Naval History and Heritage Command

REPORT

of

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

__________

NAVY DEPARTMENT, December 1, 1845.

SIR: During the past year, the usual squadrons of the navy of the United States have been maintained. In the Mediterranean, Commodore Smith had command of the Cumberland and the Plymouth. He would have despatched the Plymouth to the Black Sea, but leave was refused by the Ottoman Porte. He conducted our newly appointed consul to Tangiers, and ensured his reception.

Our ships in the Mediterranean have usually lain inactive at Port Mahon during the winter; this can be obviated by an interchange of service. The Plymouth has, therefore, been directed to join the Brazil squadron, and the Cumberland has returned home. Their places will be taken, at the opening of the season, by a part of the present African squadron.

The African squadron was organized by Commodore Perry, by whom good sanitary regulations were established. He was relieved by Commodore Skinner in the Jamestown, who has shown equal consideration for the health of all under his command. Yet the Preble and the Truxton contracted disease, and, as an act, of humanity, were ordered to return home. The Southampton has been sent out with stores, to remain on the coast. The Marion and the Dolphin followed as a reinforcement. The Boxer is destined for the same station, and will sail immediately. The Cumberland, bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Road, will proceed in January to relieve the Jamestown and Yorktown, which will then repair to the Mediterranean.

On the Brazil station, Commodore Rousseau, the first officer west of the Alleghenies ever selected to command a squadron, relieves Commodore Turner. The Raritan will repair to the home squadron; the Boston is ordered to return to the United States. The Columbia, the Saratoga, the Plymouth, and the Bainbridge, will, for the present, constitute the Brazil squadron.

Commodore Parker, after a very successful cruise, returned from the Asiatic station in September, bringing home the Brandywine, the St. Louis, and the Perry. At the Bay of Islands, Captain McKeever, in the St. Louis, had the happiness to render valuable service to the inhabitants of an infant British settlement.

In May Commodore Biddle sailed for the East Indies in command of the Columbus ship of the line and the Vincennes, bearing our minister to China, and the ratified treaty between the United States and the Chinese emperor. The health of Mr. A. H. Everett, the minister, having induced his return,

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the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty was committed to the charge of Commodore Biddle, who will doubtless show that an able and gallant naval officer conducts, satisfactorily, all affairs entrusted to him.

The Constitution is on her return from China, after having visited different ports and islands in the Indian seas.

The Pacific squadron, under Commodore Sloat, has consisted of the Savannah, the Levant, the Warren, and the Shark. The three first will return in 1846, and will he relieved by the Congress, the Portsmouth, and the Cyane. The difficulty of communicating with our ships in the Pacific makes it proper to suggest the advantage of a public mail through our own territory to a convenient port on the straits of Juan de Fuca. Arrangements should also be made at the earliest day that is proper, for getting supplies for our Pacific squadron from our own soil and our own citizens in that region.

The home squadron has been under the command of Commodore Conner, who has distinguished himself by sound judgment in the performance of his duty. His force, which consisted of the Potomac, the Falmouth, the Vandalia, the Lawrence, and the Somers, was weakened by the return of the Vandalia, which visited Hayti, and was driven home by the yellow fever contracted at Port-au-Prince, where she had been ordered on duty. The squadron was increased by the Princeton and Porpoise, the St. Mary's and the Saratoga, under Commodore Stockton, and soon after by the John Adams and the steamship Mississippi. The aggregate force of Commodore Conner was much larger than has usually rallied under one American pennant. It gave efficient protection to our interests in the gulf of Mexico, and contributed to spread a sense of security over our country, to its extreme limit of the Del Norte.

Deeming it of great importance to become acquainted with the navy-yards and establishments connected with the navy, I have, during the past summer, visited all of them, except those at Pensacola and at Memphis. They are generally in excellent order. The principal improvements in progress at those I visited are at Brooklyn, where the work on the dry dock is advancing with efficiency and economy. The vicinity to a city which is the emporium of naval stores, and is crowded with seamen, shipbuilders, and excellent mechanics of all kinds, gives to that yard great facilities for the prompt repair and equipment of ships of war.

At the naval asylum in Philadelphia, more than a hundred veteran sailors are enjoying the ample provision wisely reserved for the comfort of their declining years. Yet I would earnestly advise that the buildings of the asylum, at their present location, be never enlarged; but that, after it is full, new pensioners should be placed in some salubrious spot near the ocean, where the aged seaman can watch ships as they come and go, and have old familiar objects within his sight.

The charge on the navy hospital fund, which is noticed in the communication from the Bureau of Medicine, was incurred in 1844, on the recommendation of the chief of that bureau, at whose urgent suggestion houses for the governor and surgeon of the asylum were authorized to be erected. The expenditures have been circumscribed; and the recommendation to encroach still further on the fund, by erecting other dwellings at other stations, has not been complied with. The fund should be sacredly reserved for the immediate and personal benefit of those from whose earnings it has accrued. Nor have I thought it just to continue to appropriate a large

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part of the buildings at the asylum to the use of the midshipmen, who were preparing for the established examination previous to their passing to a higher grade.

Congress, in its great desire to improve the navy, had permitted the department to employ professors and instructors at an annual cost of about $28,200; and it had been usual, besides the few employed at the receiving ships and the naval asylum, to send professors with the midshipmen into every ocean and clime. But the ship is not friendly to study; and the office of professor rapidly degenerate into a sinecure; often not so much was done as the elder officers would cheerfully do for their juniors; the teachers on board the receiving ships gave little instruction, or none whatever; so that the expenditure was fruitless of great results. Many of the professors were able and willing; but the system was a bad one. The idea naturally suggested itself, of seizing the time when the midshipmen are on shore, and appropriating it to their culture. Instead of sending migratory professors to sea with each handful of midshipmen, the midshipmen themselves, in the intervals between sea duty, might be collected in a body, and devote their time to suitable instruction. For the pay of the instructors Congress has provided; in looking out for a modest shelter for the pupils, I was encouraged to ask for Fort Severn, at Annapolis. The transfer was readily made, by order of the Secretary of War, and a school was immediately organized on an unostentatious and frugal plan. This institution, by giving some preliminary instruction to the midshipmen before their first cruise; by extending an affectionate but firm supervision over them as they return from sea; by providing for them suitable culture before they pass to a higher grade; by rejecting from the service all who fail in capacity or in good disposition to use their time well, will go far to renovate and improve the American navy.

The plan pursued has been unpretending, but it is hoped will prove efficient. A few professors give more and better instruction than four-and-twenty at sea. No supernumerary officer has been ordered to Annapolis; no idle man is attached to the establishment. Commander Buchanan, to whom the organization of the school was entrusted, has carried his instructions into effect with precision and sound judgment, and with a wise adaptation of simple and moderate means to a great and noble end. Let not Congress infer that new expenses are to be incurred. Less than the amount that has hitherto been at the disposition of the department, for purposes of culture, will support the school, and repair and enlarge the quarters received from the hospitality of the army.

At Washington, the admirable instruments provided for the observatory have been placed under the charge of officers of the navy, who are well aware that the opportunities afforded them for advancing astronomical science are unequalled on this continent, and scarcely surpassed in Europe. Results honorable to the country may, therefore, be justly expected of them. From that institution charts are furnished to the navy at cost; and the instruments used at sea are there preserved, corrected, and repaired. Would it not be well that the plates of all charts authorized by Congress to be engraved, should be deposited there, as the place most appropriate for their preservation and use?

