The New York Herald Newspaper, November 3, 1875, Page 4

ie. NOVEMBER 3, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, IRON-CLAD NAVIES National Importance of an Armed Fleet, WONDERS OF MODERN WAR SHIPS. Europe Taking Lessons from America and Leaving Her Preceptor Far Behind. JAVY ON PAPER. —_—— An English Ship that Can Sink Our Entire Fleet, OUR THE DUTY OF CONGRESS TOWARD THE NAVY. Whatever universal peace societies may do in the fu- ture, the general arming of Europe is at present a fact | that militates against the successful solution of the question which the peaceful brotherhood declares to be axiomatic. Long strides are being made toward tho opposite pole and the special pride aud defence of the insular and const bound nations are attracting the serl- ous attention and engendering the formidable rivalry of countries whose seaboards are lmited and whose aptitude for marine warfare has been in tne past a mat- ter more of sentiment than of fact, Whether armed vessels are delusions or there will come an era of illim- | ttable guns with consequential ilimitable gun-detying armor, no man can-prognosticate; still for us the impor- tance of the question cannot be gainsaid. Though it is Smpossible to discuss {t in the same popular way as many equally important though less abstruse subjects, yet a few words upon its purely practical bearings cannot -be amiss even to those whose special Opportunitics or aptitude would enablo to consider intelligently and with profit the Scientific and mathematical relations that surround it Owing to our mere apology of a tleet, either armed or unarmed, we have not had our attention called to those discussions which abroad periodically awaken oppost- | tion, arguments, Parliamentary inquiries and news- Paper criticism. In England, especially, the liveliest interest ty taken in all that relates to the feet, and the estimates of the First Lord of the Admiralty are at times scanned and criticised so closely as to causo | thelr discussion to occupy the largest share of, the ex- | citement of a session and to endanger the fate of cab- inets, Mr, Reed, late chief constructor of the English pavy, aud Mr, Fairbairn are the recognized English authorities on this subject; in France the latest and best book, is ‘La Marine Cuirasée,”” by P. Dislere, translated in part by Commander Meade, of the navy. THE NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, There can be no question of the importance ofa thorough!y built and equipped fleet to an isolated mari- time country like England, anchored on the edgo of a continent, entrusted with the care of world-wide inter- ests and charged to maintain its power at a time when | the spirit of invention is setting at naught all past systems of ocean warfare and mocking at every trace and tradition of the time when she won her naval renown. France and Russia, with their extenstve sca- boards, and Turkey with the treaties and taboo of tho Bosphorus to maintain, are keenly alive to the necessi- ties of the hour; Italy, crystallizea into a homeogenous | mags, strives with the instinct of a new life for a plac im the scale of nations, Germany, zealous for every advantage that blood and iron can give, is, of all foreign countries, advancing most rapidly, and has now a fleet far superior to our own and inferior only to those of England, France and Russia Of tho lesser Powers a glance at the table below will show their status, and when we learn that far Cathay is striving for a place in the it is a time for roflecting men to ask whither America is tending. Mortifying as the declaration fs, it may as well be premised that from occupying the first place eleven years ago, to-day we are practically out of tge question. The end of our civil war found us with the best manned and best equipped marine in the world; to-day, at the best, we are on a Jevel with Peru and Denmark, a little higher than Japan perhaps, and a long way after Brazil and Italy. On paper our fleet ts very good, but its real efficiency and its actual condition are well known to hose intelligent foreign officers who are amongst us taking, but not printing, notes, It docs not require any profound knowledge to understand the causes of this decay; the bitter opposition to all recommenda- tions made to Congress, the weak policy of the govern- ment and the preponderance of politics in matters that should be above the mire and ruck of that profession speak too plainly. * SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. A few figures arranged in tabular form may place our position in atruer light. According to the classifica- tion of Dislere, armored ships may be grouped in four divistons. First, ships of the line of battle (navrés d’es- cadre); second, ordinary station service ships (navres de station); third, ships for coast defence; fourth, tron- cased batteries for service on lakes and rivers, This lst embraces all that have been built to the date of publication of his work, and has been modified so as to include the nu:bers in, each class, the gross tonnage and comparative standing for each nation based on tho | number of vessels, the guns'in each class and the total number, and the gun ratio of each nation;— STATISTICAL COMPARISON. vhagunog come S| wo! AM ee 3 | spe¥o : BSS2s El lew ol Bes hot Llamas Lhitil 3 e019 waned | PANEL { lessly drifting through the mind of that king of iron | factors, Ericsson, and realized at atime when the na- | tion’s need was sorest. No revolution of modern days them | echoes that ring out with deadly significance and with race in which we are not even started, | 3 | thus decre: nations have but't nearly one-half of the whole number. Russia claims third place; Greece, with one ship, tho last, Numerically America makes an excellent display ; but this is the fleet of campaign documents—wolully | diferent when its actual number and efficiency are con. sidered, The tabulated tonnage is nearly correct, Here England leads again, France second, Russia third | and America ninth—a practical i!ustration of the piti- ful character of the vessels, for, with fifty three, we fall below Austria and Spain, with but twelve and nine re- | spectively, Not quite two years since we thirsted for | war, and we were to dive deeper, swan further and come up drier than most other nations—than