Evening Star Newspaper, October 25, 1925, Page 77

THE SUNDAY Mammoth Washington Navy Yard Has Developed From Small Plant Thi Week’s Observance of Navy Day Calls Attention to Great Changes Which Have Taken Place in Scope and Character of Work. By DUFFY GILFORD. | TARTING a seanty shipyard, with s of land valued at $4.000, and a total supply of six frigates, the Washington Navy Yard has spread over 115 acres stern Washington, and the value has soared close to two million dollars. From a project which could not muster 30 men to hold the enem in 1814 it was developed into an inst tution employing 2,744 persons, whose | daily compensation amounts to $16,500. | From an organization where “oxen hauled the guns up from the wharf and dirt to the wharf” (from the “Log® of the Uinted States Naval Academy, April 1827), it s grown | inro an establishment where an elec- | tric crane totes 300 tons to and fro | & the pressing of a button. | Begun under the leadership of a man capable of carrying on all official | correspondence himself, and rewarded $100 a month, excluding rations, evolved into an enterprise which | $8 . together with quarter: > its commander, and has a clerical force of 445 persons. The sparsely equipped local ship- Yard has developed into the sole ord- nance supply: of the United States | Navy. Th nts a proximity rvey of cur lo day war- al Navy Yard. That our yard is not, as it is thought o be, a playground for th or boy as it ought to be, the seat for the construction and repair of ships, but a factory for the manufacture of guns, may be explained by its histor: w shipyard this Na Yard nd pre-eminence. From m it was permitted to de- cay and decline. When Jefferson ears after at was elected, two it was founded, activities the yard practically ceased. Be- eving that a powerful Navy was a ' continual challenge to war, the peace President persuaded Congress to au. thorize the sale all ships except | § frigates, seven of which were to be | dismantled Two years ird further 11 schooner 10 M iry. in the opinion o was worthy of this gift. When Rc ulton, inventor of | the steamboat, appeared at the yard > experiment’ with a submarine in. | .Yention which he was planning for | 1he defense of American harbors, he | received no appropriation for his en. deavor, no co-operation or assistance. During the war of 1812 no pro. sion was made for the defense of Washington Navy Yard. When the British fleet reached Washington, foreing the retreat of our A ny, Capt. Thomas Ting the first commandant, iticipated its purpose and set fire to naval buildings contalning informa- tion of value to the enemy. As he sailed off to Alexandria in his own boat, the British arrived and complet- ed the destruction. Not only were the buildings burned and the shipping ravaged, but the captain’s. own pro- visions, loaded on an old gunboat, scre ransacked by plundering neigh: later he stripped by removing m “the ships Citizen for the 100 gun to equip its cruise th So deplorable was the condition of the yard that when Capt. David Por- ter, “to secure the enemy in the river,” | dispatched a request to Capt. Tingey for 30 carpenters with tools the latter had inform him that none was av le. Thus 12 prizes laden with be were irretrievable. 3 * % x 0.\(']1 agai with the harbinger of the modern torpedo boat. But, as before, he was compelled to withdraw, unassisted and discouraged. He was not the only one. Other precursors rejected. dst the charred peared—this time of modern warfare Samuel Colt, for ex- experimenting with & subma- invention on the Potomac in 1847, icceeded in blowing the bottom out an old ship’s hull and sinking it. Jiven his success brought no aid from | the naval a . Uriah Brown was engaged in tests with liquld fire, but, (o phrase it vernacularly, nobody Those famillar with the life Fricsson remember how for | strove to have his naval ccepted, and how, had it not heen for his personal appeal to Lin- | . he would never have been able | to save the day for the Nav With apathy authori the navy deteric The Civil on | plans | he naval | 1 could but | . with its | agaravated ; such from va A subsequent 1 its dilapidation The place one bold the nam ch 1 live,” declared | “is not worthy of | house.’ It cost $15 per | onth, exclusive of light and fuel.” The assistant s ise of the imadequacy a to oc- upy ensign, 1 roem in Hence, in 1883, tion to convert gun factory regret when @ recommendi- rd into a was 4 The succe phosis may be Indicated by the ment of Admiral Plunkett, in charge of the operation of big naval guns in | the World War, that the five 14-inch | naval gun batteries built by our yard | STEEL FOR WASHINCTON POURING MOLTE! L] | alites’ 4 BRONZE GUNS CAPTUR were superior to any rmies and we achievement of the Each gun weighed 95 tons, muzzle velocity of 2,800 feet pe and a maximum range of 5 weapon the gr railroads—until the arted. Realizin alone could stop th quiesced. Over s they rumbled, these ge, they snaillike SIX-INCH GUNS FROM THE BATTLESHIP MAIN STROYED IN HAVANA HARBOR FEBRUARY 15, 1898. tous, until they German aviators. were The seen by enemy mediate withdrawal was followed by exact spot from which one of the guns w the armistice, signed at the fired. Before navy y: discussing the Wi rd as a gun factory, it 00 yard. occo, which uncivilized coun.|They were so heavy that French engi- the President,|neers refused them pissage over the Paris guns D IN 180 BY CAPT. DECATUR, of the 1test had a anty bridges and steep grades but porten- the | im- shington not amiss to mention some of its con ributions to the country a mneglected shipyard. In 1861, when a rumor spre the yard would be attack while ORDNANCE NAVY YARD. INGOTS AT THE still ad that for ege of arms to prevent the inaugu- OFF TRIPOLIL. e ration of Lincoln, the following orde Chis yard shall not he ) any person or per except 1 n or of the Honorable Secretar! of the Navy, and in the event commandant issued surrendered of an officers mand to under my con it to the last extremity In 1864, when Gen. Early, sent relieve the pressure of Grant's ar anst Richmond, appeared with his rees outside of the Capital, the com mandant was frantically beset for S. WHICH WAS DE- men. Despite the Inadequacy of his force, he sent $00 men to Fort Lin { coln.” The general withdrew and the men returned to the shipyard sides supplying munitions to the this yard took ch: muti neers from the North. illed and fed fugitive slaves and ted, with prepared vessel, assassinator of President Lincoln. For two weeks prisoners implicated in the murder were delivered here. and, as was the custom in those days. hooded canvas bags to prevent them seeing or talking wox ok ok cort wa HE man mo: transfory shipyard Into responsible for the ion of a decadent booming ordnance fac | tory w John A. Dahlgren, lieu tenant sent to the yard in 1847 for ordnance and equipment duty. lie was so interested in all branches of ordnance that he superintended the {test of an invention by John Prentis 1o take the rifle motion from smooth ! bore cannon and keen the front end in its proper position. He experi mented with ranges of guns used the Navy. and tested the invention of Maj. Laidly, which was to make shells burst at the moment of striking. He was the first officer to regard with | encouragement inventions leading up 1o modern ordnance, but he could not overcome the indifference of higher officials. After Commandant Buch- !anan resigned to join the Confed eracy, however, Dahlgren became his successor. His new position afforded him a greater opportunity to influence the trend toward ordnance ork. Gradually, but resolutely, under Dahl- gren’s leadership, the guns battered the ships out of the yard. Surveying the navy vard as it rests peacefully on the Potomuc. dotted with trees and tranqulil-domiciles, be fore which little gingh: are playing, one is hardly prepared for the blast and blatancy accom- panying the manufacture of weapons. But the king of a ton article, the avoirdupois of an Sinch gun, which discharges 260 | pounds of devastation in a flash, is not a gentle procedure, though a fas- cinating one. It is remarkable to mnote slabs of sturdy steel helplessly subjected to being peeled into threadlike strips, i ground into powder and smoothed into | sheen. By means of divers lathes steel m: be shaped much as dough |in the hands of the housewife. Thus a breech block and screw box, each possessing ridges corresponding to the other, are made and fitted together to {form the breech mechanism or rear end of the gun. The snugness of the fit between these two parts makes the mechanism airtight. preventing an es. cape of gas when the gun is dis IN COMMAND OF in ! - | The Secretary AMERICAN G { charged. The fitted to a dumn of the breech end it will fit the gun. | Shaping stecl by lathes is less, a trifling task, in with