Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1907 — WASHINGTON GOSSIP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WASHINGTON GOSSIP

Following the conference of high officials with the president, orders were issued by Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry to hasten all preparations for the much discussed cruise of the battle-sliip fleet to the Pacific Coast. He said that the fleet •would sail from Hampton Roads December 15 for San Francisco, in command of Admiral Evans, expecting to arrive at the destination-April 10, a distance of 13,772 miles. The big warships will be under steam sixty-three days, and spend fifty-two days at target practice. The sailing pace will be ten knots an hour, permitting colliers to accompany the fleet part of the way. Over 100,000 {gns of coal will be consumed. A complete machine shop on board the Panther will be constantly at hand for repairs. Following sharp attacks on the Board of Naval in the Navy, a service publication, Secretary Metcalfe called o'n all officers for suggestions how to promote the efficiency of the service. Two of the battleships, the lowa and Indiana, were criticised as being “soft coders,” and already these have been orderM Into the reserve list, most of Their men going to the new battleships. By “soft end’’ the critics mean ships having spaces at the bow and stern not protected by armor, which in action would make them vulnerable to attack. It Is also charged that steering engines in several cases have been lgft unprotected by the naval constructors. Other ships thus criticised are the Oregon, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Kearsarge.

The Navy Department has announced the awarding of contracts for the construction of the two new * 20,000-ton “Dreadnoughts!! to the Fare _River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Mass., and the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Vtw respectively. One of these,ships is to have American turbines and the other the British type of turbines. The contract price witli the Newport News company is $4,090,000, and that with the Fore River $4,377,000, these being the lowest two bids. Contracts for the armor are divided among the Carnegie, Bethlehem and Midvale plants.

The Naval Board of Inspection and Survey has forwarded to the Navy Department its report op the exhaustive trials of the four submarine torpedo boats, the Octopus, Viper, Cuttlefish and Tarantula, constructed for the government. Much attention was devoted to the open ocean trial of the Viper, which was selected to make a ninety-six hour Sea test for the purpose of determining endurance. The performance of the Viper demonstrated that she has a radius of action of 1,000 miles \yitbout coming into port or communicating with any other vessel for -a period of four days.

Painters at work on the dome of the Capitol in Washington found in the gutter below the first bulge a woman’s bonnet, four derby hats, ten straw hats, two ham sandwiches, thirteen cents, a nursing-bottle, and a sparrows’ nest containing thirty-eight eggs. The sparrows must have planued a corner in the egg market, for no hen sparrow could cover three dozen eggs with any prospect of hatching them. The cruiser Washington, which has been in commission but a few months, recently had her final tests under the supervision of the Trial Board of the Navy Department with most gratifying results, her speed record being over twenty-one knots an hour, and the action of her guns and turrets proving exact duplicate of the cruiser Tennessee.

It has been agreed between the governments of Canada and of the United States that the owners of all buildings on the boundary-line must decide in which country they shall live, and must move thts whole building accordingly. The purpose of this agreement Is to reduce the smuggling evil and otherwise to put an end to lawlessness on the border. ~ a * *. Public Printer Stillings has ordered that hereafter all employes of the government printing office shall address one another with the formal designations "Mr.” and “Miss,” In contradisthe prevailing custom of using nicknames. Hereafter medical preparations, such as headache powders, which contain acetphenltldin, must have on their published formulas notice that the preparation contains “acetanllld,” from which the former drug is derived. The president has approved Col. Goethal's request for authority to expend $8,000,000 more than the appropriation for the present flacal year on the Panama Canal. The reason for asking thla was that the work had proceeded with greater rapidity than was anticipated, and this action was believed to be In the Interest of true economy and might save a year’s time In completing the canal. Congress will be requested tv make an appropriation to cover tl'k