Spain especially, Could woe have done so two years since ? } Tho total number of guns is 2,607, assigned to the | four classes in the order:—First, 1,631; third, 525; second, 385; fourth, 66—the 114 cruisers mounting 1,631 guns, an average of 14.33; the 131 coast defence ships 525, an average of 4, and the two others 385 and 66, averaging nearly 9 1.5 each, respectively. In 4 possible 100 England bas 27, over one-quarter; Amorica, 5.20, Considering only the seven principay nations, for every American gun England has 6.40; | France, 874; Italy, 1.62; Russia, 14; Spain, 1.26; | Germany, 1,22, and Austria, 1.1; not quite as good a showing as before, but so infinitely better than what {t is when the penetrating power and destructive effect of the guns are compared, that it would be charity to hide it, did not foreign governments and their unaceredited agents know it so well, The general relations of the foreign armored fleet can be expressed with reference to our own only by comparison of two types, the third coast defence ships and fourth batteries for service on lakes and rivers. Of the twenty-six constituting these last, twenty light draught monitors are ANSOLUTELY WORTHLESS POR NAVAL PURPOSES, The existence aetually of only one type narrows the | comparison to such vessels of tho foreign navies as | come within the third class, and below will be found a table that will bring their relative efficiency to the | crucial standards of impregnability and power of attack. | The Monitor, as the type is generally known, is an- out- | growth of our civil war, an inspiration of genius, an | exemplar of that eternal fitness which produces the remedy for the disease at the mathematically exact stage—the consummation of a design long and alm- ‘was more complete, more sudden, than that following the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, and the reports of the opposing guns awoke potent lessons even to our day from busy dock- yards over the startled world, The solemn night that fell after the retreat of the Merrimac shut out the old age of wooden walls, and with the dawning day the sun of tho new cra shone on nations whose boasted bulwarks were swept from | the sea, end the age of iron, full armed and ready for | the conflict, sprang forth like Minerva of old. Iron | and steel became the unknown x and y’s of the prob- | lems that vexed men’s brains, and only in powder and shot could be found the solution of the new equations. There had been ironclads before, for batteries had done yeoman service in the Crimea; but the cool, phlegmatic, scientific world waited for railroad iron and laminated plates, angled casemates and revolving turrets; those | | mutually inoperative shells and riflebolts supplied the | data, and with the zeal of men who find a labor worthy of their brain | THE PRACK MAKERS OF THE TWO CONTINENTS | puckied to the work before thom. America aécepted | the inspiration as God-given, pinned her faith upon a | type and theory—monitors and smooth-bore guns with racking charges—and loyally, though in oppo- tion to her national characteristic, became conserv- ative. Europe reasoned, experimented, progressed; con- servatism was consigned to that region of respectability where it- best flourishes, aad the wild hypotheses of | iron maniacs, as the papers dubbed them, found reall- | zations that made the decade a time of marvels and of wonders returned. In 1863, the man whose andacity would have prophesied the possitality of an “inflext, bie,” with the monitor as the impregnable acmé before | him, would have been drawn and quartered—with pen | and ink—and made to feel that every dull plodder and | tdle apprentice had the right to call him crazy. | The monitors did good servico in their time, but | their time was the old, old days. When tho war ter- minated we had a most respectable force, some of the ships beng capable of contending with any in the world, and fora brief period we wore really in a con- | dition, not for the general annexing of all effete mon- | archies, but for protecting our own coasts Wo had | also a system of ordnance superior to any afloat, and | really there was some foundation for the buncombe and boasting we gave way to, after the manner of most young people. What these momtors are worth, glance at the valuable report of the Admiral of the Navy will show. In it will be found the opinions of a distinguished officer, expressing himself officially to the Secretary of the Navy, and from their earnestness and truth they are entitled to the highest consideration, PROM WOOD TO IRON, If the transition from wood to iron was sudden and startling, no less was it embittered by advocacy nnd opposition, and, as the majority of the disputants were naval men, the pet arguments, positive assertion and fint contradiction filled’ columns of the newspapers. The question of expediency settled, then followed the war of broadside and turret systems, waged long and bitterly, and even yet, at the best, unsettled, The in- herént advantages of the turret system wero fo great that no opposition conld overcome it, though the un- restrained manner in which its advocacy was urged re- tarded its advancement. What our own officers think of it may be found in tne work on armored vessels is- | sued by the government in 1864. There, at length, | may be read the opinions of the two Porters, of Golds | borough, Dahlgren and John Rodgers—men testing in | actual warfare its merits and with daily opportunities of confirming their judgments. THE MONITOR SYSTEM DEFENDED. Briefly the advantages of the system aro:—First,’ | comparatively small target presented. Second, facility | afforded for training large guns smoothly and easily | through large arcs, Third, the possibility of this arc without Increasing the size of gun port, witn broadside | | guns an impossibility, thus avoiding In turrets the | weakening of the sides in the neighborhood of the | ports. Fourth, ability to fire ahead and astern, a most | | important requirement, bow much so a glance at Read’s, | | figures Mages ill demonstrate, Fifth, com- | paratively light draught of water, owing to the absence of heavily plated sides. Sixth, power of carrying the heaviest battery in the least possible draught of venth, ability to work guns on both sides, ing tne number of men. Thero