forging a 20.000-pound bar f steel into a training circle rooan S-inch mou ns steam hy- draulic for means that 1 bar of 10 is rounded in is four times t The press which molds the lits destiny is the largest south Philadelpl it opens its cavern ous mouth, th 1 bar, bound by a | monstrous chain, is carri The | mouth hin with a pressure « el be aving dazzling wh cake of ice and the steel f f modeler but only for g the r bre anism_ is sun, so that neverthe comparison closes, clut 1s to persplre changed from occastoning Six days of this elamorous {at of 2 Fahrenheit and steel round training ocedure the fu will be as <hir cirele losed mount quite so | servea i guns re An old fount protr notk the zain is could ne de ! ing poom its 1 nace and allow 1 u ta . A cove ¢ dron and it nec followinz day wh | gun has expanded { mit_the il ¢ replac For be a s Dot the new liner, but wi the gun is cooling. traction that the d is actually decreased Tt is sury nensity of al preci four thous: tial, for quantity n a liner wh Leaving the scre enter the which =i large swimming long and conts mperature experi us pression of a fee: T several water rumbles toward oup of men who riag Suspended from the | the wood towed n by this carr imile of structed by the Gove vate shipbuilder. Loaded with bag of lead o correspond, proportionately to the weight of the ship, it tested for its resistan trips the rec tions, are able to amount of horsepower the act will need to combat the resistance. wave producer roughens pa the water, according to the de ! the experimenters. In this basin submarines have been tried out and cup defenders 1 The most practical shapes for have been determined, for of a 30,000-tonnage vessel, to offer th least resistance, must needs differ | from that of a ship of greater ca ) pacity. 1 of a hull down the e It is a small ¥ to be con ment pri D mo D ar After compila determine the 1l ship A fies vessels = %ok ok SOMEWHAT different, these experi %) menting facilities, from those af- | forded in the days of Comdr. Dahl gren, when a man with a new idea I was treated with indifference and often scorn But if inventor: | discouraged, it mu vard employes were | lege th, In the days when vessels were christened “Brandy { Wine” we find. among the the purchase of 125 harrels of whisky,” at 52 cents a gallon. from | John on of Georgetown. Mechan | fes and laborers used to send boys { out for drinks; but so quenchles s | the thirst of the men that the com- | mandant, declaring this wholesale im- bibing interfered with the work, for- bade it altogether. Since this was many years ago, however, the men, { believing they iwere outraged, ap- | pealed to the Secretary of the Nav Their complaint charged the com- mandant with “refusing them refresh- ! inents while engaged on heavy work."” | a sympathetic and probably thirsly gentleman himself, interceded for them. The comman- dant, after much entreaty, smiled and compromised. Drinks were allowed in at_bell-ringing, which, no doubt, in- spired the wish in more than one heart that our navy yard were a box- | ing arena. | There i nothing else in the history of the yard to induce a look of vearn- | ing in the retracing eyes of employes. For the navy vard today, to complete our tour, contains an up-to-date medi- | cal building, with first-aid dressing room, eye and ear laboratory, dental parlor, X-ray room, even a chlorine gas room, which administers air to employes' children afflicted with colds and whooping cough. There is an apprentice school for were disdained and be admitted that ccorded a privi- perfect | is being | ires of | tested. | the shape | STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., OCTOBER 25, 1925—PART 5. Further Facts Are Now Disclosed Concerning an Early Burial Place ot ead this letter Dear Rambler: 1 have reading with _interest your article in The Star con- cerning Mrs. Anne Burnes and her place of burial. Fortunately | T am able to fill In the gap which you | suggest in your letter of October 4| | may never he filled | “She was buried in the rear of the | 0ld mansion house at Brooks Station, Jon the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, begpng- ing to Col. Jehiel Brooks, who. I am advised, was a friend of the Burnes family, together with her son and hus- band (David Burnes). 