The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-07-09
Naval Bureaus Are Rath-
er Reticent.
BUT ACTIONS SPEAK
Much Coal Going Forward to the
Pacific Goa st-Ships in state OF
Preparedness for Seryice-Prog-
res on Guns for Our Amcri-
can Dreadnaughts.

Washington u. g, July 6.-Heads
OF naval bureaus manifest singular
ignorance of the plans Of the admins
tration 10 send the battleship fleet TO
the Pacific Notwithstanding o:fic al
confirmation Of the reports that had
been so frequently denied in the be-
ginning These bureau chiefs assert
shat they are engaged only In the rou-
tine work OF the department, and that
they are making no unusual prepara-
tions for the great undertaking They
also assert that they have had no or
ders TO do otherwise. ON the surface
there are few signs Of abnormal ac-
tivity in Wash .ngton many OF the
chiefs are away; the naval general
board is scattered: the usual proper
ton Of subordinate employees are on
leaves of absenSe. and the war ana
navy departments appear TO be IN the
usual summer lethargy.
But il is undeniable that the plans
of the department workers for this
particular summer fit in very well
with the exigencies OF the moment.
In the matter of coal supply. for in
stance, it may be that the movement
Of this fuel to the far east and the
Pacific coast is simply equal to the
average demands of the naval ser
vice In fact, it is said that the coal
would have gone forward before this
had the money been available, which
it was not until the beginning OF the
new fiscal year Then the supply of
reserve naval guns and ammunition
and of torpedoes is found to be much
nearer the needs of the service than
it has ever been before at this season
of the year. The construction OF guns
for the new ships is progr essing very
Well and without doubt the arma-
ment will be found to be ready by
the. time the contractors have finish
ed the hulls and fittings of the ships.
Headway has even been made in the
fabrication of the great guns for the
two bigs 10000 ton battleships, al
though the contracts for these have
not been finally signed.
Indications of Business.
Only the routine expenditures un-
der the ordinary heads of appropria-
ton for construction and repair and
on account of yards and docks are
being made on either the Atlantic or
Pacific coasts, according to the Off
cials here, but as Secretary Metcalf
pointed out one OF the items is a dry
dock at the naval station at Puget
sound. and it would not be surprising
If a special effort were made to dredge
out the channel at the Mare Island
Navy Yard so as to make the dry
dock accessible to the deep draught
battleships, which 1t is not now.
Last year the navy department
found it impossible to spend all Of
the money that Congress had appro-
priated for the building and opera
ton OF machinery plant in the
Bremerton navy yard. That was be-
cause the materials could not readily
be had. but more serious difficulty
was the lack of trained mechanics and
skilled labor. AS this is the only dock
on the aPcific coast now ready to
handle, a big battleship, some special
inducement must be held out by the
depa rtment to get trained navy yard
workers to make their homes In
Bremerton and it is believed that
steps have already been taken in this
direction.
Altogether notwith standing the to-
tai absence of any appearance Of fur
ry or anxiety among the few officials
who remain in Washington. il is
patent that much useful work is be-
ing done in a quiet way to put not
only the navy but the army coast de-
fenses in as good condition as the ap-
propriations made by Congress will
permit.