are other * advantages claimed, and possibly with Justice, but these | are sufficient to establish the merits of the turret ships, | The eabjotned disadvantages militate against—not their | fighting powers for coust defence—but as gca-going | cruisers:— ARGUMENTS AGAINST MONITORS, First—Tho disproportionate amount of armor neces Sary to protect the guns being double that of the broadside system, In other words, with a given weight | eight guns can be protected and worked in broadside ag | effectually ag four guns in turrets, cach of the former, in addition, having independent training, while the lat: ter are in pairs, Second—The impossibility of rigging monitors neces- gitating thereby dependence upon coal alone. Various devices have been tried, and long passages made in turret ships; but in no sense can the rigging of ships of this class be considered warranted. Granting tt could | be done, the question is if the best of these ships would be as good as a well-designed broadside vessel, Third—Turret ports are vulnerable points, Though impossible in a sea way to aim at a port and hit it, yet by aiming at the central line of a turret the chance of a ot entering is worth taking, True, the pdrts are small and the guns when run out fill them; still these ships invite attack when they are most vulnerable, | Fourth—Unseaworthiness of monitors. American monitors are not seaworthy, though their advocates pout triumphantly to the Monadnock and Miantono- | moh, Much has been written pro and con, but those | who go down to the sea in them and nearly behold the hidden marvels of the deep declare they are not, and | | neither Lloyds nor the Bureau de Veritas recognize them as‘seaworthy vessels, | Fifh—Impossibility of Oghting guns in a heavy sea, for the simple reason that the turret ports cannot be | opened without danger of shipping water, =| “Sizth—The liability at a critical time of the turret's | jamming by being lit at the base, or by the straining at | 3 | bea distorting the perpendicularity of the spindle upon % which it revolves.” It is claimed both these can bo avoided, the first by surrounding the base with heavy = | wrought iron bauds extending upward some distance, Sm | Withaflange bent outward, ag Reed claims; Inward a FS | other experts demand, The phyection to the spindle os aBel ae can be obviated by causing the turre ev Secceeseces seat FS | rollers ded in a bend at the ciroumference of the baxo, SESS ESESRES Ss: ides the turret iteelt being simply centered om the Iron spindie, Esc ih prided Seventh—Want of speed, Foreign monitors steam The total number of ships \s 351, assigned the | well; our Dictator, with eight knots, is thought to be & viaeses ;—Thiré 131; first, 114; second, | Wonder. Signallod rave of steaming, as a happy ping br mi sh defence ships being im | at, atKey West in the monitog drills ‘Nua four kiovs 5 fourth, 63--the cons 0 Fighth—Unbealthiness. 0 "wick lists showed @ excess, a compliment to Aerica, which in the siight denrenae is ihe number of men off duty, but this ; eng ig | Was due to the fact that the ships were at anchor clos etary oy glaives re ng pat gor | in, ina warin climate, and the horrors of She -quarwrt of vessels; France aud N@ | drove aii hands on deck, the oflicers sleeping on top of iu fact. between them these | the A the men under awnines, with aide cure tains. At sea the pness and closeness of the quarters are horrible, and air blowers are not always effective, never suificleut. ‘These are some of the dis- advantages of the monitor system as we krow it; abroad it is very much better. Granted that for coast defence it is the best, jt is mortifying to see how much weare behind foreign Powers, even in the type we gave to the world. For the purpose of comparison, the relative armament, pluting and power uf resist- ance of light draught monitors, two of the best Amer- can class and one each of English and German bwit vessels will be tabulated, the four last being as pearly as possible of the same ty; BRLATIVE ARMAMENT, PLATING AND POWRR OF RESIST~ OF TURRET SHIPS. 2 SOR > ft zigteeel| #2253255 BER-BSER igeg:83-] 9 22: Fis) & a: 2 tom egiig ae B: Fi: a 3 2 fOee gee Fee e58": B2z Se i Soa mee tara 5°3 5 Ho ee s: 3:6 a e ag. ive g Fe KK Zac” I 2 % A = 5 8 | 38 ssh ge Cage | 8 & Seer oe 8 nat Pang ees Ol Pl? Re Stok oe Bl ot z &| £8 B cco® : Bis Bae Leet *The powers of resistance are comparative, the French ship Gloire being taken as the standara or unit 100, THE BIG GUNS OF THR WORLD. It must be borne in mind thatthe armor of the American vessels is laminated, as we had no works in the country up to 1870 capable of rolling a plate over four inches thick. ‘ This will probably explain why the comparison in the above table shows such discrep- ancies, the ratio of resistance varying more than the square of the thickness which obtains with solid plate: The Devastation, with twelve inches of side armor ai eighteen inches of wood backing, has nearly five times the resisting power of the Miantonomoh with six inches of iron and twenty-seven of wood, and nearly three times that of the Colossus with eight and twenty-seven. The largest and most effective gun we have afloat is the 15-inch smooth bore, though 20-inch guns have been cast and are waiting for the Colossus to be launched. The Chief of Orduance recommends “the entire re- armament of the navy with brecch-loading rifle can- nons,”’ and declares that “the sphere of offence of tho monitors does not extend beyond 500 yards, which might be increased to 3,500 yards by the substitution of an efficient rifle of the same weight (calibre 10 or 11 inches) for the 15-inch smooth bore.” The Inflexible’s 81-ton gun, just tried by the Ordnance Committee, is pronounced a success, later reports contradicting the early telegrams. This gun is 27 feet in length, 24 length of bore, 14 or 16 inches calibre (undetermined), weighs 181,440 pounds, and with a 1,300 pound riflo shot and 200 pounds of powder and an initial velocity of 1,800 feet per second, produces @ penetrating effect of 14,058 tons. The’ Inflexible will carry four of these guns. She is plated with 24 inches of ‘iron. is of 11,095 tons displacement and will be driven at a speed of 14 knots per hour by twin screws. What chance would our six available iron-clads have against such a vessel? With regard to the relative steaming power of the monitors and their economy, a comparison has been made between the Devastation and the Miantono- moh, though it is but fair to say the Dictator is the bet- ter steamer; still the speed assumed is the maximum of the last named vessel, Sm 38 32 Buds " & e pag aeonbgy paid Es ‘aoe ‘fo way 3 g = ooo = 3 a3 a 3 BS i 203 5 ae 3 2.3 | 2 4 4 = g |wee Pedowwa smas | BB e 8 a Bm | nou ‘pody wnuseoyr! 