. of Baltimore; the Maryland Steel
/ Company, and new firm which has just
begun operations at New York. The I'm
4 ion Iron Works. OF San Francisco, may
also enter the competition. With sheath
| ed bottom that will prevent fouling in
! tropical waters. fin keels, and a powerful
J battery OF rapid-fre guns, the new cruis-
/ ers are expected to be equal TO those of
| their class in any service, and superior
! to the Raleigh and Cincinnati in all i'm
! portaat points.
In awarding contracts the naval au-
| thoTities hope the ships may be so dis
! tributed that not more than two will go
TO one yard, and if the bids are such that
] firms can be awarded contracts, the de-
/ partment will be better pleased. as quick
| er work will be assured. The vessels
must be completed and turned over to the
! Government in two years from date of
contract.
1t is probable the next battleships built
J for the hayy will have triple screws that
will drive the vessels at tremendous
| rate of speed. The rapid strides made in
speed by warships in the last fifteen years
has been due not so much to the increased
number of screws, as to the power of the
engines eXerted on the single and double
/ screws. While the merchant marine is yet
! without three-screw vessels, there are
many in the French. German. and Ameri-
! can navies which under forced draft on a
short run, could outstrip the fieetest Amer
lean liners. These vessels were built as
| commerce destroyers and are designed to
oyertake the swiftest vessels afioat Great
| Britain. however, has never taken cor
| daily to the three-screw system and so
| far has applied it TO none of her war YES
sells.
Admiral Melville, the engineer-in- chief
of the navy, is one of the strongest advo-
Gates of the system, and to him is due the
credit for the Columbia and Minneapolis.
the fastest cruisers in the world. The big
Majestic and the Powerful, Englands su-
perb cruisers, are at least a knot behind
them in speed, but they have but two
| screws. Admiral Melville, il is said pro-
poses to have the new battleshps fitted
with triple screws if it is possible to secure
| the approval of the board on construction.
To put triple screws in battleships might
| involve reduction in armor protection
and ordnance.