chinery. This scheme should follow generally that authorized by act of Congress in 1912 for the Ordnance Department of the War Department. In many private manufacturing establishments some such scheme is in vogue.

65. The old foundry has been dismantled and the new foundry put in operation. The shift from the old foundry to the new was done systemmatically and practically no time was lost. This portion of the plant is now up to date in all respects and is able to turn out castings of the largest size required for ordnance work in steel, cast iron, and bronze. Some difficulty is experienced in keeping the cost of steel castings down to an acceptable figure, due to the fact that the work at a Government plant must necessarily be more or less fluctuating, and this bears especially heavily on a steel foundry. It is hoped to assign additional work to the yard in the near future of such a nature that its manufacture can be carried on when opportunity presents and thus provide a steady flow of work without delaying the needs of the service.

NAVAL PROVING GROUND.

66. In general the work performed by both the proving ground and the powder factory has been considerably greater than that performed during the previous fiscal year, and consequently greater than any year since the station was started.

67. The following is a summary of the proof work performed during the fiscal year:

68. Much experimental work has been performed, of which 53 items are mentioned in the proving ground report, and many of these experiments are of considerable importance to the service. A system has been devised for measuring under-water pressures due to mine explosions, and an accurate formula determined, which will be of great value. Measurements have been made of the underwater explosive effect of nitrogelatine, guncotton, T. N. T., and explosive D.

69. The dock has been improved and additional swamp land in the valley filled in. A new explosion chamber has been constructed, that will permit of the fragmentation of the largest projectile. The covered butt on the north side of the valley has been improved so as to make it possible to fire explosive shell up to 12 inches caliber at armor plate without much danger to the surrounding territory.

POWDER FACTORY.

70. About 700 tons of ether have been manufactured at a satisfactory cost. Some 2,000 tons of sulphuric acid have been produced at a cost well below the market price. A total of 2,338,448 pounds of new powder was manufactured, and at the same time 1,013,940 pounds of powder was reworked. This shows an increase in powder produced of more than 20 per cent over the figures for last year.

71. Work has been begun on the new project appropriated for in the last naval appropriation bill, with the object in view of increasing the potential capacity of the plant. The new nitrate of soda storehouse has been completed and will store 5,000,000 pounds of soda. A new gravity nitrating house is being constructed and will be put in operation during the new fiscal year.

72. A total of 46 accidents among the force employed at the proving ground has been reported for the year. They are generally of a minor character and none of them serious.

73. In general, the work of the proving ground is being constantly increased and much of the proof work is conducted under great difficulties, due to its limited extent and peculiar geography. The bureau has submitted a recommendation to the department for the purchase of additional land on the left bank of the Potomac below the present reservation. The constantly increasing range of the heaviest guns makes such an addition necessary. The proving ground is particularly hampered in high-explosive shell experiments, and this would be obviated were the additional land provided.

TORPEDO STATION, NEWPORT, R. I.

74. Two hundred and thirty-three new torpedoes were delivered to the torpedo station during the year by contractors. Ninety-nine were turned in from ships, and 148 were issued. Seventeen new outfits were furnished, involving 128 torpedoes, and nine outfits replaced, involving 33 torpedoes. The torpedo station also reports 75 new torpedoes completed and 75 new torpedoes 90 per cent completed. The conversion of 44 Mark III 45 cm. torpedoes to Mark IV Mod. 1 was almost finished at the end of the fiscal year, and 44 Mark I's had 70 per cent of the work of modifying them finished at the same time.

75. One hundred and fifty-five thousand primers of various kinds were manufactured during the year, besides many thousand superheater fuses, electric detonators, and fuse bridges.

76. The expenditures for the year amounted to $1,385,843.70. The expenditures for manufactured articles for the year amounted to $994,442.06, which is an increase of about $21,000 over the previous year.

77. Carefully prepared plans had been made for the enlargement of the manufacturing capabilities of the torpedo station in advance of the appropriation made by Congress in the naval appropriation act approved June 30, 1914. This has permitted work to be commenced at an early date, and while the designed capacity of the total plant is stated to be 150 torpedoes per annum, the inspector in charge hopes to increase this number to somewhere in the neighborhood of 200.

78. An order for 200 Mark IX torpedoes has been given and this will absorb the $1,000,000 appropriated for torpedoes at the last session of the present Congress. Recently the bureau has entered into a supplementary agreement with the Bliss Co. by which the testing of a considerable portion of the latter's product will be done at the torpedo station with the increased facilities provided there. This work can well be done in addition to our own testing and will result in a saving to the Government of about $350 per torpedo. Besides the saving effected we will be enabled to procure

the torpedoes at an earlier date than would be the case if the whole work of testing were thrown on the contractors.

79. A considerable amount of experimental work in connection with torpedoes, mines, new devices, etc., has been conducted.

80. Two schemes are under consideration for obviating circular runs. One of them is located in the warhead and the other is an addition to the mechanism in the afterbody. The latter has been tried and found to be successful, although certain disadvantages are presented which may induce the adoption of the other scheme which is about 60 per cent completed.

81. The instruction of seamen gunners has continued as in the past. New quarters for their accommodation are urgently needed and an estimate has been submitted to the department to provide them. Hitherto they have been housed in a makeshift barracks totally unsuited for the purpose. This frame building is to be removed as having outlived its usefulness and to provide space for the new shops above referred to. At present the men are quartered upon the Vesuvius and in other places. This arrangement is inconvenient and should be done away with by the construction of new quarters.