9 @ 8 : a 3 st 8q ‘aameg S | sasory aod pus amok ig wd png fo wydwnsuog ~ sesseees sesseony ipoadly 3 1 mq ‘aumnq Oupwonsy Briefly it may be stated that foreign iron-clads can fteam iprther and more economically than our own; turn more rapidly, owing to twin screws; are better built and equipped,’ can lay at a distance where no shot of ours can reach them and sink the best ships we have, and are impregnable even within our ranges to the best American guns. From assuming numerical; the second place we fell to the ninth, and for real pr ciency are so close to Japan and Greece-that itis a charity not to disclose it The personnel of our navy is the best in the world. There is no foreign Naval cademy to compare with our own, or graduates to match our officers, trained and educated, as those who yearly leave Annapolis; but in materiel we are pitiably ‘mean and degraded. DUTY OF OUR GOVERNMENT, All nations bit ours have a settled policy—unless | how not to doit be tra. England and France yearly build a certain number of tong to compensate for waste and destruction. Germany, since her plan of 1873 went into effect, has done wonders. Her vessels are be- ing rapidly built and launchea, and in their types equal to the best English iron-clads afloat, alike to the Hercules, Sultan and Devastation and imforior only to the Inflexibla Let our government adopt some dedinjte policy. We want monitors of the modern typo; cruis- ser that will bring credit and enforce respect abroad; rifle ordnance that will enable us at least to hit back; ap Pkg engl with ite legitimate head, the Admi- of the Navy, superintending it, under the direction of the Secretary, and such a coherent and common sense system Oo: Sdunipistrstive departments as will as- sist the general workihg of the ihvy, while individu ally they carry out to their intended extent their spe- get juties, There are wild theorists who look to thé future extinction of armor and iron-clad ships— among them Sir William Arinsirotig, gunnery fame— the illimitable gun gotting ahead ‘of finally limitable | armor. On this point, and in conclusion, Reed says:— ARMOR V8. PROJECTILES, “The abandonment of armor is advocated upon the | ground that it is incapable of resisting the heavy pro- Jeotiles that can now be fired from naval guns, and is, therefore, now of no more value than the personal are mor of the soldier which was thrown aside when the | penetrating power of xunpowder was brought into play. jeny both the assumption and the analogy. I main- | tain that even the armor which we have now afloat is | impenetrable to existing naval guns under the ordinary | | conditiogs of sea service, I further maintain that the armor which is now afloat has by no means attained or even approached, the — thickness ani weight which it is perfectly practicable to carry on good sea-going ships of not immoderate dimensions, and I deny the analogy between the armor of a soldier and the armor of aship. While the goldier's armor is absolutely and unalterably limited to the weight which @ man can carry, there is no analogous limit to the weight which a ship can carry. You cannot iuereaso the physical stength of men; yon can the carrying and steaming power of ships. ' Luescrt, with confidence, | that ag the Hercules is at this’ moment (1870) | impregnable in the region of the water | line to the attuck of any and every | gun ‘afloat in any part of the world, 80 the ehips of the future may in like manner be endowed with a like impregnability against the guns of the future, and my conviction is that before armor ceases to be superseded asa defence against guns, guns | will themselyes be superseded as a means of attack, Tho ship itself, viewed as a steam projectile, possoss- ing all the force of the most powerful slot, combined with the power of striking in various directions, will be deemed the most formidable weapon of attack that man’s ingenuity has devised.”’ Thus Reed speaks in opposition to that body which exists among us—those conservative old fogies who will neither study nor be taught, and yet who preach in ew cathedra style from quarter decks and around cahin tables, Congress give us an iron-clad pavy | OUR SILENT HIGHWAYS. Report of the United States Engineers on Ob- j Frcorine structions in East River and He? date, PREPARADENS POR THE GRAND EXPLOSION. —__+—_—_ Captain Heuer's Statement of Work Per- formed and the Amount Expended. Tho following is the report of the Board of Engineers on removing the obstructions in East River and Hell Gate, at New York:— HALLETT’S POINT, Work was resumed at this place in the latter part of July, 1874, after a suspension dating from the middle of November, 1873, due to the exhaustion of the appro- priation. The progress of the work of excavation may be seen by glancing at the sketch sent herewith, SKETCH, Besides the driving of tunnels in tho eastern portion of the excavation the operations were principally con- fined to decreasing the dimensions of the piers. Prog- ress has likewise been made in perforating piers and the roof in preparation for the final explosion, which is expected to take place during the fiscal years 1876 and 1877, The excavation of rock has been completed. Experiments will be made to determine the best mode of exploding the large number of blast holes needed for the demolition of the whole rock. The minimum amount of explosives would be determined by placing one charge in every Square pier and two in the oblong piers; but this mode would make the lines of least resistance the maximum, and thus increase the shock which would be propa- gated through the reef to the dwellings upon land. lence I deiermined upon a decrease of the lines ot Jeast resistance, which will multiply the number of blasts and increase the quantity of explosives, but will at the same time reduce to a minimum the vibrating influence through the reef. The exterior