1 visited the spot on August 10, 1885, and found there the three stones which vou de- ribe as now being in Rock Creek metery “They were all lying on the ground in irregular order, and the presence of thre andstone supports or corner posts led me to belleve that one at least of the three slabs had erccted originally on these posts, which were 24 inches tall and from 6 to X inches in diameter. “The exact location of the graves was a few rods northeasterly from the | rear of the Brooks mansion, which is still standing, and in the rear of No. 3424 Tenth street northeast and auit to Newton street. The in closed letter from Dr. J. Henry Brooks (which please return) is of interest “The remains of David Burnes, his wife and son, John Burnes, were re moved to Rock Creek Cemetery in the Summer of 1887, and the site for the three graves bought and paid for by private subscription. The land com- pany or syndicate paid for the re- moval and for the reinterment. “Yours very truly, “FRED. E. WOODWARD."” Fred. Woodward came to Washing- ton in 1883 with Woodward & Lo- throp and has been with that firm 43 e In 1887 he wrote a series of articles for the Washington Hatchet called “Rambles About Washington,” and he signed them “Redwood.™ of these stories treated of the Brooks se and the graveyard in which David Burnes, owner one of the | farms on which Washington was built, | was buried, with his wife and son. Woodward is aiso the author of | may “My been door it of mechanics, mathe. s and drafting, a course of train which has turned out some very workers; also « fire control school for specially chosen men from {the ships of the fleet, who are instruct ed in all the operations of controlling | gun fire | The advance- for the | nployes. s may u workers in the for , Charles Smith - mechanic of the east gun | lere since 1880, and Dunn. master mechanic of the shop, who came to the yard| e opportunities for have been the incentiv ded of many regular “old-tim found ard, as son, m, array George tir 1834 THOSE in charge of Admiral B. randant vard activities | F. Hutchison. serintendent of and the naval gun factory; F. Gr te to Yate ing, vard commandant; jr., captain of Fowste, senfor inspectol . J. Fletcher, pro luction 25 J. B. Rhodes, nepector of planning: Lieut. Comdr. ). L. Wolfard, inspector of turrets i H. L. Merring, planning Comdr. T. C. Kinkaid, drafting: Lieut. Comdr. ones, in charge of mines; Lieut W. . Gillet, broudside Granat. inspector of ul E. McKenney, gen chanic and tectional he al, and P eral master m xpert Another it of value Tsaac who not included in the 1e outside Bassett. the visitors only points out tro Lieut. Perry and confiscations Gen. Cornwallis, but who could make the assembling of a gun fascl nating o« Quaker Havinz examined the Washington Navy Yard in its past and its present we now encounter the question of its | tu During the war 13.000 men wnd women flooded its portals: toda® A has sunk to less than 3,000 t conferences have neces. an exodus of 1,500 people in a many of them meritorious. 10o. ing the war 16 and 18 inch guns ilt: the recent disarmament nee has limited the size to Do the movements for a per peace portend the passing of the navy yar ' the vard has alveady adapted 1o private commercial activities. With a well equipned ma {chine shop. tool department. steel foundry_and power plant. the Wash {ington” Navy Yard has. in a number of instances, succeeded in getting tracts hecause it was the lowest bid- der. Thus we find it today making money vlates for the Bureau of Print- ng and Eneraving. letter hoxes for the Post Office Department and gears ! for Government airplanes. Pulrvrerizeél Coal. N invention which may alter the in development of the oil-burning | t¥pe of steamship and bring the burning of coal back as the principal fuel for the operation of vessels has | been explained to the Shipping Board | The new system. which Is the in- vention of G. H. Knemmerling, head !r)f the research department of the | Fuller Lehigh Company, has as i principal unit the “pit furnace.” A | special feature calls for the utilization {of a coal crusher on board ship. This | will pulverize bituminous coal, which | is then conveyed to the furnace by an | apparatus that will feed it under a blower system to four burners, two | of which are on opposite sides of the | furnace. | burners will form a flame spiral which will give complete ignition. One of the important features of the new system is economy. Fuel oil now sells at $15 a ton, whereas bunker coal is quoted at $5 a