The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-04

the navy numbered 1870 petty officers
and 10.131 men and apprentices, a total
of Il. sol. OF this number $500 were serv-
ing under continuous-serv certifi-
Gates.
1t is gratifying to note the continued
Improvement in the enlisted force and
the increase of the percentage of Amer
lean citizenship. Eighty eight per cent
of the petty officers are citizens of the
United States and 65 per cent of the
remainder have declared their inten-
ton Of becoming citizens. Seventy
per cent of the enlisted men are citizens
and As per cent of the remainder have
declared their intentions of becoming
citizens
During the last fiscal year 2S1. 1853 tons
OF coal were purchased at total cost
of S1,679 ,510.55, as compared with 452, SOL
tons purchased during the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1898, at a total cost of
S2,I22,O05.28 The average price per ton
during the past year exceeded by 81. 20
the average of the previous year.
During the past year 1888 observa-
TONS of the sun, moon and planets, to-
gether with such stars as were required
for special purposes. have been made
cles. The 26-inch telescope has been
almost exclusively employed in spec
troscopic observations, and on faint and
difficult objects. Four hundred and
sixty-six observations have been made
on stars with the prime vertical transit
instrument. and 742 observations upon
ia stars have been made with the new
steel altaZimuth instrument.
There are 16 branch hydrographic
offices at present established in the
United States, which are of great ser
vice to the merchant marine. These
offices are established in sea and lake
ports and are in charge of naval Off
GERS. who give information upon re-
quest and distribute the pilot charts of
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. which
are issued monthly. They also collect
a large amount of nautical information
which is of great value to the hydro
] graphic office in the preparations of
! publications
THE PACIFIC CABLE.
The increased Importance of orr
| possessions in the Pacific led YOU to
| recommend to the last congress the es-
adjustment of a Pacific cable, and the
] department, in furtherance of this OBJ
1ect, has recently had a survey made of
| a cable route from Honolulu to the
Phllppine islands, the route from San
francisco to Honolulu having been sur
/ Veyed some years ago. The Nero, which
! mad been used as a collier during the
late war, was thoroughly fitted out and
/ equipped for deep-sea work at the Mare
Island navy yard in the early part of
| the present year, and sailed from Homo
| lulu on the 9th of May, via the Midway
| Islands and Guam, to a point on the
east coast of the island of Luzon, where
she arrived on Aug. l, having made IS;
soundings. The length of the route is
48l2 knots. The reports received from
1 the preliminary line of soundings indi-
cate that the route will prove entirely
practicable.
COALING STATIONS.
This board reported to the depart
/ ment under date of August 16. 1895
and recommended the establishment o
coal pockets and modern coaling ia
cilities at the following places: French
mans Bay, Maine; Portsmouth, N. H.
| Boston, Mass; New London, Conn
! New York, n. Y; League Island, Pa.
! Washington, D. c.; Norfolk, Va, anc
| Port Royal, S. c.
At the beginning of the war will
spain Honolulu was the only foreign
port in which the United States pos
sessed coaling facilities During tn
! civil war coal depots were established
in a number of foreign ports.
The conditions existing at the out
| break If the war with Spain in thi
respect have been much improved il
the waters Of the West Indies and il
| the Pacific ocean, where the govern
ment OF the United States has receHA
ly acquired extensive possessions. Nh,
department has taken steps to provid
| in these new possessions such facilitie,
| as the means at its command permits
! for the storage of coal and for the es
Enlistment of naval stations with tn,
necessary plants for making ordinary
repairs to vessels Of war.
During the past year 60 guns for tn,
main batteries of vessels have beer
| completed at the naval gun factory
namely, four 13-inch, four S-inch
| eighteen 6-inch, twenty-five 5-inch anc
fifteen 4-inch; and seventeen other.
have been assembled and are well ad
vanced, viz: One 1S-inch. four S-inch
eight 6-inch, and four 5-inch Twenty.
eight guns of ordinary type have beer
| converted to apid-fring guns, viz
Twenty-Five 6-inch and three 4-inch.
1t is proposed to supply all new
ships with smokeless powder. and the
! powder for the Kearsarge, Kentucky
and Alabama is now ready for them
! The older vessels will also be supplied
as rapidly as possible.
A contract was made on April 10 fol
! the construction of the steel floating
| dock, authorized by the act of March
! 4, 1898 to be erected at Algiers, La, foi
! the sum of $4,000 The dock is under
| construction, and it is expected that II
will be ready for use in November, 1900
For rhe four craving dry docks al
| Portsmouth, Boston, Mare Island, and
! League Island, appropriated for by the
same act, as modified by the act OF
March g. 1899, contracts have beer
made, the first two, under the author
| ity Of the act, to be of granite or con-
crete lined with granite.
The number of large, swift, and
powerful armored cruisers of great
coal endurance in our navy is largely
disproportionate to the rest of the naval
| establishment. The experience of the
last year has also shown the need of
several smaller vessels usually classed
as gunboats. 1t is, therefore, recon-
mended that congress be requested to
authorize the construction of the fol-
| lowing vessels:
First. Three armored cruisers of
about 10000 tons trial displacement. of
| a maximum draft at deep load not to
! exceed 26 feet CARRYING tho baa,da.+