effect, except an agitation of the water, will be null. For dotails ot the work of the fiscal year I respect- fully refer to the report of Captain William H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, and the tabulated report seut herewith. After the explosion there will remain to be removed a large quantity, say 90,000 cubic yards, of matorial by the aid of the grapple, in order to obtain the depth of twenty-six fect at mean low water. This may be done at contract and at a cost not to exceed $5 or $6 per cubic yard. Inorder to pro- vide a receptacle for the debris of the roof and piers by the method of excavating deeper, nearly double the quantity of rock before cited would’ require excavation, and at a greater cost per cubic yard. FLOOD ROCK. The removal of this rock !s likewiso under the super- intendence of Captain Heuer, It was commenced under authority from the chief of enginoers, June 7, 1875, and a shaft 10 by 20 feet gnd 19 feet deep has been ex- cavated. This work has been commenced principally by hand labor, but as fast as the machinery at Hailett’s Point can be spared, {t will bo transferred to Flood Rock. Thedimensions of the middle reef, of which Flood Rock is the visible projection, is perhaps double that of Hallett’s Point, Feet of hole drilled by machine. Feet of hole drilled by hand. Cubic yards removed. . Vulcan powder, pounds.....- STEAM-DRILLING 8COW. Operations were commenced upon Way’s Reef, in Hell Gato, August 4, 1874, and on enuary 20, 1874, this rock was reduced from the level of 17.4 to that of 26 fect at mean low water. .The report dated Manch 6, 1875, of Mr. J. H. Striedinger, assistant engineer, super- intending these operations, having been already trans- mitted to the chief of engineers, I have respectfully to refer to it for the details of the work:— Cubic yards removed, 8,029. Explosives used—For ' 65 drill-hole blasts, 15,308 pounds nitro-glycerine. For 16 surface blasts, 1,484 pounds nitro-glycerina, For 1 surface blast, $834 pounds dynamite, Number of holes drilled, 262. Number of feet drilled, 2,130.4. ‘Average depth of holes, 8.13 fect, Average depth dfilled per machine, per shift of 8 hours, 6.5 feet. Average depth drilled for each sharpening, 813 fect, Expenditures’of steei to each foot drilled, 2.7 ounces. COENTIES REEF. On May 4, 1875, the steam drilling scow, after an tn- | termission which dates from December, 1873, resumed work upon Coenties Reef, This reef will be’ removed to the depth of 25 fect at mean low water in tho early part of August. The following work has been done:— mber of holes drilled ae Number of feet drilled. + 990.834 Nitro-glycerine used for 20 drill-hole biasts, Ibs. .6,037 3 Nitro glycerine used for 2 surface blasts, Ibs.... 2704 ‘Amount of rock removed by grapple, cubic yds, 654 DIAMOND REE. The steam grapple, while not engaged tn removing débris from Coenties Reef, has been employed in un- covering the area of Diamond Reef to determine the amount of fast rock to be removed, Amount of stone removed, cubic yards.............413 HARLEM RIVER, The improvement of this river was Included In the appropriation of June 23, 1874, for East River and ell Gate. The piers and abutments of the old-bridgo off 114th street were removed by dredging machine. Amount of débris removed, cubic yards... 1,260 Coenties Reef and Shelldrake will, it is Cr pooat be removed during the fiscal year ending June 876, and considerable progress inade in tho removal of Dia: mond Reef. Amount asked to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending Jure 30, 1877:— Grappling rock at Hallett’s Point. Continuing work on Flood Rock Work on Diamond Reef and Frying Dota. cesecc peace sebuah as veanr ss snesSAD0/000 00 These amounts designed for specific purposes are the least that can be asked for continuous and economical work, ol Reefs at Hell Gate, Diamond and Coenti 234d0Lcuble yards, at cubic yar oe 54,080, io United States Treasury... 8,158 55 1,686,841 45 Amount expended..... + see 1,684,122 99 Amount expended during year ending June 30, 1875:— Excavation’ at Hallett’s Point. + 121,337 93 Steam dniling scow. ie « 101,539 15 Removing obstructions in Harlem River. 3326 74 Total NCL MENT, Balance {n the Treasury of the United States, July 1, 1874.. sese+ $225,000 00 Amount in hands of officer ‘and subject to bis check, July 1, 1874....0.....0ssss0002 8,022 28 Amount appropriated by act approved Mareh 8, 1575. ca ducsitacs dex) S00\000 00 | Amount expended during fiscal year ending June 30, peskcogeente 226,203 82 Amount available July 1, 1875. 252,718 46 ‘Amount required for the fiscal year ending SUNG BO, 1ST... eeeeseeeseeecereeeesee se 450,000 00 REPORT OP CAPTAIN W. IL HEUER. Ustrep States Works, HAuuurr’s Porer, Astonia, N. Y., July 3, 1875, } bea sar ara Colonel Joux Nswrox, Corps of Engineers, Sin—I havo tho honor to submit the following report © of operations at Hallett’s Point for the fiscal year end- ing June 30, 1875. The work of excavating rock was Teemet during tho last days of July, 1874, and oen- inaed almost without interruption during the re- mainder of the year. We only lost one work- ing day since commencing operations for the season, occasioned by the freezing of the contents of our air and water pipes, We therefore had eleven consecutive months of successful work, and durii this time blasted and placed on the dumps 13,838 cubic yards of rock, and made 645 foct of progress in the ‘various tunnels, The headings and leries are now completed to the limit designed by you, that is to say, they are carried out to where the depth of water over- head at mean low tide is twenty-#ix tee, The columns of rock (170 in number) which support the roof have been materially reduced tn size, and such portions of the roofaa were unusually thick were trimmed down as much as safety would permit. In many places the roof yet exceeds twenty feet in thickness, but at these localities the rock is of so unstable a character as not to warrant any further reduction. The supporting columns vary in height from eight to twenty-two fe and average about ten feet in thickness, excay tion being finished, we are at present engaged rforating the’ roo? Hee wd piers wi rill varying from two to tnfoo ine od atudbhief and averaging about nine feet in iength; the holes are from six to ten feet