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November, 1909 "tactical value" but that already been its value "as is demonstrated by the department's mas- terly retreat to the 12-knot speed. called the er speed, appraised at of the high- has actual Justification of Criticism. Who will say in the face of these facts that the criticism of the naval administration is unjustifiable? If the public knew where to look they could uncover enough such instances to war- rant wiping the department out of existence. We never hear the last of the demands for mofe money for col- liers and auxiliaries. Why is the whole fleet of scrap colliers, for which we paid such fancy prices when war broke out, lying at navy yards while a horde of hungry foreigners are chartered to carry the ee coal? The navy will go to any length to avoid extending a helping hand to the' merchant marine. It would empty the United States treasury into the hands of foreign ship owners rather than give a dollar of it to American ships. It, as well as the army, have had even the coasting laws suspended in order to be able to give the business to for- eigners. Assurances to the _ contrary Attention has been heretofore drawn; to departmental reports in pointing - the interminable delay in the exec tion of "urgently needed" work. Tigfe latest reports furnish additional gn- lightening examples, not without Jnu- morous features, as, for instance, ifs is evidently thought worth while to {note that under an appropriation magje in March, 1907, a contract for a /water- closet in the Boston navy ve rd was completed within the time * specified. ihe: bureau has apparently become ashamed of continually repg orting "no- thing doing" on the wire rc ope mill for this yard, authorized in" 1904, as it only teferred to it as Ppeing in the plan and specification stay Be. lhe. Gry dock authorized in 1898" is _ completed." At Charleston rapid I yrogress on the dry dock authorized in i 1901 is being made; the erection of 4 the pump house has been begun, and j{>lans for bilge and keel blocks have beey.n made. It is confidently expected that: some day the dock will be available... Work is also progressing, or at leas t expenditures are shown, on numerou s other items which have been authori, 'zed for seven Or eight years... i Guam hasn't assumed muc -h importance yet, so a building authori: zed in 1903 could hardly be expected tc » have got- ten very far, but it is alread y occupied. sg are not made in good faith. Zt "practically TAE Marine Review At Guantanamo work has started on the dry dock the department has been begging for four years and the work done during the year was chiefly for keeping the site pumped out so as 10 preserve the timber trestle work. The cemetery was also improved by work on the road leading thereto and will doubtless be even more popular than before. The bureau of yards and docks spent $15,500 towards the construction of the new dock but $23,000 for main- tenance... It required a lieutenant com- mander four months and an ensign six months, a chief boatswain and a chief carpenter to watch 33 men drive a few threads of oakum into the deck of a tug, patch up three coal barges and build a 14-ft. rowboat during the year. The cost. of all this is not included ing®™ reau sf yards and docks, At Mare island the @ thorized over 11 yeagg has progressed sqft vation had beep , Gol au- gfago (in 1898) @far that the exca- "pumped out and the actual buildigf€ started. The contract for the Caisson was also let. Progress "quite @@tisfactory.' Not a word about contrage tors (yet). # Winat the New Orleans Station Did. At New Orleans the money for the upkeep of the naval station is still flowing into the Mississippi. It cost r. - $337,490 for the year, exclusive of la- bor and material on construction or repair. ~The number of men employed dur- ing the year varied between 20 and 146, average 35, exclusive of naval con- structors and. assistant naval construct- ors and chief carpenters and carpen- ters and foremen besides a tablishment" numbering eight. This ex- penditure includes nothing, of course, for interest or depreciation, insurance or taxes. The work done consisted of docking three vessels, of which two were' army dredges and the third a small naval ship belonging to a foreign govern- ment, and the building of a gang plank. The army dredges, by the way, spend a large part of their time in dry dock, as one of those referred to was on the dock over a month and the year before was also in dock a month. The second was docked in May and was still in dock at the close of the fiscal year. I believe I made earlier reference to government owned dredges. Those who have the curiosity to fol- low up that line will find it well worth their while. Dry Dock at New York Yard. - 'New York navy yard has the same old story of delay in the "new" dry "civil es--- 429° dock. "The contractor stopped work in August, 1906." Across the river whole tunnel systems have been built, the stupendous Pennsylvania and New York Central station undertakings have been projected and carried almost to completion since long after this hoary dry dock was started. The. contractor is always 'to blame though the other projects gare successfully carried out through the same agency. However, it is plgasant to be able to announce that af 15-ton auxiliary hoist for the 100-to8 crane at this yard has been compfeted; it was only authorized im th, 1905. This hoist is full jeweled; y $20,000, and a quarter of it puld be a good price for the pur- gOse. I have seen it. Norfolk yard has done much better on the dry dock authorized in 1900. The installing of the suction pipes ior the pumps "was about to beg. contractor, however, upset all calcu- lations here also by failing to deliver . certain parts of the capstan equipment, ordered during the year. A hurry-up job was done at this yard in piecing - out a crane boom which was allowea in 1904, | Again the Contractors. At Philadelphia (League island) the dry dock authorized in 1898 was still incomplete in August of this year. The contractors, confound 'em. The hydraulic press in the angle smith shop referred to previously is covered with lumber and the elaborate building is a carpenter shop, all of which goes to show how much the thing is needed or used and bears out the earlier statements, The Puget Sound yard also con- tributes a few interesting items. The 1907 report, referring to the dry dock authorized in 1906 says "a location has been selected for the new dry dock and bids will be opened July 27, 1907." The 1908 report says "a location has been selected for the new dry dock and bids were opened July 18, 1908." The contractor got to work Jan. 1, 1909, after many delays and unwinding of much tape. This dock is to cost $2,- 000,000, that is, of course, without caisson or pumping machinery or buildings or capstans of power plant or bilge and keel blocks or dredging or traveling cranes or water and fire systems or in fact anything much but the hole in the ground. The contract for this much amounts to $1,625,000. The department regards the con- -- tractor as an Ishmaelite and the rea-_ sons for the frequent failures are not hard to find. For instance, at the Puget Sound yard the department charged the contractor 7%4c per kilowatt