Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1915 — WILL BUILD DREADNAUGHTS IN U. S. NAVY YARDS [ARTICLE]

WILL BUILD DREADNAUGHTS IN U. S. NAVY YARDS

Secretary Daniels Turns to the Government’s Facilities, As the Private Bids Exceed Cost Limit. Washington, Nov. 23. —Secretary Daniels announced today that he had taken the first step with a view to building in government navy yards battleships Nos. 43 and 44, private bids for which exceeded the limitation of cost fixed by congress. The department asked steel makers all over the country to submit before Wednesday of next week bids on steel for these two ships with statements of the earliest possible date at which they could make delivery to the government.

All private bids for the ships opened last week exceeded $8,000,000, while the limit fixed by congress is $7,0000,000 for the cost of hulls and machinery. Navy yard estimates from the Philadelphia, New York and Mare Island yard’s are below the limit.

Secretary Daniela has indicated that the Norfolk yard and possibly the Puget Sound yard will be considered when the contracts for the battleships are awarded. Neither yard is now eqtiipped for battleship building.

All the private bidders gave the increasing cost of structural steel and the inability to obtain early delivery from the steel companies as factors in determining the amount of their bids and the time required for construction.