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ESTABLISHED [878 VOL. XIX. NO. 51. CLEVELAND—DECEMBER 17, 1896—CHICAGO. $2 PER YEAR. 10c. SINGLE COPY _. THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Secretary of the Navy Herbert, in his annual‘teport, asks congress at the coming session to authorize three light draft battle ships and 12 torpedo boats. He recommends that’ these ships be planned for an extreme deep. load draught of not more than 28 feet, and suggests that con- siderations of strategy upon our Atlantic and gulf coasts render this an essential success of naval campaigns. This reasoning, he says, is the final result of much careful study by able officers of conditions as they exist on our southern coast. Battle ships that could enter the harbors of Savan- nah, Brunswick, Key West, Tampa, Pensacola, Mobile and the mouth of the Mississippi at all times would have an immense advantage over the battle ships of foreign nations, few, if any, of which could enter these ports. Light draft battle ships, if we had them, could make any of these ports basis of supply; could sally forth from them or retire into them at will and could, therefore, almost always offer battle on their own terms. There are also many of our ports further north which would give the same advantages to such ships. An interesting feature of the report ina resumé of the progress of the upbuilding of the new navy from the time ‘of its inauguration under Secretary Chandler. Congress has authorized during the present administration 28 vessels with a total tonnage of 65,866 tons; of these five are first- class battle ships and sixteen torpedo boats. Large as the above increase appears it yet does not suffice to place the United States navy in a satisfactory condition, if we mean to be able at all times to defend our-long line of sea coast, afford unquestionable protection to our citizens in foreign lands, render efficient aid to our diplomacy and maintain under circumstances our national honor. The secretary, calling attention to the comparative naval strength of the principal powers, states that while the re- sults achieved by the United States are highly creditable to the country, yet it is clear that the great powers with which we are brought into close relationship largely ex- ceed us, not only in the number of battle ships and torpedo boats actually in commission, but in their naval pro- grammes for the future. _ The secretary shows that on. June 30, 1893, there were 30 vessels in commission with a tonnage of 62,820 tons, while on December 10, 1896, the total tonnage in commis- sion will be 137,859 tons. : Attention is again called to the necessity for some legis- lation by congress which will enable the department to make use in,case of an emergency, of the tugs, yachts and vessels engaged in the fishing fleets and the coastwise lake trade, and to call into the service of the navy the sailors and officers necessary to command and fit such ships in case of threatened or actual war.. He recommends an ad- ditional appropriation for the purpose of supplying guns and ammunition with which to arm vessels to be called into service from our merchant marine. Reference is also miade.to'a reserve system, and the sec- retary sets forth the report of a board appointed to formu-. late a general plan for the laying up of vessels in reserve, and in this connection it is announced that the department expects to be able to submit to congress at an early day during the coming session suggestions for such legislation as’may be needed to provide proper accommodation for ships, so ‘that it may establish and maintain a reserve sys- tem, ‘with thé valte “atid: “importance of which the: at parts ment is deeply impressed.” 3 “The “stibject' of the naval militia is dealt: with at some length, and it-is-:shown that at the close of the last "admin- istration the number of naval ‘militia lawfully certified was 1,794, divided among fhe states of Rhode Island, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, California and New: York. - ‘From: the-tast official returns they now number 8880 itt California, « Néw York, Mas¢athusttts;. W. Waitutes Bay Bs sp North Carolina, Rhode Island, Maryland, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Illionis, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia and Louisiana, and the department has been in- formed of the prospective formation of an additional ‘bat- talion in New York (at Brooklyn) and an organization in Ohio. During the summer the various battalions have’ been drilled on vessels of the navy and have had’ the advantages of target practice and drills with the batteries of the ships. The secretary devotes considerable space to reviewing the reports of the chiefs of bureaus, and in this connection asks congress to authorize the building of a dock at Nor- folk, Va., of sufficient size to take in the largest vessel of the navy. This he recommends should be constructed of concrete, as it is more durable, more readily repaired and cheaper than a wooden dock. A NEW ORIENTAL TRANS-PACIFIC LINE. The much discussed steamship line from Japan to a Southern California port, which Japanese capital is said to have been toying with for some months, will be owned by Americans. The press dispatches from Chicago stated that E, C. Potter, son of -O. W. Potter, the noted finan- cier, is working on the establishment of such a steamship line. Secretary Willard, of the Los Angeles Chamber of Com- merce, states that the news is correct and that the enterprise is in a fair way to be successful. Mr. Potter has been in Southern California for some time. The project is backed by himself in conjunction with the larger holders of Sante Fe securities, and the Cramps, ship builders at Philadelphia. The project will not be officially connected with the Sante Fe Railroad, but