Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-23
Transports at the Disposal of the
War Department.
TRANSPORTATION MEANS SUFFICIENT
All Volunteers May Be in Manila
by the Last Of December.
FITTING UP THE SHIPS

The quartermaster's department of the
| army. which is employing every means at
| its disposal for the transportation of troops
| to the Philippines, has prepared the follow
| ing statement the subject:
The following ships will be available to
| carry the first ten regiments and recruits
| to Manila. getting them there about the 1st
| OF November: Puebla, Warren, Columbia
| Charles Nelson, Sherman, Belgian King,
Hancock. Grant, Tacoma, Sheridan Glen
| oge, PENNSYLVANIA, Valencia and Zealandia,
with probably two three additional char
tered vessels.
THE above will not interfere with getting
the last ten regiments to Manila by the lat
ter part of December. The quartermaster' s
department has. in addition to the above
ships, for the purpose of carrying the sec
ond ten regiments, the following: City of
Para, Tartar, Ohio Newport, Indiana Nor
gan City, Senator, City of Sydney. ST Paul,
Puebla from San Francisco, and the Thom-
as, Logan and Meade from New York
Construction of New Troopships.
Inc great success achieved by the quar-
termaster'S department in the construction
of the troopships Grant Sherman and Sher-
idan has induced the War Department to
increase the number of such ships Three
of the largest army Transports which were
used on the West Indian station during and
aller the Spanish war. have been selected
Tor thls purpose, and are now being remod-
eled into troopships. These are the Logan
Meade and Thomas. The first two named
are now in process of refitting and removal
tlon IN Brooklyn, and the Thomas is being
remodeled at the Cramps ship yard. Phila-
delphia. Notwithstanding the extensive
character of the alterations being made to
the SHIPS, 1t is expected that they will be
pf md ,Jyrf f,N,,
or troops to the Philippines by the 1st Of
November at the latest. The three vessels
nave an aggregate capacity of about 5000
men.
carry one entire regiment and one battalion
OF another regiment. with ample room for
the wives and families of the officers and
non-commissioned officers
Every Comfort Provided.
The plans of the new troopships are
drawn so as to provide every possible COM
fort and convenience for the troops. and If
is expected that they will be even superior
In this respect to their predecessors. the
Grant, Sheridan and Sherman. which ex-
cited the admiration of the military experts
OF Europe during their progress over the
Mediterranean and Suez route last winter.
included in the fittings will be metallic
1oidlng Dunks, supported by steel tubes
arranged three In a tier; shower baths and
Iresh meat to be issued en- route The
bridge and spar decks will almost entirely
be given up to the ships officers and the
army. The office of the army uuarterma s.
ter Will be on the bridge deck and state
rooms for officers and their families and
an omcers' reading and writing room For
ward on the spar deck there will he a
writing room for enlisted men. On the spar
deck there will also be a dining room for
ClncefS, with seating capacity of sixty
Two siX-pounder rapid-fire guns will he
mounted forward on the spar deck and two
aft. N wv
On the Main Deck
On the main deck will be the quarters for
the crew and petty officers non-commis
stoned officers, mess rooms, shower baths
Tor the soldiers, fremen and crew hos
pltal with an isolation ward, operating room
and diet kitchen; meat choppins ma
chine operated by electricity, with a ca
pacity of 800 pounds an hour: steam cooI-
ing apparatus a distilling apparatus cold
storage room, with butcher shop adioin
ing; dough- mixing and coffee-grinding ma
chlnery, operated by electric motors: quar-
ters for non-commissioned officers lam
llles, two steam launches swung in davis
1our new twenty-seven-foot lifeboats in
ADDITION to the present outfit and eight
HE RATS. each with a capacity of twenty
five people.
Ihere will probably be 700 tiers of hunks
ior the men arranged on the two decks be-
low the main deck, leaving ample room for
Ielrlseratlng apparatus and stores The
total cost of altering the three vessels will
be about $750O0O.