apart, and are intended to recetve tho final chargo of explosive compound with which mine is to be exploded, The size of the holes, their di rection and distances apart, vary with the character of the rock, with the view to make the charge proportion- ate to the quantity of rock necessary to be broken. It ig probablo that about 6,000 holes will be required, the drilling of which at the present rate of progress will consume about a year's time. This timo can, and ought to be, reduced nearly one-third by running three shifts of drilis instead of two shifts, as at present, The leak- age of water Into our work has increased from about 300 gallons per minuto to a little over 500 gallons, ocea- sioned by tho numerous roof holes already drilled, which tapped seams {n the rock through which water flowed. Many of these holes ate being temporarily plugged, which will nearly bring back the leakage to ity former limita, 4 The outside gallery and No. 4 heading have been deeponed #o as to concentrate all tho leakage and cause it to (low to the shaft end of this heading, where the pumpe are placed. This, together with the placing of a boiler alongside the pump, bag reduced the cost pumping toaminimam, On ‘account of the bad well- water obtained on the works, which encrusted as well as corroded our boilers, a lead pipe (one and a half inches interior diameter) was laid across the bottom of tho Kast River to convey Croton water here for steam purposes, It served its purpose well until midwinter, when the intense cold froze its contents, which re- mained 80 for nearly three months. Upon picking the pipe up we found that even in a depth of ninety feet of water it was frozon as solid as whore the pipe came above the surface, The surface tempera ture of the salt water which surrounded the pipe was 28 deg Fabrenheit The pipe was several times broken by vessels dragging their anchors over i. but was auickiv renaired, During the year _ experiments were made with different kinds Df Ameri- | rent and moving on the surface of a revolving sphere, can and English cast steel to ascertain whir'y was -the most suitable for our rock driling purpoton, We also various dri mumps wud ave explosive compounds, mene prise buies Hereto(yre we had been principally using nitro- for our blasting | = geome We then tried hundred pounds of Mica powder, some Giant powder, several A pectin pounds of Rendrock, and re- cently have used considerable Vulcan powder, All of these are nitro-glycerine compounds, Neither of them 48 as powerful as the glycerine, but we have here re- Peatedly domonstrated that with ten ounces of Rend- rock or Vulcan We formerly did with eight ounces of nitro-glycerino, while the cost per pound is less than one-half that of nitro-glycerine. The following is a synopsis of tho experiments made during the yearrs Kind, Remarks. 00 gallons’ leakage T min. lifted 60 foot bh owith 45 Ibs, steam, pressure, EXPLOSIVES, Average Oudic ‘ Yards |per Cubic Kind, Pounds | Rock | Yard Nitro-glycerine .. 717] 1,065 07 Nitro-glycerine 100} 65] $116 Nitro-glycerine . 600) 820) B Giant vse... 109] pal % Rendrook ».... 1,000 909] 49 Vulcan powiier. 1,350] 1,689 31 DRILLING MACHINES, me ae ees i Is. ul L. Feet,” | ~ Feet, Burleigh Real sov| 27.300] aa.ed. Ingersoll... 123} 4378] 88.0 The following table gives the lengths of tho various headings and the aggregate length of the galleries at the close of the fiscal year:— Heading. Length, Feet. 296.36 3 28 ” CORD AD RDNDND ED ROAD ADB SODA Ormco Me = EEBEe! lar RBShS Sers\e Bao ono Total headings. ».. 4,857.57 2,568.10 Galleries .. 76 58 92 59 m1 27 04 67 40 50 10 00 50 16 00 88 bL ts aBseo 6b 85 Total........-.. 7,425.67 Th llowing is a compilation from the detailed tab- ular ort appended :— Py fast of drivings for the year, 645, Cubi ee rock removed, 13,838, Feet of holes drilled, 94,020. Average depth drilled to each cubic yard ofrock, 44. Average cost.of explosive to each cubic yard of rock, bas f blasts fred, 24,324. umber 01 last Nitro-glycerine used, 8,699 pounds. Mica powder No. 1 used, 100 pounds, Mica powder No. 2 used, 500 pounds, Giant powder used, 100 pounds. Rendrock used, 3,688 pounds. Valen powder uimd, G011 pounds poun Black powder Feet of fuse, 111, ‘Average depth of hole drilled by cach machine in eight hours, 28.8 feet, Avorage depth of hole, feet, ‘Average cost per linea foot of hole drilled, 88 cents. Number of drills sharpened, 82,136. ‘Average cost of sharpening’a drill, 8% cents. ‘Average depth drilled to cach sharpening, 2 9 feet, Expenditure of steel to each foot of hole drilled, 4-10 ounce, Average cost per cube yard for breaking the rock, ih Tarase cont per cubic yard for handling the rock, Average cost per cubic yard for hoisting the rock, cents. Average cost por cubic yard for dumping the rock, 29 cents. Operations on Flood Rock began on June 7, 1875, with such men as could be temporarily spared from Hallett’s Point’ A shaft has been sunk ten feet by twenty feet fn plan, and is now nineteen feet in depth. The monthly report accompanying this furnishes the details. AS soon as the Hallett’s Point drilling is completed, all of the machinery there can be utilized for Flood’ Rock work. For this fiscal year (1875-6) I need for complet- ing tho drilling at Halletv’s Point $90,000, besides $60,000 for explosives and connections for the final Dlass Any other money allotted me will be used for Flood Rock. For tho fiscal year commencing July 1, 1876, wo shall need a large sum of money for dredgmg débris from Hallett’s Point. My idea of the expenses of dredging are so difleront from yours thut I hesitate to make the estimate, For the same fiscal year at Flood Rock we can’ uso $250,000 to good advantage, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. H, HEUER, Captain of Engineers. POLAR EXPLORATIONS. THR POSSIBILITY OF REACHING THE NORTH POLE—THE OCEAN CURRENTS AND ICE Op- STRUCTIONS GONSIDERED—THE SEVERAL ROUTES. An expedition fitted with all the improvements and Tequisites that experience proved necessary or scientifio study could suggest, including a special representative of the Heratp to chronicle every varying phase of in- spiring success or depressing failure, has been de- spatched under the auspices of the British government to make one more assault on the icy dominions of King Frost, and