779.96 $499, 004.95 Tools, drain pipe, test borings, etc. Expenditures from lump-sum appropriations... Unexpended balance (held for purchase of remaining land). Improvement of channel not completed. 1 general magazine not completed. Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. 5 995.05 The CHAIRMAN. The next item is "Naval magazine, Olongapo, Philippine Islands: Two sets of quarters; chemists and subinspector, $6,000." Please explain the necessity of that item. Admiral TWINING. It is very desirable, particularly at this magazine in the Philippines, to have people of that class, the chemist and laboratorian, live as near as possible to the magazine property. We maintain only a magazine there, but a laboratory where all investigations as to the stability of powder for the Orient are made. Indian 1 Farmhouse repaired. Farmhouses repaired out of annual appropriations. 'Fire plant only originally contemplated-complete emergency power plant installed. 'An old building was repaired and used temporarily until the permanent barracks could be erected. There remains to be paid for 14.88 acres, appraised at $400. Head is so far away and the climatic conditions are so different that we find it necessary on that station, the Asiatic station, to have an independent laboratory there. As you doubtless know, Olongapo is not much of a town, and there is not any suitable place outside for those men to live. Just where they are living now I can not tell you; they are probably living in such accommodations as they can find in this village, but that is at a loss of efficiency, so far as we are concerned, and the department feels that it is very desirable that they should be provided for on the grounds of the magazine and laboratory. The CHAIRMAN. What is the general purpose or plan in reference to Olongapo at this time? They were to have the principal station there. Then it was decided that they should have it down at Manila. The last I heard was that they were not going to make either of them anything except subordinate places and were going to concentrate everything at Pearl Harbor. I believe that was the last recommendation of the joint board. Mr. Foss. To keep the station at Olongapo and make Pearl Harbor the principal station in the Pacific? Admiral TWINING. That is my understanding of the status to-day. Mr. Foss. Have you a magazine at Cavite? Admiral TWINING. No, sir. We used to use the casemate of an old fort for storing ammunition, but we have not anything there now. Mr. Foss. So far as your bureau is concerned, it is dismantled? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Is it used by any other of the bureaus? Col. MCCAWLEY. The Marine Corps has a quartermaster's depot and a small force of marines there. Mr. Foss. The naval hospital is in use there; it is a very fine one The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Extension magazine, $1,300." Please explain that item, Admiral. Admiral TWINING. That is for the purpose of increasing the size of the magazine in which black powder is stored. It is the intention to add about 600 square feet of floor space, and that will make the building large enough for all immediate needs. The CHAIRMAN. What is the black powder used for? Admiral TWINING. For saluting powder principally; for the bursting charges of the smaller caliber shells, ignition charges-igniting the smokeless powder. The CHAIRMAN. Have you a magazine for the storage of smokeless powder there? Admiral TWINING. At Olongapo? The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. Admiral TWINING. We have three magazines for the storage of smokeless powder there; yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And high explosives? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. These facilities are not as extensive as they are at some of the magazines in this country, because we do not care to store much powder there, more than to meet the immediate needs of the fleet, because it does not keep as well. The CHAIRMAN. What is the climate at Pearl Harbor; what will be the condition there? Admiral TWINING. I am not prepared to say as to that, Mr. Chairman; I have not looked into it. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Filling house, $4,000." Please explain that item, Admiral. Admiral TWINING. That is intended to be a filling house for putting up powder charges in which we wish to artificially dry the air by passing it through some chemical, such as calcium chloride or sulphuric acid, or by using refrigerating machinery. About 50 per cent of the time at Manila, by actual record, and in Olongapo, where this magazine is, the moisture in the atmosphere is above 75 per cent. Under those conditions we do not wish to have the smokeless powder exposed to the air. During six months of the year, about 77 per cent of the days the atmosphere has above 75 per cent of humidity, so that on the average it is only one day in three that we can do anything in the way of putting up powder charges in Olongapo. We want to create an artificial condition in a filling house. The Army has been experimenting with one at their ordnance department in Manila with very good success, and that is what I wish to put up, a building for that purpose. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Renewal of dock, $4,000." Please explain that item, Admiral. Admiral TWINING. That is a case of a dock in which the piling has been eaten away until the dock is not in a very safe condition and requires renewal The CHAIRMAN. Is it your intention to put up another wooden one? Admiral TWINING. The intention was to use concrete piles or piles covered with concrete, which, I think, is the approved construction for that locality. Is not that right, Admiral? Admiral STANFORD. I do not know about the covering of piles with concrete. The concrete piles are good. The CHAIRMAN. The toredo is bad? Admiral STANFORD. Yes, sir; quite destructive in those waters. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Naval magazine, Kuahua, Hawaii: Two magazines, $50,000." Last year we appropriated for one magazine. This is a part of the general scheme laid out several years ago? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. This completes that general scheme. Mr. ROBERTS. Why do the magazines cost so much more in Hawaii than here? Most of the estimates for magazines in this country are $15,000. Admiral TWINING. I will have to ask Admiral Stanford to answer that question. Admiral STANFORD. Admiral Twining has requested that the construction should be less elaborate in character than that which was carried on in preceding years, and the newer constructions in this country have followed Admiral Twining's suggestion. These estimates are in accord with the building program, or scheme that was outlined several years ago, and consequently are for the more elaborate structures they were then building. Mr. ROBERTS. Are elaborate structures needed in Hawaii any more than elsewhere? Admiral STANFORD. No, sir. The plans for the ordnance structures at Pearl Harbor, for which appropriations have been made, have all been completed, and we are about to receive bids for the construction of the buildings. Mr. ROBERTS. There is only one authorized so far. Admiral STANFORD. Last year there were a number of ordnance items, were there not? Mr. ROBERTS. Yes, sir; that is right; loaded-shell house and fixedammunition house. Admiral STANFORD. Those buildings are all designed and we will open bids for them very soon. Mr. ROBERTS. Is it too late to modify the designs and save some money and have just as efficient buildings? Admiral STANFORD. The plans have been designed to meet the present ideas of the Bureau of Ordnance. The plans as completed are in accordance with the bureau's ideas. The CHAIRMAN. Would $15,000 build an appropriate and suitable magazine at Pearl Harbor? Admiral TWINING. I think that is largely a question of the cost of aterial and the cost of getting it out there and the increased cost of labor. Admiral Stanford is better qualified to answer that question than I am. He has been out there recently and knows the conditions. I would suppose that it would cost considerably more to put up a building of the same character there as compared to one at Mare Island, for instance, but just what the percentage is I am not competent to say. Admiral STANFORD. The cost of construction at Pearl Harbor as compared with the cost of construction of a similar building at Mare Island would probably be 30 to 50 per cent higher. Cement costs probably twice as much at Pearl Harbor as it does at Mare Island. Structural steel will cost probably 14 cents a pound more. Labor is really more expensive, not necessarily because of the wage rate, but because of the less efficient service. Mr. ROBERTS. The answer is that these buildings are more expensive in construction in Hawaii than similar buildings would be at a home station? Admiral STANFORD. Yes, sir; that is right. Mr. ROBERTS. Is that because the buildings are more elaborate or more ornate, or the increased cost? Admiral STANFORD. There is no ornate construction proposed for the Pearl Harbor improvements. The CHAIRMAN. The next item, "Railroad tracks and scales, $15,000." We appropriated for that same purpose last year $10,000. The original estimate for the railroad track and scales was $25,000, and this is just to complete the estimate? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Will this appropriation complete the railroad track needed and the scales? Admiral TWINING. As far as I now know, so as to carry out the original plan. Mr. ROBERTS. Let me understand that. Will the $25,000 for railroad tracks accommodate all the buildings that were included in the original estimate? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBERTS. And if Congress hereafter authorizes additional buildings we will have to make an additional railroad track appropriation? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "One gunners' quarters, $7,000." In the other yards it is put at $6,000. Is that increase covered by the same explanation you made awhile ago, the additional cost? Admiral TWINING. There is no other reason that I know of why it should be more, so that must be it. Admiral STANFORD. Practically all the building material used in this construction has to be transported from the United States. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Machinery and tools, $20,000." Last year we appropriated for that purpose $5,000. That completes the estimate that was submitted, the original estimate being $25,000? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Will that amount complete the purchase, as originally contemplated, of all the items? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "One shipping house, $60,000." That was embraced in the original estimate? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What will be the size of the house, the dimensions, character, etc.? Admiral TWINING. That is intended to be built on the dock or directly adjoining the dock or landing place, as we have one at Iona and a small one at St. Juliens Creek, a receiving place for stores, ammunition, and other material landed from the vessels or tugs, and also a place to assemble. The CHAIRMAN. In transferring to and fro ? Admiral TWINING. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What are the dimensions? Admiral TWINING. I suppose about 50 or 60 feet wide, and perhaps 150 feet long, with 20 feet of head room. The CHAIRMAN. What construction? Admiral TWINING. I think the estimate is based on a steel structure with a galvanized covering. Admiral Stanford can tell you of the nature of the construction in that climate. I do not know. have not consulted him. I The CHAIRMAN. Can you tell us, Admiral Stanford? Admiral STANFORD. I should think that the climate would not be especially destructive to galvanized corrugated steel, for the reason that it is not particularly damp. The rainfall is only about 14 inches per year. The atmosphere is apparently dry, or rather not humid. If the funds are sufficient and such method of construction should be approved by the Bureau of Ordnance, I am in favor of using concrete blocks or some masonry for the side walls. Mr. BROWNING. Why put in these estimates provision for galvanized buildings? Admiral STANFORD. This estimate, considering the dimensions as mentioned by Admiral Twining, will provide, I think, a building which will be permanent in character in every feature. Mr. ROBERTS. Would you use galvanized iron on the roof? Admiral STANFORD. The chances are we would not use it on the roof. but something more durable and permanent. We prefer using tile or slate, or possibly in that climate some of the fabricated roof coverings, such as asbestos shingles or elastic slate. The CHAIRMAN. Can you put into the hearings a statement as to whether or not this $60,000 will provide a permanent structure? |