Evening star., 1923-11-04
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS
BY NJ. H. MCINTYRE


ooo.>, It was declared further that
data vital to their safe movement
come to the photographic ONCE In
preference to the civilian bureau
This is explained. it is believed. by
the more comprehensive charts turned
out by the photographer. The hun
dreds of so-called bottle letters" and
reports on marine phenomena OF 5vari-
sns etsd
| evidence of its wide popularity.
These contributions are entirely vol
untary and are furnished gratis by
shippers of every country toward the
general good. Recently an announce
ment was made of a formal contract
| entered into by the government for
the gathering of reports on weather
at sea. When the weather bureau
were received in multitudinous de-
tail without cost.
A story vividly illustrating one OF
the objections of sailors to the usual
harbors for years. The navigator Of
a ship entering San Francisco bay
set about charting his berth In the
manner routine throughout the
seven seas. namely. taking. sights"
upon the most prominent objects on
shore at various points. As every
visitor to the Golden Gate recalls.
these include the ferry house and
Oakland city hall. Having carefully
checked his bearings on these. the
navigator turned to plot them on his
| harbor chart, but found them non
| existent, SO far as that document In
tdicated. Instead. obscure lights. in
visible in the slightest weather. were
given as focii.
Rear Admiral L. E. Gregory. chief of
! the bureau of yards and docks, will
leave Washington this week for a tour
| of inspection of public works and public
utilities of the North Atlantic coast sta
tions: On November he will deliver
an address before the Naval War Col
lege and will return to the department
on November IS.
Opening Of the Naval Academy on
of midshipmen ever at the academy at
one time, total Of 2.498 by classes, as
follows: First class. 531; second class,
sol; third class. 5S1: fourth class. ss5.
| tion of candidates for midshipmen from
| enlisted personnel, the following Is the
number that will begin. instruction on
November l at the special preparatory
at Hampton Roads and San Diego: At
the former, 128 enlisted men of the
Navy and IA marines; at the latter, So
naval enlisted men and 2 marines; a
total of 213.
The course Of instruction will con-
tinue until April 16, when the COM
petitive examination will be held The
one hundred passing the highest in the
as midshipmen should that number
qualify.
Lieut.. Gail Morgan. operations officer
OF the hight division, OF the bureau Of
| aeronautics since the creation of the
bureau over two years ago, has been
detached to the aircraft squadrons.
oat.ie meet. based at San Diego. Lieut..
In command of destroyer in the
Asiatic fleet. has been detailed to the
bureau OF ordnance In charge of the
aviation ordnance section and will take
up his new duties this week
The cruiser Concord went into COM
mission yesterday at Philadelphia
and is slated for a shake-down cruise
that will take her to South African
waters, starting the latter part Of
this month.
Reports to the Navy Department
indicate that Naval Reserves are
making satisfactory headway in
aviation. Green men are being train :,
ed with excellent results. For in.
stance; eighteen are being trained at
New York and at Spuntum they are
flying about fifty hours a week, with
but two planes in service.
Washingtonians this week had an
| the powerful new cruisers, the ex-
cellent performance Of which Is a
| matter of pride to the service The
cruiser Richmond, fresh from a long
shake down cruise, has been at Alex
andria and at the navy yard here for
several days. She brought the bodies
Of the sailors who died during the
1918 influenza epidemic in Brazilian
| take part in the ceremonies attend
ant on the laying Of the corner stone.
Friday. OF the George Washington
| memorial.
Departure Of Capt. Luke McNamee,
for two years director of naval in
telligence, for the west coast yester-
| day to assume command of the bat
tleship Tennessee, Is generally viewed
with regret throughout the depart
ment. His constructive work here.
| particularly along the line of indoc-
trination of the service with the
necessity and wisdom of keeping
the the public Informed Of the .actiyi-
departmental heads as of great
value. He is to be succeeded by
Capt. H. H. Hough. now.in the Virgin
Islands. who. however. will not be
until relieved by Capt. Philip Will
| liams. In the meantime, Commander:
w. w. Galbraith. who succeeds Capt
| c. r. Miller, now on leave and who
retires December 81, will be acting
| director. .-
Extracting water from the exhaust
gases OF airship engines to compen-
safe for the weight Of the fuel that
Is burned when the ship Is cruising
Is one OF the developments which
| have been perfected by the Navy De-
partment in connection with building
| The invention will result in great
| saving OF the heltum gas with which
the airship is inflated and the elimi-
nataion Of the expense involved : in
the necessity for valving. helium. to
keep the ship in equilibrium: The I
principle on which experts Of the
is the condensation Of the moisture
| in the engine exhaust by a relatively
simple apparatus. On long flights the
consumption OF fuel lightens the shin
| in the same manner and with the
| same effect as would be had from dis
| charging ballast This results in a
tendency to rise to higher attitudes
| and can only be overcome by releas-
ing some OF the imitation gas through
| the valves which are provided and
| thereby decreasing the lifting power
| Of the ship. In tests which have been
made the apparatus has proved to be
about 100 per. cent> >efficient-that is.
| an excess Of water is recovered over
the weight Of fuel consumed In
given time, assuring the success of
the device. 49,, -.
tn Crit G1a0u TuErnS