will be in full sympathy with that corporation. The capital stock will probably be $10,000,000, and pledges for a large portion have already been made. The presence of Mr. Potter in Southern Cali- fornia is due to his desire to ascertain what interest cap- italists and merchants will take in the enterprise, and the responses have been very satisfactory. The Chamber of Commerce at Los Angeles has taken the matter in hand, and is pushing forward with zeal. The plan is to have built the finest passenger steamers of the day, costing $1,500,000 each, to be 8,000 tons bur- den, in all particulars to excel the best of the P. & O. vessels. The projectors figure that East Indian travelers to England will save at least three days’ time as against these routes. The time on freight will also be materially reduced. and rates considerably reduced. The whole enter- prise is based on the lines of magnificence and the greatest possible speed, with the expectation of depriving the Cana- dian Pacific of its trade and the English P. & O. steamers of a good proportion of theirs. The service is to be semi- monthly at least. The port has not been selected, but it is likely to be San Diego, until San Pedro is made a deep water harbor. HELICAL DRAFT—SERVE TUBES. John Brown & Co., Limited, of Sheffield, England, have just issued a general deseription of Eaves’ helical induced draught in: conjunction with Serve tubes as ap- plied to marine boilers. By this induced draught the boiler is thoroughly enveloped by the escaping heat,.thus effect- ually preventing either. “radiation,” “condensation,” or. straining to the:-boiler. . Experiments have been made with this draft with results. varying from 78 ,to: 82 per cent. of efficiericy, and a coal consumption of from 30 to 35 pounds pet ‘sqtiare foot of grate: It is claimed that twe boilers with natural draft would be required to do the work of one-of the same size fitted with helical draught-and Serve tubes, the relative éfficiencies being as 65 is to 80.. The sole American agent fot John Brown. & Co. is Mr. Charles 5 asa New: Nar # , DISCRIMINATION. ‘After the annual report of the commissioner of naviga- tion was sent tc the printer, the President issued his proc- lamation, dated December 3,.1896, which resumes after January 2, 1897, the imposition of tonnage taxes on vessels entering the United States from German ports. The sus- pension of these taxes was authorized by the President in a proclamation issued January 26, 1888, pursuant to section 11 of the act of June 19, 1886. During the current calendar year the state department, at the request of this bureau, transmitted through ‘the honorable the secretary of the treasury, has made an! investigation into the charges im- posed on American vessels in German ports. This inves- tigation has developed the fact that while the German imperial government imposes no taxes on American ship- ping, it nevertheless allows the German maritime states to tax American ships for the general purposes of river and harbor improvements and maintenance of the light-house service. In brief, it has been shown that the German government has availed itself of a difference between the constitution of the United States and the German imperial constitution to obtain an advantage over the United States in the matter of reciprocal exemptions from tonnage and light-house dues on shipping. Under the German imper- ial constitution such charges are relegated to the maritime states. Under the constitution of the United States the states are forbidden-to levy such charges which are rele- gated to the federal government. The German govern- ment for some years has taken advantage of this different distribution of power to tax shipping, ‘and held that so long as its imperial authority deprived constitutionally of the right to levy taxes on shipping, except discriminating taxes, has not exercised a forbidden power; that, there- fore, the federal government of the United States, alone empowered by the. constitution to impose tonnage dues, cannot exercise that power under the act of 1886, in the case of vessels entering from Germany. The government of the United States has. declined to. accept this strained construction of the act of 1886, and holds that tonnage taxes and light-house dues levied for the benefit of the harbor of Hamburg and to light the entrance to the harbor of Bremen, are equivalent taxes to our tonnage taxes. While not directly involved, the fact may be mentioned that the President’s proclamation will remove a discrimina- tion against our only transatlantic steamship line, and will add about $65,000 annually to the income ‘of the Marine Hospital, as estimated by this bureau, or $80,000, as esti- mated by agents of the steamship lines concerned. LIGHT DRAFT RIVER STEAMER Lewis Nixon, of the Crescent Ship Building Works, at’ Elizabethport, N. J., has ready for shipment in separate: pieces.a steamer for South America. The vessel is to be used on the Magdalena river in Colombia. Her length is 100 feet, beam 22 feet, depth 7 feet, and she carries 100 tons of cargo on 8-foot draught.’ She.is propelled by in- dependent side-wheels, driven by compound engines. Her speed will be 11 miles an hour. A TRANS-CONTINENTAL SHIPMENT. : Joseph U. Crawford; recently appointed representative of the Imperial railroads of Japan, for the purchase’ of 15,000 tons of steel rails and fastenings from the Carnegie Steel Co., Pittsburg, Pa. reports that shipments of the material are being made to Yokohama, A contract with the Carnegie Co., closed by the Great Northern, to ship 6,500 tons of the rails and fastenings from Pittsburg to Yokohama, the shipment going up to the close of naviga- tion via Cleveland, Northern Steamship Co., Great North- ern -Railtoad from. Duluth, and its “teamiatiip lint, the ae Yusen Kaisha, fen tainty ‘th ee 4 Cn eee