discover his throne itself—the North Pole, In the early attempts at Arctic exploration the causes of failure were many and but {ll understood even by thoso who experienced them. But latterly, thanks to the persistence of the votaries of science whose influ- ence on governments bears fruit in the shape of well equipped expeditions fitted out at public expense, and to the skilful leadership by highly qualified officers, and lastly to tho minuto observations of scientifle experts, our knowledge of the physical geography, meteorology and phenomena peculiar to those polar ‘Fégions is yearly growing more complete, Exptorers ato slowly but surcly shortening the radins of the cir- cle of mystery that surrounds the Pole. There aro but four direct navigable routes leading toward the North Pole—namely that through Behring’s Straits from the Pacific, and those via Baflin’s Bay and Smith’s Sound along tho west coast of Greenland; via Iceland and the east coast of Greenland, between that territory and the Island of Spitzbergen, and via Norway and between Spitabergen and Nova Zembla from the Atlantic Ocean. The first and last named of these four routes are along the axes of the warm oceanic currents flowing northward from the equatorial regions, the Kuro Siwo, or Japan Stream, in the Pacific and the Gulf Stream in the Atlan- tic. The intermediate routes are along the axcs of the cold polar counter currents which flow southward along the eastern and western shore of Greenland respectively. The values of these currents in the calculation of the chances of reaching the Pole are very great, indeed they constitute the principal factors, and affect the character and importance of all others. OCRANIC OURRENTS. Wo will briefly explain the thoory of oceanic cur- rents, because these phenomena enter so largely iuto the investigation of those observable in the extreme | northern and southern latitudes. The rotation of the earth on ita axis from west to east generates a centrif- ugal foree on its surface, which Increases from tle poles toward the Equator. The operation of this force and that of the opposing one, gravity, causes a tendency of the waters of the ocean to accumulate at the Equator and move in a direction opposite to that of the oarth’s rotation, or from east to west. The Equator being the neutral line at which tho waters meet from both hemi- spheres, and being also the centre of the heated zone, we find in the great Pacific and Atlantic oceans equa- torial currents of heated surface water flowing west- wardly throughout the year. But this equatorial low 1s ohecked by the land, and, dividing on the Equator, 1s deflected to the north and south. These new currents veing of warm water flow on the surface or ever substrata of colder, denscr, and, consequently, heavier waters, which are being constantly supplied from = the _—polar regions, The equatorial current, which enters the Gulf of Mexico with all the velocity and force accamu- lated during its passage across the Atlantic, and is sud- denly checked by the Isthmus of Darion, seeks, by the | counter current called the Gulf Stream, to flow back- ward to ita source, But, this latver being a warm cur powder we can break as much rock as | continents, | and on the substratum of cold water which has a mo- ‘tion of its own perpendicular to that of the equatorial Current, tho counter current or Gulf Stream naturaily flows in the opposite direction to that of the resultant of thes) two motions, andin a northeasterly course. Hence the Gulf Stream and the Japan current pursue this direction until they lose their heat by radiation and their velocities by friction with contrary flows, or are deflected by the land on the western shores of when they return again to their parent cur- rents on the Equator, 1cE onstRUCTIONs, The main difficulty of approaching the Pole is attrib. ‘utable to the ice, which in its movements, under the in- fluence of the currents referred to in a previous articlo, presents innumerable phases of obstriiction and creates dangers and uncertainties which no amount of human foresight or precaution hitherto employed have been able to fully overcome or guard against. In advancing northward through Smith’s Sound on the western shore of Greenland, or along the eastern side of the same ter- ritory, several forms of ice obstruction present them- selves. They may be generally classified as follows:— The field ice, which is tormed on the surface of the sea itself during the colder periods of the year, and which, while ip that form, is attached to the shore lines, and ig as tmmoyable and impenetrable as the rocky coasts thomselves. The drifting icc, which moves with the southward Arctic currents in the form of floes or large dotached sheets of field ice that become separated from the main body by various causes, principally by the action of tho wind on areas of free water, thereby causing a swell which cracks the ice fields into sections. ‘The pack or broken ice, the débris of icebergs, fleld ice or floc ice, which is created by the abrasion of the larger’ masses with the shore or with each other. Lastly, the Icebergs or floating ice mountains that become detached. from the glaciers and retain their enormoug proportions and grandeur of appearance, even when drifted long distances south of the line whero tho smaller ice becomes dissolved in the sea, During tho arctic summer the increase of temperature, aided by tidal action and the polar currents, causes the break: up of the ice fields in the same manner as similar formations on our lakes and rivers become disrupted. Directly this movement begins, the detached fragments commence their southward drift; and, although tho expeditionary vessel may be fitted with the most pow~ erful steam propelling machinery, she cannot force her. passage through the ico, unless it is so pulverized and, broken up by attrition that it offers resistance only im the form of small free floating pieces that can be pushed aside by the vessel, or when open passages or “Jeads” are formed by the separation of field ice into floes or the splitting up of the latter into smaller sections. Vessels navigating the polar channels are frequently “nipped” by the tco floes that are constantly shifting their relative positions by the action of tho currents and winds, If the ship is