Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-05-05
ARMY BOATS ARE COSTLY

port service. but the copies have not
been placed in the document rooms at
the capitol for general distribution
among the members of congress.
The report is stacked up in the big
printing shop and the superintendent
IF that establishment refused to per-
init copy to get outside the build
ing except upon the order of a MEM
Der of congress. Chairman Hull of
the house military committee refused
to give this order. as did several other
republican members of the com
mittee, some of whom ad-
mitted that il contained so many
confessions of extravaganza and in
competency, if not actual dishon-
esty, that il was not advisable to
distribute the report at time when
n very much alive democratic con-
Sressional committee was casting
about for campaign material. Final
~ an accommodating congressman
was found who gave the necessary
order. The superintendent of the
printing office, after considering the
matter over night, decided TO honor
the order.
The chief feature of the document,
which consists of over 700 pages of
printed matter, is the report made
by Lieut.. Col. j. l.. Chamberlain, who
was instructed by the secretary of
war to make an investiga ton of the
management of the transport SER
vice. The fact that stands out bold
est is that the army transports on
the Pacific coast have already cost
the government SD, 500, O72.S2. Some
of the details as to where this money
went are interesting. The transport
Meade gives a splendid example of
the way in which the officials made
free with the governments funds.
This vessel was purchased for $780,
900. 1t was twenty-seven years old
at the time it came into possession
of the war department and was no
torious as coal consumer. The re-
port says that the Meade requires
from one-third to one-half more coal
than any other transport. while the
capacity for carrying troops and
freight is fully one-third less than
many of the boats in the feet Since
1t has been in the hands of the gov
eminent S5SO.O0O has been expended
i'm repairs. Experienced ship builders
say that the amount put in ON re-
pairs for the Meade is sufficient to
have built two transports of equal
carrying capacity.
Things were made comfortable for
the officers on board the Hancock.
which as Il floating luxury leads the
list of transports. ~having cost the
government S1.2O9 122.O6. Col. Cham
berlain admits that the charges of
extravaganza seemed to be substan-
tiated, for when examining the
vouchers of this vessel he discovered
that the commander slept in Il brass
bed which cost S44. His head rested
on four live geese feather pillows
which were sold to the government
at Sf.10 each. One leather easy chair
i'm his cabin cost Sf6.75. while there
were three other Iounging chairs in
the officers quarters which cost $44
each. On the couch in the com
mander's office were two silk cover
ed down pillows, each of which cost
$3.50. The berth curtains in the of
hcerS rooms were of silk and each
cost $50. while there were numerous
silk down comforts which cost $3.50
The bath tubs on the boat that were
put in for the use of the officers were
of solid marble. They were so heavy
that when the overflow plumbing be-
came broken il was impossible to
move the tubs to make repairs with
out proper machinery. so that the
troops who were quartered below
had TO suffer the Inconvenience of
h..
baths drip down their backs until
the vessel returned to San Francisco
The report shows that the crews of
the transports are Il great deal larger
than necessary if it be fair TO make
comparison with other vessels plying
the Pacific waters. The Hancock had
a crew of 175. while the Mariposa of
the Oceanic Steamship company. car
ries a crew of only ninety. While the
Hancock is of Il greater gross tonnage
she carries only fifty cabin passen-
gers. There were fifty-two employees
in the stewards department.. On the
Mariposa, with 200 cabin passengers
and a large number in the steerage.
the stewards crew got along fairly
well. although it numbered only
The wages of the crew
on the Hancock are nearly four times
as great as on the Mariposa. These
large crews. the report asserts, were
built up because of the anxiety of the
officers in charge to favor politicians.
The officers lived in luxury and a
large part of the expense of each
vessel was paid out for delicacies
furnished for their mess. Clerks as
well as officers had staterooms to
themselves and there was a general
air of extravaganza. Repairs were
made in free and easy manner.
The report asserts that the trans
port officials permitted the govern
ment to be swindled outrageously by
the contractors.
Col. Marion Il. Maus investigated |
the coal supply at the various stop
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