The San Francisco call., 1903-12-07

at Chatham The new ships are of
1880 tons, $4,000 horsepower and
eighteen knots speed, carrying bate
ries of four Pinch, four 9.2-inch, ten
6-inch and twenty-five smaller guns,
and the cost of each ship ready for.sea
is about 1920, ,O0O
Commandants in British dockyards.
or, as they are designated. admiral SUI
perintendents. are, allowed greater dis
cretion and responsibility than similar
officials in the United States navy
yards. There is rule in British dock
yards which lays down that the annual
wages shall be apportioned into fifty
two equal parts and expended exactly
each week, whether the yard has
much or little work to do. and this
rule, of course, initiates seriously
against the efficiency and output of the
yard Admiral Henderson of the Dew
onport dockyard, is evidently thor
ough business man and a wide-awake
administrator, for he has discarded this
absurd rule and spends the money with
due regard to the exigencies of the
service, which lately enabled him to
prepare for sea six battle-ships and
cruisers in six weeks, well within the
specified limit of time and cost. The
proper distribution of expenditure of a
lump sum over period of fifty-two
weeks involves some labor and requires
good judgment on the part of the Of
fetal in charge, while an evenly dis
tributed outlay for each week reduces
the superintendent responsibility ma
terially.
The destroyer Shark has again met
with serious accident She was one
of the vessels to meet the King and
Queen of Italy on their recent visit to
England, and while maneuvering in
the Channel a burst of steam was OBJ
served to come from one of her fun
nels. No particular notice was paid
to this at the time, but when the de-
stroyer was examined in Stokes Bay at
night it was found that the face of
one of the high pressure cylinders had
cracked completely across. There had
been marvellous escape from a disas
trous explosion, for had the cylinder
not held together it is probable that all
in the engine room would have been
killed. The vessel was at once taken
to a dockyard to undergo repairs that
will require months time
SERVICE FOR CHAPLAINS.
The admiralty announces that a sys-
tenn of short service for chaplains is to
be adopted in the navy. Under this
scheme a chaplain will be able to re-
tire from the service after completing
six, eight, ten, twelve or sixteen years,
receiving a gratuity of from $500 to
- hi ,f
ice. This regulation applies to chap
lains now in the navy. Hitherto. the
retired pay ranged from $3.50 to s2460,
according to length of service of four
to over eleven years, but under the new
scheme the lump sum in gratuity set
ties for one and all the claims of the
chaplains on the Government.
Lieutenant ]. S. S. Penrose, attached
to the cruiser Spartan, has been court
martialed for drunkenness while on
duty and sentenced to six months loss
of seniority, severe reprimand and dis
missal from his ship. When placed un-
der arrest he jumped overheard and
narrowly escaped drowning His ex-
cuse before the court was that he had
been to a dentists and that. the pain,
anesthetic and a small quantity of
whisky was responsible for his condi-
tion.
One hundred and three seamen have
been recruited at Halifax for~the Brit
ish Naval Reserve. The men are en-
gagged at the fishery during the sum-
mer and have signed for service in the
navy for period of six months at full
pay. They will return to their. houses
next spring to attend to their own.
work. drawing reduced pay and retain
ing their membership in the Naval Re-
serve. The new recruits while they
have not the smart appearance of the
trained men Of the navy. are hardy.
seamen and good material The new
corners are placed on board the cruis
ers Charybdis and Ariadne, attached
to the North Atlantic squadron.
A serious accident was narrowly
averted in the French navy recently.
The armored cruiser Kleber while on
her steam trial off Cherbourg was at
tackled by the submarine boat Al
gerine. The cruiser put on spurt
after the submarine, which did not
sink quickly enough, and was struck
by the propellers of the Kleber. The
Algerine, however. came to the sur
face uninjured, except the railing on
deck, which had been carried away,
while the cruisers propeller shaft
had become twisted and the ship had
to be docked for repairs. The fact
that the shaft could get twisted or
get out of line by coming in contact