It was a subject of great regret that the pressure of business left no opportunity to visit the yards at the south and southwest. The plans for their improvement should be such as will not interfere with or injure each other.

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Pensacola, by its position, arrests public attention. The security of our naval power in the gulf of Mexico depends, in a great measure, on its condition and resources. The events of the summer show conclusively the necessity for a liberal provision at that station of all the means essential to a well furnished and efficient navy-yard. A large estimate for that yard is therefore presented, although I desire to await further information before finally approving the proposed mode of its expenditure.

Memphis, on the contrary, being in the heart of the country, on an ocean river, yet a thousand miles from the sea, is inappropriate for the repairs of ships of war; but in building steamships, it may compete with Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg. It lies, moreover, just below the great hemp-growing region, and is recommended by its position for the establishment of the manufacture of cordage. A rope walk, with the latest improvements, is therefore proposed, so that the west may not only produce but manufacture the hemp used for the American navy.

I have disapproved some of the details of the plan proposed for the navy-yard at Memphis, because it was framed on a scale of extravagant expenditure, which, for the mere work of preparation, would have consumed many years, and would have cost, by estimate, at least two millions of dollars; and which contemplates the residence of many officers, civil and naval, who, in any event, would be useless. I recommend that Congress confine the use of the moneys it may appropriate, first to the immediate construction of a rope walk, and next to simple arrangements for building and equipping steamers. To introduce at the west the manufacture of American hemp for the navy, will prove a national benefit.

The United States should produce all the hemp used in its navy. Enterprise, climate, and soil leave no doubt that it may be raised and prepared of the best quality, and at prices within the limit prescribed by law. To insure that end, I gave the subject early and continued attention; and nothing but American hemp has been received under any contract made since I came into the department.

Finding, by short experience, that to insist on the inspection at Charles-town, as heretofore practiced, would be injurious to the western planter, I directed that while all who had made contracts at prices based upon inspection and delivery at Charlestown should be held to fulfill their engagements, purchases should be made of three hundred tons during the present fiscal year, to be delivered and finally inspected at Louisville and St. Louis. The subject of lake defenses is reserved for a special communication.

The care of the reservations and plantations of live oak, I recommend should be transferred to the land office, which alone has the proper means of ascertaining titles, and which can assume the charge with less expense and greater efficiency than this department.

I may ask leave during the winter to present some suggestions on the organization of the department and its bureaus.

The present contract system requires modification, so that no fraud to the United States may shield itself under the letter of the law; nor contracts be given out at prices exceeding the market price.

The balance of appropriations on hand will, it is believed, with the exercise of rigid economy, be sufficient for the remainder of the fiscal year. The estimates for the next year contemplate no increase in the force employed during the present. Those for the civil department are precisely the

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same as were granted for the current year. For the improvement of yards and docks, I recommend only what the chief of that bureau declares to be absolutely necessary. Some of the shore stations, which had been needlessly multiplied, have been abolished; in transmitting the estimate for the remainder, I am far from expressing an opinion that no further reduction should be made. The estimate for provisions, and that for pay, rest on the basis of the present restriction by law to seven thousand five hundred men; but the estimate for pay, without proper retrenchments by Congress, may prove deficient.

As the marine corps is placed under the direction of the Navy Department, it becomes my duty to present the estimates for its support. Its services on ship-board are highly valued; its evil consists in its luxury of field officers, who have no duties to perform proportionate to their pay and emoluments. During the past year this burden has been increased. By a decision of your predecessor, an addition has been made to the pay of its gallant colonel commandant; and although the procedure on which the decision rests has never had the sanction of the House of Representatives, and apparently conflicts with law, I have not felt justified in withdrawing from the consideration and decision of Congress the estimates of that officer for his own increased pay and the pay of his aide-de-camp, an officer heretofore unknown to the corps, and of doubtful propriety. The marine corps is not a brigade; not even a regiment. It is never assembled; seldom even does a full company come together. It serves in small detachments, commanded chiefly by junior officers. Though about two thirds of the corps were in summer on ship-board, all the field officers remain on shore. Of thirteen captains, but two are at sea; of forty lieutenants, about seven of each grade are at sea. At one shore station, a major, a captain, and three lieutenants have had charge of about twenty-eight men. An increase of the officers of the corps is therefore not needed for naval purposes, even on an increase of the men.

For the increase of the navy no estimates are presented. The department awaits on that subject the instruction of Congress. Yet it is to be observed, that, in comparison with other nations, our navy is poorly supplied with sea going steamers; which cannot, indeed, in the present state of science, form the main reliance of a squadron, but as auxiliaries are of vast advantage. The Mississippi and the Princeton are our only efficient vessels of that character on the ocean. Should it be determined to increase this class of ships, it is desirable that, the best experience should be consulted in their construction; and that doubtful novelties, especially such as conflict with the known laws of mechanical forces, should be disregarded.

I earnestly hope that our gallant navy during the next year, as heretofore, may perform its whole duty; displaying the flag of our republic in every ocean, protecting our commerce, extending the bounds of human knowledge, overawing semi-barbarous nations, restraining the piratical traffic in African slaves, and by its presence promoting the preservation of the peace of mankind. It contains all the elements of efficiency. It has able and skillful officers, who compete with alacrity for every post of danger or adventure; its men excel in seamanship, courage, and fidelity to their country. Unsuited to purposes of maritime dominion, it inspires respect for the American flag in every part of the world. Yet a regard for its best interests, a desire to promote the welfare of its meritorious officers, and

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a sense of justice to the country, induce me to add that its annual cost is disproportionate to its magnitude; and the system of its organization and preferments deprives merit of hope, by conferring the highest rank in the profession without much regard to capacity or previous activity in the public service.

Age alone now claims precedence, though that claim is unauthorized by the constitution, and unsustained by law. Seniority demands promotion as its right, and the highest rank and pay are awarded to the longest life; yet the chances are, that the oldest are not the most meritorious. Excellence seeks the opportunity of displaying itself, and is selected for the most perilous and wasting service; while mediocrity fails to be employed, and obtains length of days in safe and affluent retirement. Promotion by seniority is a premium upon inactivity.

Many of the best among the older officers received high promotion while comparatively in early life. The younger officers of to-day are equally full of talent and ambition; but the present system refuses to them the opportunity of command while life is in its vigor, and reserves it for the decline of their powers. In consequence, the average age of captains is constantly increasing, and is already nearly sixty. The average number of annual promotions is about two. The average age of commanders, from whom captains are and should be taken, is not much less than fifty. From their great numbers, the little sea service to which they are called is favorable to longevity. Continue the present usage twenty years longer, and while hope will be crushed in the young men in the service, the class of commanders will itself be composed of none but aged men, and there will not be a captain under threescore years and ten.

This custom discourages the most worthy, and leads the incapable and the indolent to cling with tenacity to their commissions.

Why should the incapable be promoted? Why should they be allowed to postpone the promotion of the capable? Why should gallantry, temperance, integrity in the payment of debts, distinction by service at sea, weigh no more than opposite considerations? Why should men deficient in capacity and inexperienced in their profession, be advanced; and, as a consequence, officers with every naval and manly virtue, and the brilliancy and vigor of matured powers, be left to wait till great age gives them the preferment, which genius, alacrity, and merit could not attain?

No naval service can maintain an efficient and elevated character under a long continuance of a system which levels merit and demerit, and tends to change the profession of the navy from a career of rewarded honor to a career for a livelihood. It is not strange, under this system, that the navy even contains a very few officers who have scarcely been at sea, and some, who have not seen sea service enough to accomplish them in the proper qualifications of their profession.

Those that are capable—and our service abounds in them—those, and those, only, should be promoted. The office of captain in the navy is a high executive trust. Like the judges of the Supreme Court, he considers himself as appointed for life. The oldest captain, when in service, receives a salary equal to that of a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; the pay of the youngest captain, even when doing no duty, and only waiting orders, is much above the average salaries of the district judges of the United States. He bears the flag of his country to foreign climes; he has authority over officers and men; he directs the power of armed

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squadrons; he is the protector of the persons and interests of our citizens abroad. The body of captains should be a body of chosen men. There should not be among the number one of doubtful merit. The nomination and confirmation to that post should be acts of solemnity, fixing the attention of the country, enhanced in value by approving public opinion, and conceded to those only whose characters and career are guarantees of honorable conduct and professional merit all their life long.

Selection, it is objected, will degenerate into favoritism. In promotions there should certainly be no favor. The records of the department, or the concurrent opinion of officers, will disclose professional merit. If these could be disregarded, the Senate may interpose. If the Senate yields, the voice of public opinion, the press, the vigilance of party, the restorative influence of the popular will, would, in the end, make impartiality a necessity—would certainly protect merit from neglect. Indiscriminate promotion is injustice to the country, and, if persevered in, will prove fatal to the navy.

The efficiency of the service demands a reduction in the number of officers in active service, or awaiting it. Sudden, indiscriminate, and excessive promotions, compel the recommendation of such a reduction. There are so many captains and commanders, that, under existing laws, were all capable of commands, and each cruise to consist of three years, each captain would be at sea once in twelve years; each commander once in eighteen years. This evil attracted the attention of the last Congress; and the power so necessary to the service, of placing a reluctant officer on furlough, was restored to the department. I have been informed that this power was granted with a view to have a large part of the captains and commanders put on half pay. But it does not fully appear so on the record. The experience of the summer leaves me confident in the belief that a large number of captains and of commanders might, with public advantage, be placed on furlough, and smaller proportions of other grades. Should Congress direct this to be done, their will can perhaps be carried into effect with less division of opinion in the service than might at first be apprehended; especially if the furlough pay were in some cases to be one-half of the pay of officers on duty at sea. A board of officers, properly constituted, and the records of the department, with other information within reach, would readily make the necessary discriminations.

The service should be relieved from the burden of carrying along so very much greater a number of officers than can be employed. It is not just to the people of the United States to retain on pay, as waiting orders, men who, since their promotions, have not received orders, and, from the excess of officers, and for other reasons, can never receive them. None should have the pay as waiting orders, but those who are one day to receive orders, and are able and willing to obey them. Some very few have lived at ease on shore for so many inactive years, having no connexion with the navy but to take rank and pay, that a want of knowledge of their profession has become added to original inaptitude for the service.

The benefit to the country, by pursuing the course I have proposed, would be incalculable. They who know our officers will agree, that, after proper eliminations, you might in vain look through the world for a service that would do more honor to its country.

Wherever the principle of discrimination has been applied, the navy has been benefited. Some years ago, the rule was established for the corps of

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surgeons; and the result has given the navy a body of well-educated and well trained surgeons, of which any nation might be proud.

The same system has been applied during the summer to the engineers, and with very beneficial results. It is the only system which will shut the door against favor, and prevent the offices in the navy from becoming branches of an unauthorized pension list.

This is seen most decidedly in the case of masters. The United Suites navy has the grade of master—a high station, well paid, and requiring great ability and experience at sea. Full pay is given to thirty one masters. Of this number, some are, and have ever been, incompetent to their duty; nor can I learn that more than six or five, or perhaps four or three, are able to navigate a ship. Those who are, and, by an examination, prove themselves to have ever been incompetent, should be discharged; the rest should be employed in their turn at sea, or be put on half-pay.

To the younger branch of the service, I have felt no scruple to extend somewhat further, than was heretofore usual, the principle of discrimination by authority of the department. The number of midshipmen has gradually become so reduced, that new appointments begin to be made. A medical survey, and an examination of the candidates for appointment, have been prescribed.

It would be very desirable if a system of free competition for appointments could be devised, which would preclude all possibility of favoritism. I ought also to add, that many of the best friends of the navy believe the number of midshipmen should be brought within a still narrower limit than that which is at present established by law. If Congress, also, should be of that opinion, I would recommend that, for every five vacancies which may occur, two only should be filled, until the number is still further reduced.

I regret to be obliged to ask the interposition of Congress for new legislation respecting the corps of pursers. The law of August 26, 1842, gives them "on leave, or waiting orders, the same pay as surgeons;" that is, large and increasing pay, according to the number of years they have been in the service, without reference to their sea duty or present merit. Under the operation of this law, the old purser doing nothing on shore is frequently paid more than the faithful young purser whom duty carries round the world. The consequence is, naturally, a great love of the shore. Will not Congress remedy this, and make it for the pecuniary interest of pursers to perform their duty at sea? If this can be accomplished, their number needs no increase.

In the army, disbursing officers periodically come before the Senate to be confirmed anew. Would it not be well to extend this principle to the navy, and to require that pursers should once, in every few years, be subject to re-appointment? And would it not be a good rule that no purser should be reappointed who has not, within a reasonable period, performed a cruise?

Changes in the present law are needed to protect the treasury. Balances are sometimes retained too long, for which the best remedy is prompt settlements. Three months are now allowed to disbursing officers within the United States to render their accounts. The efficient pursers will agree unanimously, that for them forty five days are ample for the purpose. If Congress will establish that limit, I believe the Auditor will be able to settle their accounts within the next forty five days, to the immense benefit of themselves and the public service. Moneys can only come into their

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hands on specific requisitions for specific purposes, and ought never be diverted by them to the payment of their own claims, real or pretended, against the United States. These claims, in some cases, extend back twenty years, and, when traced to their origin, are not infrequently found to be based upon services which, when rendered, were recognised as a regular duty. Such unfounded demands pursers sometimes pay, by retaining public money in their hands, constituting themselves judges in their own cases, and vexatiously persist in carrying them forward in their accounts, after they have been repeatedly rejected by the legally constituted authorities. If pursers desire to hold large sums of public money for the purpose of contending in courts against the decisions of the accounting officers, sustained by the opinions of the Attorney General, they should first become private citizens; for while they are contending, the government must lose their services, or expose itself to the charge of undue advantage in sending them from home. It is, moreover, manifestly unsafe to trust them, under such circumstances, with further amounts of the public money. This subject calls for the action of Congress.

The law of January 31, 1823, requires that disbursing officers who fail to render their accounts for settlement in due time, shall be promptly reported to the President of the United States, and dismissed from the public service. Might not this law be extended, with great propriety and advantage, to those who, upon a settlement of their accounts, are reported as holding balances, and who, on requisition by the proper authority, refuse or neglect to pay into the treasury the public money remaining in their hands?

Although the aggregate number of disbursing officers in the service need not be increased, an improvement might be made by establishing, within the present limit, the grade of assistant pursers. The services of this grade would be chiefly called for in the smaller vessels; and their pay, being regulated by the amount of their responsibility, might properly be less than that of the pursers. As vacancies occur among the pursers, these assistants, if on examination they prove themselves to be fitly trained for the higher duties of their profession, might well be promoted; a system would thus be formed, which would prevent the appointment of the inexperienced and incompetent.

The excess of officers exists almost exclusively in the higher grades of the navy. Of the forward officers, the interests of the service demand that the number, especially of boatswains and gunners, should be a little increased. If permission were granted to appoint six acting boatswains, and as many acting gunners, it would be but a reasonable alleviation to a class of men, who now, from their limited number, are almost always at sea.

It has been my strenuous endeavor to make the condition of the seamen in the public employ such as Congress designed. The apprentice system, as heretofore regulated, though it has produced some excellent seamen, has not been wholly successful; but, it is believed that the failure has arisen from defects of arrangement, and not from the system itself. An attempt will be made to revive it in a simple, unpretending form, and with the hope of beneficial results in the increase of accomplished American seamen. Meantime, our mercantile marine of nearly one hundred thousand men, readily yields patriotic and skillful crews to our ships of war. The limitation of these to seven thousand five hundred men has never, in the past

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summer, been exceeded, and has had a wholesome effect in compelling reductions at the naval stations at home.

It is the glory of our navy, that our sailors are held by affection and choice. They enlist voluntarily; they are freely discharged on their return from a cruise; and. with few exceptions, they readily enlist again. They love the service; and, on whatever sea they are found, they are Americans at heart.

Efforts have been made to break up a violation of law, which has too long existed on ship-board. The mercy of the statute entrusts the power of the lash exclusively to the commanding officer. No officer, worthy of a command, will inflict punishment, except after due examination into the offenses charged. The former custom of delegating this power to subordinate officers is a flagrant violation of the will of Congress and the people. The men have rights, and must be protected in them. Experience shows that discipline is never so good, as when the commanding officer sets the example of subordination by obedience to the laws of his country.

Freedom to enter the service; protection in their rights during their service; freedom to leave it after a cruise; skillful medical attention, with comfortable quarters at naval hospitals in case of sickness; a pension in case of disability; a home at the naval asylum in old age;—these provisions show that the sailor has not been neglected by his countrymen.

I cannot close this communication without repeating that the evils in our navy, to which I have called attention, spring from the defects in the system that has been followed, rather than from the want of proper personal qualities in the officers. A period of peace, which it is to be hoped may continue, left employment at sea without the strong attraction that comes from the imminence of danger and the prospect of winning renown; and the department, while it possesses authority to summon into activity the services of all, without exception, has yet had no opportunities of rewarding those who distinguish themselves by alacrity and capacity. An exploring expedition was, indeed, sent forth and kept at sea for a long series of years; and many cases of ordinary employment have imposed great hardships and privations; but not a lieutenant or a midshipman has, in any one instance, received so much as the slightest advancement beyond those who remained, during the same period, on shore or at easier stations. Ours is the only service where activity and inactivity have fared alike; and it is the highest evidence of the capacity and integrity of our officers, and the vast amount of talent which a proper system would call forth, that, in spite of this usage of indifference, which prevails in no other country, and ought no longer to prevail in our own, the sentiments of honor and the pride of professional duty have still educated gallant officers enough to secure to our navy the confidence of the country and the respect of the world.

GEORGE BANCROFT.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

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LIST OF PAPERS

ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

1. List of deaths, resignations, and dismissions in the navy.

2. Estimates for the office of the Secretary of the Navy, bureaus, and southwest Executive building.

3. General estimate for the naval service, including the marine corps.

4. Reports and detailed estimates from the—

Bureau of Yards and Docks.

Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, including a report and estimates from the Hydrographical office.

Bureau of Construction, Equipment, &c.

Bureau of Provisions and Clothing.

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

5. Estimates from the Paymaster and Quartermaster of the marine corps.

6. Schedules of proposals made to the several bureaus.

7. Report from the Commissioner of Pensions, with lists of invalid, widow, and privateer pensioners, and estimates.

8. Letter from the Secretary of the Navy to Commander Buchanan, concerning a plan for the Naval School at Annapolis.

9. Report from the Fourth Auditor, of the receipts and expenditures of the Navy Pension Fund and Privateer Pension Fund.

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List of deaths in the navy, as ascertained at the department since December 1, 1844.

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List of deaths, &c.—Continued.

List of resignations in the navy, since December 1, 1844.

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List of resignations, &c.-Continued.

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List of dismissions from the navy, since December 1, 1844.

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Estimate of the sums required for the support of the office of the Secretary of the Navy, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1847.

SUBMITTED FOR CONTINUANCE:

One clerk in Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography,                                                                                           $1,000

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Estimate of the sums required for the expenses of the southwest executive building, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1847.

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General estimate of the sums required for the support of the navy, for the fiscal year commencing on the 1st of July, 1846, and ending on the 30th of June, 1847.

* Including $17,202.82, embraced under the general head of "Contingent expenses enumerated."

† Exclusive of $17,202.82, made specially applicable to the "Appropriation for the construction of a depot of charts and instruments."

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GENERAL ESTIMATE—Continued.

MARINE CORPS.

MARINE CORPS.

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REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

November 22, 1845.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit for your information, conformably to the direction contained in your letters of the 30th September last, and 4th and 19th instant, estimates for the improvement of the several navy yards, embracing the repair of all such objects as may need them; for the support of the naval and civil parts of the same establishments; and for the improvement and repairs of the naval hospital and magazines contiguous to each. They are accompanied by the estimates for the ordinary at four of the yards, for the receiving vessels, and for the recruiting stations.

The amount of the whole for the fiscal year beginning on the 1st July, 1846, and ending on the 1st July, 1847, is $1,2665,678.15; of this, the sum of $612,915.65 is for the improvement, &c. of the navy yards, including $250,000 for the dock which is under construction at New York; the sum of $223,178 for the naval part, including the ordinary of the yards; the sum of $69,470 for the civil establish merits; the sum of $140,508 for receiving vessels; the sum of $40,800 for recruiting stations; the sum of $29,006.50 for the improvement, &c. of hospitals; and that of $800 for magazines. The above form the aggregate of what will be required for the contemplated wants of the navy, under the superintendence of the head of this bureau. By comparing this with the aggregate of the estimates for the same objects for the present fiscal year, a difference of $1,040,705.01 will be seen in favor of those for the succeeding year.

A brief account of what has been done in each yard, and what is in progress, may be useful, and serve to show how the appropriations have been applied. The operations at each of the yards were necessarily restrained by the amount at its disposal, and as that was not very great for any but the two situated in the west and southwest—namely, Memphis and Pensacola—the progress will not be found to have been so great as it has hitherto been. In these two, what has as yet been done may be considered as a commencement. Their state will be more particularly explained at the end of this report.

Of the sums applied to the Portsmouth yard, together with the small balances of previous appropriations, the filling in of the low grounds, the landing place and a house for the preservation of boats, have been completed within the last year. The wharf No. 1, a part of the general line of the quay walls; the removal of timber shed No. 13; the removal of the old work in the timber dock, and the apparatus for steaming plank, are now in progress, add will be continued to completion, or as far as the appropriation will permit.

At Boston, the wall to the West of ship-house marked G has been completed within the year. The wharf No. 65, that numbered 66, a house for the storage of coal for steamers and for the consumption of the yard, have been commenced and are in progress. A reservoir for fresh water with the proper pipes will also be soon finished. When the wharves above mentioned shall have been completed, great convenience will be found in the discharging and loading of vessels, and also for the security of those which are at present often kept at a distance for the want of such accommodation. All these, it is hoped, and confidently expected, will be finished by the 1st of July next.

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At New York, a roof (much wanted) has been put on the sail-loft and on the offices; much of the low ground of the yard has been filled in, thereby gaining working room, and adding much to its solidity and dryness, The repair of what is termed the gun block, or temporary place of deposit for cannon and shot, has been made; stables have been built; and, a water-tank for the more rapid supply of water to ships, which has hitherto been a great desideratum, has also been completed. The works in progress, are the clearing out of the channel by dredging, and the placing of the mud thus obtained in those places which require to be filled up. The work on the cob-wharf, or enclosure of the mud flats opposite the yard by a strong body of logs and stone work, is also advancing as rapidly as circumstances will permit; and, it is intended to apply a large portion of the contemplated appropriation to this desirable, and, I may add, important work. By it we shall gain a space of about 23 acres, a commodious place for securing ships when fitting or dismantling, and a secure position for a number of vessels from all danger of ice in the winter season.

At the Philadelphia yard, wharf No. 3 and the quay wall have been completed within the year; and the wharf across the dock, at the head of what is termed the timber pond, will soon be completed as well as filled in. The sum asked for this yard will be sufficient for the repair of such buildings as may require it, and for the extension of the ship house and removal of it a short distance further down or nearer the river, which has been made necessary by the extension of the wharves. These have been added to, on account of the rapid filling; up of the river in their fronts. It is believed that they have been sufficiently extended to obviate further difficulty on that account, unless some very great change should be made in the river front above, or to the north of the yard.

In the yard in this city, all the works for which an appropriation was granted have been completed, or nearly so. The laboratory is finished, and is occupied for the purposes of its erection. This building was erected under contract; and there being no good or sufficiently secure place for it, except in a part of the yard which was too soft to sustain so great a weight without piling, recourse was had to that mode of securing the foundation, and the expense has been increased proportionally. It was intended, at the time estimates were made for this building, that it should occupy a site on high ground, on the north side of the yard; but its vicinity to other buildings, and the recollection of the danger which impended over them by the explosion of the first edifice of the kind, induced a reconsideration of the matter, and resulted in a determination to place it where it now stands. For the excess thus caused, a small appropriation is asked, and the contractors who performed the work are well entitled to it, as it was "extra work," and to be paid for as such.

At Norfolk, the under mentioned improvements have been finished within the last year. The building No. 16 to be used as a timber shed temporarily but eventually intended, conformably, to its position on the plan of the yard, for a store house. Want of means to increase the number of the former description, and timely preservation from decay of valuable timber, which otherwise might have been greatly exposed, have induced the partial change. A permanent bridge across the timber dock, which unites the north and south divisions of the yard, and renders communication between them easy and rapid, has been completed; and a temporary coal-house, for the stowage of large quantities of coal for steamers, has been also put up.

--664--

It is intended to erect hereafter, when a more convenient situation can be fixed, a permanent one, with all the conveniences of a railway and car, for despatch and economy. The launching slip No. 48, commenced in the last year, is now in progress, and the materials which have been contracted for are now under delivery, and will soon be on the designated spot.

At Pensacola, store house No. 22 and the improvement in timber shed No. 1 have been finished within the year. A water tank has also been completed, and several objects pertaining to the convenience and accommodation of business. Store house No. 25, timber shed No. 26, a coal house for steamer's coal, ship house A and building slip connected with it, and a temporary and permanent wharf, are in progress, so far as the delivery, collection, and arrangement of materials, according to the plans for improving this new but important establishment, go. A quantity of stone and brick and materials of wood are now in the yard, and more are coming in as fast as they can be transported; and, within the ensuing twelve months much, it is expected, will be done towards the construction of the above works. The three first named objects will be finished in the spring. The difficulty of procuring workmen, and the apprehension of sickness, have necessarily retarded operations at this yard; but it is believed that the collection of much material, the knowledge that constant employment will be afforded, and the confidence acquired by actual experience of the greater degree of health to be procured in that climate than is generally supposed, will afford strong inducements to mechanics to report in numbers to a place where their services will for a long time be required. With the present means, and those in anticipation, much, under a skillful chief engineer, whose services will constantly be required, may be effected.

A commencement of the works at the Memphis navy yard has been made, by surveying, laying off, and examining the various portions which must be first taken in hand. An estimate of the expense of these works, including many others, to be carried on as time and means may allow, has been made by the engineer attached to the yard. Upon a selection of such as were of more immediate necessity, an advertisement was issued calling upon persons for offers to perform the work. Specifications for the government of the bidders were directed to be given by the engineer to all such as called for them; and, under the advertisement, with the information given, many proposals were received. At the appointed time, these were opened, in the presence of three gentlemen, who had been requested to attend; and, after a close and most careful examination, the work was assigned to the lowest bidder for each specific item or job of work. One or two have, it is understood, declined their allotted portion; but contracts will be forwarded to the others for signature, and it is expected that, in a short time, the successful bidders will be ready to commence operations. The whole amount of work thus allotted is about $150,000, which is less than the sum now at the disposal of the department for this desirable and important work. The remainder, however, and the further sum now asked for, may be advantageously disposed of, without doubt, in the course of the next fiscal year. A little delay to ascertain how substantially the improvements which have just been provided for are to be constructed, and how much of them may be performed in a given time, will add much to a proper knowledge of the manner in which further progress may be made, and what it may be most desirable to take up next in order. As this is an entirely new

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establishment, it is contemplated to divide the whole into a number of classes—1st, 2d, 3d, &c.,—according as the wants of each may be most urgent.

At Sackett's harbor a bulk head or break-water, for the security of the point on which a ship is under construction, has been built, and the ship house, which required repairs, has been put in good order, to preserve it from decay.

The last item which I shall have occasion to mention is the dry dock at New York. It is advancing as rapidly as a due regard to its proper construction, and the means applied to it, will allow. Order and regularity are observable in the arrangement of its details, and it is believed that an economical and steady employment of the mechanics will in a short time produce an appearance and result that will be gratifying to the department. It was begun originally under Mr. Courtenay, on the 1st of October, 1841; was continued to 1st August, 1842, when the works were suspended. During that period, the sum of $35,264.75 was expended for every purpose. The works were again resumed on the 10th of October, 1844, under General McNeill. Between that time and the 1st of April, when he was succeeded by the present engineer, Mr. Sanger, the sum of $114,671.83 was expended. Since the first of April, of the present year, up to the first of October, to which time the engineer's report is made up, the sum of $51,236.75 has been expended. The sums of these three expenditures form an aggregate of $201,168.50; which has been expended on the dock for all purposes connected therewith, from its commencement in October, 1841, to the 30th of September last. To continue the work through the succeeding fiscal year, the engineer thinks the sum of $2250,400 may be profitably appropriated, and that sum, less $400, has therefore been inserted, for that purpose, under the proper head. I forward with this the report of W. P. S. Sanger, esq., the chief engineer, which gives a specific, clear, and concise view of the whole subject, and will enable you to ascertain with precision the progress and condition of the whole work. The little time which has elapsed since its receipt has prevented the making of a copy; I have therefore to request that it may be returned at your convenience, that it may be preserved for reference.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

L. WASHINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

Hon. Geo. Bancroft,

Secretary of the Navy.

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Schedule of the papers which accompany the report of the Chief of the Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks to Secretary of the Navy, for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

Y. & D.—A.—General estimate for yard docks.

Y. & D. No. 1.—Receiving vessels, in detail, being part of the first item in general estimate.

Y. & D. No. 2.—Recruiting stations, in detail, being part of the first item in general estimate.

Y. & D. No. 3.—Officers and others, at yards and stations, in detail.

Y. & D. No. 4.—Improvements and repairs of navy yards, &c.

Y. & D. No. 5.—Statement showing the sums which make up the first and second items in general estimate.

Y. & D. No. 6.—Improvements and repairs at hospitals and magazines.

Y. & D. No. 7.—For the support of the Bureau.

--667--

Y. & D.—A.

GENERAL ESTIMATE FOR YARDS AND DOCKS.

Estimated amounts that will be required for the naval service for the year ending June, 1847, so far as coming under the cognizance of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, in addition to the unexpended balance which may remain in the Treasury 1st July, 1846.

BUREAU OF THE YARDS AND DOCKS,

                        November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

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Y. & D. No. 1.

RECEIVING VESSELS.

Estimate of the number and pay of officers and others required for six receiving vessels, for the year ending 30th June, 1847, if no alteration it made in the number of vessels, or in their respective complements.

BUREAU OF THE YARDS AND DOCKS,

November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

--669--

Y. & D. No. 2.

RECRUITING STATIONS.

Estimate of the pay of officers attached to recruiting stations, for the year ending 30th June, 1847, if no alteration is made in the number of stations.

    *Including 6 at Charleston.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

    November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

__________

Y. & D. No. 3.

Estimate of the pay of officers and others at navy yards and stations, for

the year ending 30th June, 1847.

--670--

--671--

NOTE.-The surgeon and assistant surgeon of the yard are to be required to attend to the marines also.

--672--

--673--

NOTE.-The surgeon and assistant surgeon of the yard are also to be required to attend to the marines.

--674--

NOTE.-The surgeon and assistant surgeon of the yard are also required to attend to the receiving vessel and to the marines.

--675--

NOTE.-The surgeon is also required to attend to the hospital, when necessary.

--676--

NOTE.-The surgeon and assistant surgeon of the yard are also to be required to attend tot he marines.

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NOTE:--The surgeon of the yard is also to attend to the marines near the yard, and to such persons in the yards as the commander may direct.

--678--

--679--

RECAPITULATION.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

November 22, 1845

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

__________

Y.&D. No.4

Estimate of the amounts that will be required for making the proposed improvements and repairs in the several navy-yards, for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

Navy yard at Portsmouth, N. H.

Navy-yard at Boston.

--680--

Navy-yard at New York.

Navy-yard at Philadelphia.

Navy-yard at Washington.

Navy-yard at Norfolk.

Navy-yard at Pensacola.

--681--

Sackett's Harbor.

Navy-yard at Memphis.

RECAPITULATION.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

              November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

__________

Y. & D. No. 5.

Statement showing the several items going to make up the sums of $404,486 and $69,470; being the first and second items in the general estimate from the Bureau of Yards and Docks, (marked Y. & D. A.)

FIRST ITEM.

Required for receiving vessels, (see Y. & D. No. 1)                                                                                    $140,508.00

Required for recruiting stations, (see Y. & D. No. 2)                                                                                    $40,800.00

Required for the naval, ordinary, and hospital branches at navy-yards and stations, (see Y. & D. No. 3)

                                                                                                                                                           223,178.00

                                                                                                                                                         $404,486.00

SECOND ITEM.

Required for the civil branch at navy-yards and stations, (see Y.& D. No. 3)                                                  $69,470.00

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

                     November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,  

Chief of Bureau.

--682--

Y. & D. No. 6.

Estimate of the expenses necessary for the improvement and repairs of the naval hospitals at the several stations for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

Hospital at Boston.

Hospital at Boston.

Hospital at New York.

Hospital at Pensacola.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

                        November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

--683--

Y. & D. No. 7.

Estimate of the sums required for the support of the Bureau of Yards and Docks for the year ending June 30, 1847, under the act of Congress approved August 31, 1842.

BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS,

                           November 22, 1845.

L. WARRINGTON,

Chief of Bureau.

--684--

REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF ORDNANCE AND HYDROGRAPHY.

BUREAU OF ORDNANCE AND HYDROGRAPHY, November 8, 1845.

SIR: In compliance with your instructions of 8th October last, I have the honor to submit, herewith, estimates for the service of this bureau for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. M. CRANE.

HON. GEORGE BANCROFT,

Secretary of the Navy

__________

Schedule of papers containing estimates for the naval service, prepared by the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

A. Estimate of the expenses of the bureau.

B. Estimate of the pay of officers on ordnance duty.

C. Estimate of the ordnance and ordnance stores for the general service of the navy.

D. Statement of the cost or estimated value of the ordnance and ordnance stores on hand at the several navy-yards 1st July, 1815. and the receipts and expenditures for the year ending 30th June, 1845.

E. Statement of the labor performed at the different navy-yards, and cost thereof.

F. Estimate of the amount required under the head of "Hydrography" for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

__________

A.

Estimate of the sums required for the support of the office of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography from 1st July, 1846, to 30th June, 1847.

--685--

For contingent expenses.

SUBMITTED:

One clerk, as book-keeper, $1,000.

NOTE.-The clerk submitted is absolutely necessary. The business of the bureau cannot be performed without this additional aid.

W. M. CRANE.

__________

B.

Estimate of pay of officers on ordnance duty, from 1st July, 1846, to 30th June, 1847.

W. M. CRANE

__________

C.

Estimate of ordnance, ordnance stores, and small arms, for the general service of the navy, from 1st July, 1846, to 30th June, 1847.

--686--

For cannon locks, flannel for cylinders, battle and magazine lanterns, materials for percussion caps, and for all other articles of ordnance stores                                                                                 $158,000.00

For contingent expenses that may accrue for the following purposes, viz:

Drawings and models; postage paid by the bureau, and also by officers inspecting ordnance and ordnance stores; traveling expenses of officers in inspecting ordnance and ordnance stores; hire of agents, and rent of store-houses for ordnance and ordnance stores on the northern lakes; advertising in the public newspapers; transportation of ordnance and ordnance stores, and for no other purpose whatever                                                                                                                       $35,500.00

                                                                                                                        $371,820.00

W. M. CRANE.

__________

D.

Statement of the cost or estimated value of stores on hand at the several navy yards at the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1845, of articles received and expended from July 1, 1844, to June 30, 1845, and the stores on hand at that period, (June 30, 1845,) under the appropriation for increase, repairs, armament, and equipment of the navy, and wear and tear of vessels in commission, coming under the cognizance of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography.

W. M. CRANE.

--687--

E.

Statement of the number of days' labor, and the cost thereof from 1st July, 1844, to 30th June, 1845, at the respective navy-yards, chargeable to the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography.

W. M. CRANE

__________

F.

Estimate of the amount required for the naval service under the head of hydrography, for the year ending 30th June, 1847.

--688--

Officers to be employed.

W. M. CRANE.

__________

HYDROGRAPHICAL OFFICE,

                                    Washington, October 20, 1845.

SIR: The sphere of usefulness of this office has been greatly increased, since its connexion with the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography.

The increase of its business has been attended on one hand with many advantages to the public service, and with a degree of economy on the other that could not be anticipated.

The circumstance of having the instruments for the navy purchased by the quantity, after careful trial or proof, instead of by retail, where and as they happened to be wanted, and without such trial or proof, has contributed in no small degree to lessen their cost, and to secure for the navy instruments of much better quality.

The same remarks apply to charts with remarkable force. These are delivered in Washington at their London and Paris prices.

But while this much has been done, much more remains to be done.

The second nation of the world in maritime importance, it is remarkable how little we have contributed to the general stock of that kind of nautical information without which our vessels could not cross the seas—without which our commerce could not exist. Always borrowing heretofore, it is time we should become lenders at least of a proportional part of this, information. This office may contribute somewhat to this end.

We are dependent, not only upon the English and French admiralty for the charts and information by which our vessels navigate the more distant seas, but even of our own waters. As yet, an American man-of-war cannot enter the capes of Virginia, or approach this city, the capital of the Union, without applying to the hydrographical office of England for the chart on which to shape her course. The only charts of the northern lakes that we have were procured from the English, and through the courtesy of the admiralty office. Charts are now being compiled from materials in this office, which, it is believed, will add something to the general stock of nautical information. Some of these will be published in the course of the year, for which estimates of small amount are included under the head of charts, in the statement hereunto annexed, and marked A.

               44

--689--

Nor is this all. Without the English Nautical Almanac, or the nautical ephemeris of some other European nation, our vessels which are now abroad might not find their way home. This office affords the means of wiping off so much of the reproach as is due to us as a nation, on this account; for, with the means already at hand, nearly all the requisite data for a nautical ephemeris of our own are obtainable.

With the view of obtaining the requisite data for this purpose, a series of observations for the preliminary determinations has been undertaken, and is now in progress.

We have a full corps of observers for all the instruments except one, already organized. They are at work day and night, whenever the state of the weather is suitable for astronomical observations. Though the observers came without experience, and the instruments were new to them, they have acquired a knowledge and a skill in the use of them which already imparts no small degree of confidence to results. They are attentive and zealous in the performance of their duties. I refer with much satisfaction to the assistance which the officers associated on duty with me have-afforded me, by a hearty co-operation, not only in conducting the observations, but also in the investigation of formulae, and in the discussion of observations, many of them requiring laborious and tedious calculations, involving mathematical attainments of a high order. The fact that all these assistants are officers of the navy, speaks well for the degree of scientific attainments which do exist in this branch of the public service, and will, it is hoped, serve to correct the impression, which seems to be almost general, that navy officers, because they have not the advantages of an academic education, are therefore not qualified for conducting the scientific details of duties connected with their profession.

The labor and difficulties of bringing an establishment of this kind— the first of its kind in the country—into complete and successful operation, are by no means light or few. It is a work of time, as well as of patient, untiring diligence.

I took charge of this office a year ago, when everything was new; much removing to be done, and some things to be undone. The timepieces, without which astronomical observations cannot be made, had not arrived, (nor have they all been yet received.) All the instruments had to be dismounted, their fastenings removed, re-cemented, and mounted anew. A new pier had to be erected for the mural, which was finally completed only a few weeks ago. The observers were unpracticed and without experience. They had to learn. The forms and figures, and sources of error, peculiar to the instruments, had to be examined, and rules for corrections investigated; formulae for a great variety of problems had to be proposed, and a number of tables, some of them voluminous, had to be completed to facilitate in the reduction of those formulae. Owing to these circumstances, we shall not be able to date our first volume of observations with the commencement of the year.

It is proposed to publish them as soon after the end of the year as practicable.

If we attempt to compute the "American Nautical Almanac"—and this we can do at no greater expense than we pay the English for computing theirs or us—from our own data, it is highly desirable that the data should be wholly American.

If we borrow one element of the work from foreign observatories, it would

--690--

be more creditable to borrow the whole. If we use the declinations as established at Greenwich, let us use their right ascensions also. The same data will necessarily give the same results; and if we suffer other people to procure these for us, or a part of them, let us not attempt anything ourselves, but continue to allow them to make the calculations also.

Now, this office affords all the means of obtaining the requisite data for calculating an ephemeris, except one. And upon that one depend the correctness and accuracy of the whole; and that is, atmospherical refraction. If there be in the corrections applied to an observation an uncomputed error of refraction, the celestial object, whatever it be, goes forth with an erroneous position, and every observer, in whatever part of the world, who attempts to determine his latitude or longitude from that object, gets an erroneous result.

The instrument proposed is a forty-eight inch German meridian circle, of Ester's best make, and of a peculiar construction, to be mounted in the prime vertical. After it has answered its object here, the instrument will have lost none of its value; for it can then be turned in the meridian, and used with good effect, both for declination and right ascension; thus combining within itself the scope and powers of both the meridian transit and the mural circle, which cost, including their mountings, not less than $8,000. This instrument can be bought for $4,500, including reversing apparatus and two collimators; and one observer can obtain the same results with it in the meridian, which it would require two to do with the mural and transit. In addition, six other collimators are required for the instruments already here.

Estimates for these purposes, amounting to six thousand dollars, are submitted in statement A.

The estimates (A) on account of this office for the supply of the navy for the year commencing July 1, 1846, with nautical books, charts, and instruments, amount to $47,400. They are based upon the supposition of there being forty-two vessels in commission that year. Three chronometers are allowed to each vessel, by regulation. These vessels, therefore, require one hundred and twenty six chronometers, at $300 each—$37,800. There are ashore and afloat one hundred and twenty-five chronometers. Taking the wear and tear of this instrument to be ten per cent., there will be required, on account of chronometers alone, $4,080. The average cost of all other instruments is $900 per vessel, of which there are afloat a supply for thirty-nine vessels, and on shore a complete set for six more—equal to $40,500. The wear and tear upon these instruments exceeds that upon chronometers, and is taken at twenty per cent.—$8,100. Hence the item of $12,180 on account of instruments.

The average cost of nautical books and charts is about $500 per vessel. They are worth little or nothing at the end of a three-years cruise. Their wear and tear, therefore, may be taken at thirty per cent, a year, of which there are ashore and afloat forty sets, or $20,000; thirty per cent. upon which, including the two additional vessels, makes the estimate, under this head, $7,000, as per statement A.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. R MAURY,

Lieutenant United States Navy.

COM. W. M. CRANE,

Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography.

--691--

REPORT FROM BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS.

Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repairs,

November 21, 1845.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, estimates made in conformity with your instructions for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1847, for that part of the naval service which is required to be estimated in this bureau; with statements showing the disposition of the vessels which belong to the navy, as they were distributed on the 1st ultimo; and reports of the estimated value of articles received and expended for, and the amount and cost of labor upon, objects connected with this bureau during the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1845. The estimated value of articles on hand at the different navy yards, at the commencement and close of the last fiscal year, is also shown in the same table with the receipts and expenditures.

A schedule of these estimates and reports is annexed, for convenience of reference.

The amounts asked for the steamers building under contract by Mr. Stevens and by Mr. Tomlinson will be required to meet engagements of the department, when those vessels shall be completed, and which, by the contracts, should be done before the close of the next fiscal year.

The inducements for presenting for your consideration the special estimate (D) are, in part, stated in the note appended to it. The important interests which are connected with our whale fishery and general commerce in the Pacific, and the advantages which may be anticipated from the annual visits of our vessels of war to the many and distant ports of that ocean, to which our merchant vessels resort for trade or supplies, seem to require that the vessels employed there should, with slight exceptions, be numerous in proportion to their aggregate force, and at the same time of sufficient capacity, like our larger classes of sloops of war, to perform, long cruises without inconvenience to their crews. The same classes of vessels are also particularly adapted for service in the home squadron, and for some of the other stations.

In support of the reasons stated in the note for commencing a frigate, there can be little doubt of the advantage of being able to increase promptly the number of our ships for service, if circumstances should require it. It has also been well ascertained by our own experience, as well as by that of other nations, that vessels built under cover, and left sufficiently open to secure proper ventilation, may be preserved quite as long and as perfectly as the materials could be in any other form. The decay which has taken place in some parts of our ships that have been long on the stocks, was owing to the vessels having been built under the expectation that they were to be launched immediately, and consequently were too far completed to leave good ventilation. No decay of any importance has been found in those which were commenced, and left sufficiently open after it was decided to leave them on the stocks till they should be wanted.

There are now five covered building slips which are unoccupied in the several yards, and it might, perhaps, be considered good policy to occupy more of them than has now been proposed. The frames, and most of the other necessary material for bringing them forward as fast as may be desired, are already on hands.

--692--

Since the last annual estimates were presented, the brig Oregon, which was purchased abroad for service in the exploring expedition; the brig Pioneer, which was originally built for that expedition: the steamer Poinsett, which was transferred from the War to the Navy Department, have been sold, according to the direction of the department, and the proceeds paid into the treasury by the navy agents.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. MORRIS,

Chief of the Bureau.

Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT,

Secretary of the Navy.

__________

SCHEDULE.

A.—Estimate for the expenses of the bureau and the persons connected with its duties.

B.—Estimate for the pay of persons proposed to be employed in vessels in commission, receiving vessels excepted.

C.—Estimate for the increase, repair, &c., of the navy,

D.—Special estimate submitted for new vessels.

E.—Estimate for enumerated contingent.

F.—Statement of vessels in commission.

G.—Statement of vessels on the stocks, or building.

H.—Statement of vessels in ordinary.

I.—Statement of receipts and expenditures, and value of stores on hand.

K.—Statement of the number of days' work and cost, expended on objects under the direction of this bureau.

--693--

A.

Estimate of the amount required for the expenses of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repairs, for the year ending June 30, 1847, as authorized by the acts of Congress approved August 31, 1842, and March 3d, 1845.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS, November 21, 1845.

B.

Estimate of the pay of the commission, warrant, and petty officers and seamen, including the engineer corps of the navy, which will be required for the vessels proposed to be kept in commission, receiving vessels excepted, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1847.

NOTE.—The estimate under this head for the year ending June 1846, was for $2,149,728.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                           November 21, 1845.

--694--

C.

The amount which will be required for objects under the direction of this bureau, payable from the appropriation for increase, repair, armament, and equipment of the navy, and for wear and tear of vessels in commission, for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1847, is estimated as follows, viz:

NOTE.—In addition to the probable wants for repairs, and the wear and tear of the service, the contracts with Mr. R. L. Stevens for a steamer building at Hoboken, New Jersey, and with Mr. Tomlinson for one building at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, will expire before the close of the next fiscal year.

If these vessels should be completed as required by the contracts, there would be required, in addition to the amounts already appropriated by Congress for them, a further sum of $338,000 for payments to Mr. Stevens, and of $50,000 to complete the payments to Mr. Tomlinson.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                                                 November 21, 1845.

__________

D.

Special estimate submitted for consideration.

NOTE.—The Albany is so far advanced that, unless she is completed soon, it will be expedient to remove some parts of the work, which has been done to prevent premature decay; and it is believed the demands of the current service for this class of vessels will justify the completion of this ship and the Germantown.

Experience has proven the great convenience of having one of the smallest class of armed vessels on each of the principal stations, and the present number in service is insufficient to supply them, and the sum necessary to build and equip one is presented.

--695--

The amount asked to commence a frigate is supposed to be sufficient to put up a frame, and place the hull in a situation from which it could be completed soon, if required, on any emergency; and at the same time the materials will be as well, if not better preserved, than if they were left in their unwrought state. It is but a continuation of the former policy of the country, the soundness of which appears to be well established.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                                             November 21, 1845.

E.

The amount necessary to meet the expenditures under these items of "enumerated contingent," which are payable for objects under the direction of this bureau, is estimated, for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1847, at $210,000.

The same amount was estimated for the present year.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                                             November 21, 1845.

F.

Statement of the vessels belonging to the navy which were in commission 

                               on the 1st of October, 1845.

                              Four ships-of-the-line.

The Columbus, on foreign service.

Pennsylvania,                                   Receiving vessels.

North Carolina,                                 Receiving vessels.

Ohio,                                               Receiving vessels.

                              Seven frigates.

The Constitution,                                 Employed cruising.

Savannah,                                          Employed cruising.

Raritan,                                              Employed cruising.

Cumberland,                                       Employed cruising.

Potomac,                                            Employed cruising.

Congress,                                           Preparing for foreign service.

Columbia,                                          Preparing for foreign service.

                              Fifteen sloops-of-war.

The Saratoga,                                    Employed cruising.

John Adams,                                     Employed cruising.

Boston,                                             Employed cruising.

Vincennes,                                        Employed cruising.

--696--

The Warren,                                           Employed cruising.

Falmouth,                                               Employed cruising.

Cyane,                                                    Employed cruising.

Levant,                                                   Employed cruising.

Portsmouth,                                            Employed cruising.

Plymouth,                                               Employed cruising.

St. Mary's,                                              Employed cruising.

Jamestown,                                            Employed cruising.

Yorktown,                                              Employed cruising.

Marion,                                                  Employed cruising.

Ontario, employed as receiving vessel.

                              Five brigs.

The Porpoise,                                        Employed cruising.

Somers,                                                Employed cruising.

Truxton,                                                Employed cruising.

Bainbridge,                                            Employed cruising.

Lawrence,                                              Employed cruising.

                              Five schooners.

The Shark, cruising.

Flirt,                                                        Despatch vessels.

Onkahye,                                                 Despatch vessels.

Experiment, receiving vessel.

Wave, lent to coast survey

                              Six steamers.

The Mississippi,                                          In the Gulf of Mexico.

Princeton,                                                  In the Gulf of Mexico.

Michigan, on the upper lakes.

Col. Harney, on the coast of Florida.

Gen. Taylor, navy-yard, Pensacola.

Engineer, navy-yard, Norfolk.

                              Four store-ships.

The Relief,                                             Transporting stores to the different squadrons, &c.

Erie,                                                      Transporting stores to the different squadrons, &c.

Lexington,                                             Transporting stores to the different squadrons, &c.

Southampton,                                        Transporting stores to the different squadrons, &c.

                              RECAPITULATION.

4  ships-of-the-line.

7 frigates.

15 sloops.

5 brigs.

5 schooners,

6 steamers.

4 store-ships.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS

                                                           November 21, 1845

--697--

G.

Statement of vessels on the stocks at the several navy-yards, or building at other places, on the 1st of October, 1845.

               At Kittery, Maine.

The Alabama, a ship-of-the-line.

The Santee, a frigate.

               At Charlestown, Mass.

The Virginia, a ship-of-the-line.

The Vermont, a ship-of-the-line.

               At Brooklyn, N. Y.

The Sabine, a frigate.

The Albany, a sloop-of-war.

               At Philadelphia, Penn.

The Germantown, a sloop-of-war.

               At Gosport, Va.

The New York, a ship-of-the-line.

The St. Lawrence, a frigate.

               At Pittsburg, Penn.

An iron steamer, building by contract.

               At Hoboken, N. J.

An iron steamer has been contracted for.

               At Sackett's Harbor.

The New Orleans, a ship-of-the-line.

               RECAPITULATION.

5 ships-of-the-line.

3 frigates.

2 sloops.

2 iron steamers.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                                            November 21, 1845.

--698--

H.

Statement of the vessels belonging to the navy, which were in ordinary on the 1st of October, 1845.

               At Charlestown, Mass.

The Franklin, a ship-of-the-line.

The Independence, a razee.

The United States, a frigate.

               At Brooklyn, N. Y.

The Macedonian, a frigate.

The Dale, a sloop.

The Fulton, a steamer.

               At Philadelphia, