Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-22

After the civil war. a. during the
past few months, the government was
demobiliEing and dis
Bids for Old posing of wartime
equipment. Some Of the
monltors. war engines were hard
to market-for example. the monitors
that had been built during the last
year of the war. In The Star Of June.
II. 1863. is the following item:,
Bids were this morning opened At
the bureau of construction and re-
pair. Navy Department, for the p,fr-
Nausett. 6uncook, Warsaw and Yazoo,
lying at League Island, Pa. and the
Casco and Chino. lying at the Wash
ington navy yard. But two bids were
received, the first of which was from
Richard Wallach. esq. of this city.
who proposes to take two OF those at
League Island, as the government may
determine. for the sum Of $IS0. 900
each. Msssrs. Alexander Purves &
Son Of Philadelphia, propose to pur-
chase the Yazoo for $a6,275. the War
saw for &23.060. the Suncook for s21,-
ESQ. the Nausett for s22,s75. the Koka
for $22.s2s. the Cohoes for $21,575, the
Casco for $14.126 and the Chino for
$l3.oTo. The proposals will be sGb-
mftted to the Secretary of the Navy
and the sale contaminated il the par
ties had bid over the appraised value"
inc next day it was announced that
all the bids had been rejected as be-
ing under the appraisal value of the
vessels. The monitors were held in
the market for further bidding
Much more important to the people
of Washington than the sale of mont
tors. however, was
Reducing the the reduction in the
Clerical Force. 49,. ,'m ms. asp spar,
was in progress for some time after
the restoration OF peace. The Star
of June IA. 1859, says:
THE order issued on Saturday last
directing the dismissal Of all general
service and temporary clerks and all
other clerks employed in the War De-
partment and various bureaus thereof
not authorized by law has been sus-
pended until the return Of Secretary
Rawlins. on Wednesday next. 1t was
thought the order will be 80 modified
by the Secretary as to retain a large
number Of those whose dismissals
were contemplated in the order of
Saturday, though the reduction will
be very heavy still. Quite large
clerical duty are engaged upon work
which cannot be dispensed with, and
as many OF them served faithfully in
the Union Army during the rebellion
an effort will be made by the Secre-
tary to retain them and dismiss only
spared. The order of Saturday Gre
ated great distress among the War
Department clerks, and Adjt. Gen.
Townsend since its PRONUNCIATION has
been besieged by wives and friends
of clerks in the various bureaus, be-
seeching him not to make the dis
missals."
In a later issue of The Star that
same week 1t was stated that the Sec
retary's order had been misconstrued
and that the dismissals would not be as
numerous as it was at first thought,
not exceeding 100 in all.
4
In the process of returning to a
pcdCS OASi1 IL was hSCS0SALy ~ VIC
mantle the forts
Dismantling aroun d washington
City Forts, f fenses Of the ca capital.
In The Star Of June Is. 1859. is
paragraph indicating the progress
along this line:
"Messrs. Smith and Rand. powder
loading here a schooner for New York
with 10000 pounds Of powder, pur-
chased by them at q government sale
at Fort Greble, near this city. a short
while since. The same firm purchased
eighty tons of powder at recent
government sale at Fort Corcoran,
which has been previously shipped.
This powder was sold in order that
Forts Greble and Corcoran may be
FdismantIed and abandoned, according
to an order from the War Department.
These forts were important links in