The times., 1899-03-26

rines. Captain Forrest who was then the
| commandant OF the yard, ordered some
| OF the carpenters to repair the damage, he
| furnishing the material. When the Job
was completed the captain sent the bill,
which was a trifling one to the Navy De-
| partment. thinking that that ended the
| matter He was very much surprised to
| find in the return mail the bill accompan-
| led with the following directions: ''You
must send this account for judgment to
| the quartermaster Of marines, made out
| in favor of the purser of the navy yard
| When the money is received by the pur-
ser you Will direct him to deposit the
amount in the Treasury to the credit of
the Treasurer and charge himself with it
in his accounts and to forward the certifi-
cate of deposit TO the Fourth Auditor with
| a statement of the appropriation to be
| credited with it" Surely a naval officer
in these days must have been an all-round
| man.
Burned During the War of 1872.
During the second war with Great Brit
| ain, when the British forces invaded the
city the buildings and the few vessels ly-
ing at the wharves at the time were
burned. In 1918. when it began to look
as if some of the fighting would take place
| at Washington, the commandant of the
yard made several fruitless attempts to
! secure men enough to properly defend the
Governments property. On this account
when the enemy's forces finally did come
they met with no resistance.
The British army had had for some time
previous to the attack upon the city an
unobstructed path to Washington and un-
til they actually made their appearance in.
the suburbs at Bladensburg. it was hoped
hat
soon as the British soldiers arrived and
began burning the Capitol and other pub
! lie buildings the commandant of the yard
ordered the torch to be applied to every
thing infammabie in the yard. There were
large quantities of naval stores in the
sheds and in order to prevent their falling
into the hands of the British it was
thought well as a last resort to burn them.
Shortly after the retreat of the British
army from the city work was commenced
on new buildings to replace those destroy
ed by the fire. A little later when steam
began to be used for propelling warships,
engines and other machinery were made
there. About this time small shops were
built for the manufacture of guns. From
this small beginning has sprung the great
shops of today. Many of the guns on ships
which fought in the recent war were cast
and forged in Washington. When a big
RunSlOD a
the navy yard it is placed on fiat cars es-
pecially designed to carry a great weight
and shipped to the various navy and ship
yards where they are placed on the vessel
for which they were designed. A number
OF the guns of the Olympia, Admiral Dew
ey's flagship, were made here as were
some of the 13-inch rifles of the Texas.
Iowa, and Indiana. Experiments in max
ing armor plate and various shop mechan-
fCrf1
A Naval Museum.
Within recent years naval museum has
been established, in which are displayed
many valuable trophies of the navy gath
cred in times OF peace and war. The ex-
hibit includes relics from the Kearsarge.
which sunk the Alabama; from the Moni-
tor and Merrimac, and from many of the
vessels which engaged in the great battles
of the civil war.
1t may be recalled by those who live in
Washington that there is occasionally trou-
BILE among the mechanics and workmen en-
ployed at the yard who desire more pay or
fewer hours. Their disputes have arisen
at various times in the history of the yard,
but have always been amicably settled
The navy yard is dry place. In the
early history of the yard the records show
where the Government purchased from a
Georgetown merchant a large quantity of
good" whisky for 50 cents per gallon.
This was purchased for the men at work in
the yard. The carpenters and mechanics
for long time had been in the habit of
passing the pail" Frequently some of
the men would take their dinner buckets
and go outside the yard to a nearby sa-
loon, where they purchased whisky in CO.
pious quantities. The department finally
objected to this practice on the ground
that it took the men too much from their
work, and TO remedy the evil a quantity
OF the fiery liquid was purchased at bar
gain sale. It is not known whether it was
the extremely bad effect produced by the
cheap corn juice or whether the Navy De-
partment was suddenly become convert
TO the temperance party. but it is certain
that no intoxicating liquor is allowed in
the yard for consumption among the work
men.