ton. With the new plan the poorest quality of bituminous coal may be used. The method of having the coal crushed on board is to eliminate danger of spontaneous combustion. The invention insures the utiliz tion of 80 per cent of the heat thrown coal furnace wastes at least 35 peg cent of its energy. Tt is estimated that a saving of $5,000 a voyage will be made by ves- sels using the new system. The cost of transforming oil-burning ships into the “pit” system would be slightly more than the installation of oil burners. The plan would also require a little more cargo space for the storage of coal than would ofl. The number in the fireroom crew would not be increased. This invention, if satisfactorily ap- plied. may result in a radieal depart- ure from the oil burner. At the end of the war oil came into favor as ship fuel because of the easy method of loading and its cleanliness. Oil has been in the ascendancy for vears, and almost all of the trans- Atlantic passenger liners have been {reconditioned as oil burners. | burfed there, but « i | Lieut. Comdr. | Fuel passing through these | off by the coal, whereas the ordinary | Rambler Has Extensive Correspondence in Course of His Researches in the Matter of the Burnes and Van Ness History. been | s GRAVESTONE OF DAVID BURNE several papers on “The Stones of the District of Col The letter of Dr. Brooks, by Mr. Woodward, follows “BROOKLAND, June 15, 1906. My Dear Mr. Woodward: You were right about seeing those slabs the graves of David Burns, his wife and son. I believe they were actua nnot give you any particulars. During the war between the States the soldiers took the bricks to build their fire flues in their tents and otherwise des ated graves %0 my father, who was unable to pro tect them, v te to Gen v Ness of New York, who had married David Burnes' only daughter it, but never received any reply Van Ness died in 1846.) property was sold the graves were still there, so the icate, I thi by sub iption. Lot 1ot in Rock ‘reek Cemetery and ed there, Mr. B. F Aps give you all the dat from home at the time ¢ truly yours ete HENRY BROOKS, M Boundary inclosed D.C about (Gen. When the away “ D. HE attention been ca Allen C. lumbla Histc that of the Rambler has d to a paper writ president of rical Society, read before November 26, 1918 d printed {n volume the society’s records. The title of the paper is ‘General John Peter Van XN Mayor of the City of Wash and her I His Wife Marcia David Burnes.” Pertinent to the sub Ject 1 write of, 1 present to you the following extract AMr. Clark's paper “Anne Burnes Burnes) was Anne Wightt. She was born within the Ten Miles Square. ‘The Wightts lived on the farm with the patent name Inclos brother John owned it. F descended to the Queen family and from the Queen family to the Brooks family—however, all of the same fam- 11y different names because of the men the daughters admitted into it. The tract is the suburb Brookland | of rose culture fame. “When the Wightt-Queen-Brooks tract was being cut up to make Brook land, under a group of dreary pines in au isolated spot Y roe avenue and Twelfth street inter nect, were found three graves. The Van Ness fan was informed. with the result that zene Van Ness pur chased. April 26, 1585, three sites in Rock Creek Cemetery (Nos. 1. 2, and in reservation adjoining No. 191, sectfon C) to which they were re move, Mr 1 by Clark, the Co society a of avife of id of just Clark gives the e follows. Javid Burnes Fsgr City of Washington, died the Sth of May 1500, Aged 60 vears, 2 months and day Mrs. Anne Burnes, Wife of David Burnes Esqr.. Died on the 2§th of January 1807 Aged 66 vears 11 months and 4 days. Mr. John Burnes, Son of David Burnes died in the year 1792 aged 20 years He was a vouth amiable & intelligent, | who promised fair to become an honor to his friends and an ornament to his Country.” Mr. Clark makes the following com- | ment ““The insc tions were writ- ten by Gen. Van Ness, as the tribute to the son is almost identical with an expression in his letter to Martin Van Buren. The inscriptions are ins the =ame style of lettering and ornamenta. tion and were apparently chiseled un- | der one order. The dates are singu larly inaccurate. Mr. Burnes died May 7. 1788. The son was living October 19, 1793." i Continuing. Mr. Ciark writes "They Brooks mansfon and its grounds is a | rookland block. Over the entrance gate .is ‘Saint Benedict Academy.’ Jehiel Brooks married Ann Queen, and | Ann was the daughter of Nicholas L. | Queen, the boniface of Queens Hotel, | the favored dining place of congress- | men and like celebrities, just east of | | the Capitol, and Mr. Queen’s wife was | a Wightt. And the oldest part of the | Brooks mansion may have been the | home of Ann Wightt when her David | Burnes came courting. From associ- | stiona and clrcumatances the writer | aphs as the gives his opinion that Mr. Burnes gave allegiance to the sect of the Scotch immigrants who located hereabout, the | Presbyterian, and that Mrs. Burnes, | whose maiden name was spelled like the TIsle of Wight with an additional | It was of the Church of England. The opinfon is given for nothing else than historic detalls, as the form of worship {s but a shadow and unim- portant.” * %k ok k¥ GIVE thanks to Fred Woodward and Allen Clark for writing so much of this ramble for me. Tt is the best I haye turned out. I was talking with Mr. Clark an hour ago about David Burnes. A number of persons, unfortunately having learned to read and write, have written historical es- says on David Burnes. They have called him a Scotchman and even a “canny Scot.” I would defend him | against this accusation. These histo- rlans have described him as hard-na- tured, tight-fisted and unlettered—sort |of a hard nut. They have even said that he drank hard llquor, as though that were an evil thing to do. Mr. Clark said: ‘““David Burnes has been shamefully misrepresented. He, con- trary to the writers, was cultured and educated. His communications to President Washington and to Secre tary Jefferson were in expression and {otherwise equal to theirs.” Oh, yes, he was a Scotchman! David 1740 and wa of his fam never to i Burnes the thir rn in seems D ter having un father came d postponed applying for citizensh 1 he had Ameri rman happens t English names r. O'Moriarty be s and it's a may was rals voting rs family them weak-kneed hypocrite 1 i ce and simper death sirr had u s mper world, the se eighborh Embalmed | SiShborhood tomac country! | 1 proud of such truth the onl: eard of was one of sent the Col not have brains tobacco worms, spit_tobacco juice . beat his wife and should ir ens T ever did enough off ever took a bath the fireplace buy the your r of vest interest have | positios | curate, 1y e painstaki sistent in 1 places ar Washingto: in [} but A DEVOT There is Thank yo | | Oxygen on Mars. | ’l‘ll,\'l' the am ] Mars is relativel very been shown by o spec |the 1 Wilson {only cent xyEen | where ex resor orde sunt oxyger low on has supply o1 vgen, t | stin Slipher of the Flagstaff, Ar graphs mac made the plar 1 greater detail with blue light f known to have gre tration through blue: that the tend to indicate mosphere on Mars possesses s MARCIA BURNES WHEN 16 YEARS OLD. A PAINTING BY JAMES PEALE. IN THE ALLEN . CLARK COLLECTION. appear served a dozen terms in 1 can imagine one of our lion aristocrats meet Wales at a reception “Howdydo Mr. Prince. you. Shake hands. My people were from England. They were the Snog genses. My great-grandfather was s inguished tinker at Bristol and hi brother. was an illustrious cobbler. We have their coat-of-arms -hanging in the parlor. These brothers came to America for religious liberty. The worked out some sort of an interpre- tation of the Bible, which nobody else would believe in, had a few visions, and thought it sufer to come over and live with the Apaches. King Charles gave 'em a_ roval patent to 30,000 es of the Indians’ lands and I have a tortoise shell snuff box which the Queen gave my great-grandfath 1 bought it in a second-hand shop.” The |sugar, but the problems of crystalliza Rambler believes that Kings Charles tion are rapidly being solved commer and James gave land in America to ! cially the at four mil Prince ¢ saying to meet } phe Sugar From Dabhlias. NEW dahlia and lustry promises new mestic sugar manufacturers, accord ing to Science. At present huse sugar plants are lying idle two-thirds of the vear for lack of raw materia It is now expected th ter produc ing beet sugar in th mmer the plants will run four months on choke, followed by four months on dahlia_tubers to produce large quanti ties of the new levulose sugar At present levulose is prepared only as a sirup or moist o ler-like brown rtiche THE BROOKS HOUSE IN BROOKLAND, NOW ST. BENEDICT ACADEMY. Photograph from the Allen C. Clark collsctiom.