not well protected by stout sheathing and strongly braced, go as to enable her to resist the immense pressure on her sides, she is either ORUSHED LIKE AN RGGSHELL between the masses of ice or strained and twisted so as. to be utterly unseaworthy, But if her hull can resist the pressure she is lifted bodily out of tho water and borne away on the surface of the drifting floes. Acci- dents, such as we describe, have attended aimost overy expedition to the Arctic regions. It was to avoid these dangers that the commander of the Pandora wisely de- cided to return to blue water to avoid being imprisoned in the fast forming fleld ice. The HeraLp correspondent graphically describes the escapa If tne line of solld field ico was a fixed one, that is if it did not advance and recede with the seasons, accompanied by the movo- } ments of the detached ice, due to the currents, the problem of polar exploration would be easy of solution, because by means of a good system of well equipped and directed sledging the distance across the level ico plaing, between the limit of navigation and the Polo, would be traversed with ease and safety. Tho object of all the expeditionary leaders has been to reach the lino of permanent ice flelds by the diMcult channels known, to navigation. Inthe effort to accomplish this alone all have hitherto failed from a combination of adverse circumstances, Let us hope that the new expedition, which bas probably attained by this time Hall’s highest lautude, will be successful in reaching the true point of departure in search of the Pole, the permanent ico line, CONSIDERATION OF THR SEVERAL ROUTES. In considering the suitability of the several routes ‘we must judge very much from inferences drawn from an examination of the facts collected by recent ex- plorers and base our speculations on the fixed laws of physics, If the southerly flow of the Arctic currents along certain routes creates difficulties to navigation by tho corresponding movements of the {ce, the northerly flow of the equatorial currents must have a contrary effect on the routes on which they predominate, and therefore navigation to the line of permanent ico must be clear and free on such routes. But it must also be remembered that if the Arctic current creates the dif- ficulty referred to, it also assists tn opening tho line of navigation further north than if it did not exist, by re- moving the ice floes and bergs as fast as they become detached from the main formations. From this we may again reasonably tnfer that as the equatorial currents tend to keep the ice where it was formed, the line of permanent ice fields must be much further south wherever tho influence of the warm current is felt than where that of the Arctio current prevails. We have in the first instance, then, difficulty and danger of upproach to the line of permanent ice and a short Journey thereon to the Pole; while on the other we have a comparative freedom to navigation in reaching the permanent ice, but an iramensely increased distance to be travelled on it before the Pole is reached. Wo ‘ay a comparative freedom for navigation in the latter case because certain grave difficulties exist in tho shape of dense fogs and violent storms, which are really ag dangerous as the nipping and crushing of the -floes and icebergs, All the routes have their POGS AND STORMS, but those on the axes of the equatorial currents to by far the greater degree. The most recent investigations ot the phenomena of Arctic fog shave demonstrated that they are due to the condeneation of the vapor overlying and generated by the warm equatorial currents that pen- etrate the cold latitudes, and to the volumes of humid air carried there by storms. The supply of vapor being continuous the formation of fog is likewise constant, ‘The conditions being unvarying in character the resulta are equally so, Thus, the island of Jan Mayen, situated nearly midway between Iceland and Spitzbergen, and on the line which may be said to divide the equatorial cur- ront or Gulf Stream from the polar curront in this portion of the Arctic Sea, is continuously enveloped in a dense fog, so dark and impenetrable that the island is rarcly seen by navigators, and then only the snowy summit of its tremendous peak, that towers for thousands of feet above the fog lovel. The barometric disturbances produced by the differences of temperature in the atmosphere as well as the sca makes this region of Cimmorian darkness the peculiar home of the north Atlantic storms and tempests that leave our Continent at Nova Scotia. The cold is more intonso north ofand adjacent to the warm currents. Evaporation extracts the heat from the atmosphere and lowers the temperatura, We also find that tho poles of cold, as they are termed, lie south of the ter- restrial pole and in the direction of the course of the equatorial currents into the Arctic Ocean, and are centred north of the middle of the continents of Asia and America, forming two distinct centres of low temp- erature in the Northern Hemisphere, Tho existenco of an open polar sea has been discussed by many emi- nent Arctic explorers, There is no conflict necessarily involved between the assertions of Dr. Kane and our best established theories, Indeed, the influence of the equatorial currents may be claimed as the cause of such a phenomenon. It is certain, however, that great ice fields bar the way on every route to the Pol ‘The extont of these has yet to be determined. In dis- cussing the possibility of reaching the Polo, we have assumed that every provision that human experience and intelligence could suggest and provide is at the disposal of the explorers. This being so, then the final triumph is assured. HUNTING AN EMBEZZLER. Now York detectives have just been to Newark in soarch of Charles F, Tracy, the absconding proprietor of a set of ‘Merchant Collection Bureaus,” established 4n aoveral cities, with headquarters in New York. Mis business was that of collecting bad debts, &o, His clients paid him each $20 a year and a certain percentage to the lawyer on every bill collected. He is alleged to have escaped with somo $8,000 of the money collected, the latter being divided among five persons, represent. ing New York parties. Tracy boarded for a time in Newark. The Now York detactives found no trace of hum *