NAVAL MAGAZINES.

HINGHAM, MASS.

82. The magazine building authorized by Congress in the appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1913 has been completed. The sea wall and dock are completed and contribute very much to the expeditious shipping and receiving of ammunition. Minor conveniences have been constructed by magazine labor. Two general magazines should be appropriated for, in order to provide storage for reserve ammunition as fast as it is produced. Many minor improvements have been recommended by the inspector in charge, which will be taken up from time to time. They are all intended to facilitate the handling of ammunition and thereby reduce the expense connected with its receipt and storage.

NEW YORK DISTRICT.

83. The work at the Iona Island magazine has increased by about 14 per cent during the past year. The bureau has directed that all submarine mines be sent to this magazine to be filled with explosive, and this will add considerably to the work over and above the natural increase.

84. The Lake Denmark magazine should constitute the principal storage place for ammunition in this district. It is recommended that the stowage capacity for smokeless powder there be largely increased in order to accommodate reserve stores of powder. Estimates have been submitted for coal handling apparatus to cost $4,500.

FORT MIFFLIN, PA.

85. The resources at Fort Mifflin have been heavily taxed, due to the placing out of commission of ships at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, since in this event it is necessary to discharge the ammunition from a ship and store it in magazines. Ample provision should be made at this station for such cases, considering the fact that the ships in ordinary will in all probability be moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Estimates have been submitted to increase the magazine capacity accordingly.

ST. JULIENS CREEK, VA.

86. The facilities at this magazine have been very much improved by the construction of a new wharf and wharf storehouse. These improvements have contributed very much to reducing the cost of handling material. Additional storage is also required at this station, for the same reasons cited with respect to the magazines reported on above.

MARE ISLAND, CAL.

87. Many minor improvements have been carried out at this station. An automatic sprinkler system was installed in the paint shop, building No. 22, and a hand-controlled sprinkler system on outside of wooden magazine buildings Nos. 23 and 48. The cost of assembling ammunition has been materially reduced during the past year, due to improved machines and methods. The reduction in unit cost amounts generally to 50 per cent, but in some cases far exceeds this. It has been found possible at this magazine to reduce the number of men employed during the year by 14.2 per cent, notwithstanding the fact that the volume of work has increased considerably. This has been accomplished by economy of arrangements in assembling and disassembling ammunition, together with improvements made in the presses.

PUGET SOUND, WASH.

88. Two officers' quarters, one storehouse and bag factory, and one filling house have been completed at this magazine. About 5 per cent of the new sea wall had been completed at the end of the fiscal

year.

89. The completion of the Panama Canal will entail additional demands on both this magazine and the one at Mare Island, and the bureau therefore recommends that storage capacity on the west coast be largely increased due to the probable increased activities of the fleet in those waters. Recommendations have elsewhere been made tending to accomplish this object.

STUDENT OFFICERS.

90. The system of instruction for student officers in ordnance has been continued. These officers now form part of the postgraduate classes at the Naval Academy, spending their first four months at the academy and then following a course of practical instruction under the direction of the bureau.

91. The bureau is of the opinion that the system as now established would be improved were the four months' instruction at the Naval Academy omitted. What is desired above all things is, that the student officers be given as thorough a course in the design and manufacture of ordnance material as is possible. This must be supplemented by individual study, for which the regular course at the Naval Academy furnishes a good groundwork. The only trouble with the four months' course at the Naval Academy is that it is too brief a period to furnish instruction in subjects generally abstruse, and this gives rise to the idea that it might be well to omit it altogether and rely upon individuals to make the necessary research while engaged in practical work. JOSEPH STRAUSS.

REPORT OF CHIEF OF BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR.

To: The Secretary of the Navy.

Washington, D. C., October 10, 1914.

Subject: Report of the Bureau of Construction and Repair for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1914.

1. I respectfully submit herewith the report of the bureau for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1914, together with estimates for appropriations required for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1916.

2. The estimates marked "A" are for the salaries of the clerical employees of the bureau. These estimates are identical with the amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1915, with the exception of one clerk at $1,000 per annum carried on the rolls of the Bureau of Equipment. The Bureau of Equipment having been abolished, the pay of this employee is covered in this bureau's estimates.

3. The estimates marked "B" are for the construction and repair of vessels at navy yards and on foreign stations; the purchase of stores, materials, machinery, articles of equipage at home and abroad, and tools of all kinds; the construction and repair of yard craft; the pay of the clerical, drafting, inspection, and messenger service in navy yards, naval stations, and offices of superintending naval constructors; and the performance of all work for the Navy in the line of construction and repair. This estimate is considerably less than the amounts appropriated for this work during the past five years, as shown on the following table:

4. The estimates for "Improvement of construction plants" cover the improvement of the shipbuilding and repair plants at the several navy yards and naval stations, it having been found desirable in previous years to include estimates for appropriations of this character which may be specifically devoted to the improvement of hull division shops. Such a provision is necessary in order that such work may not depend entirely upon allotments from the general appropriations, since casualties in the fleet, which could not be foreseen or estimated for, may make it impossible to utilize any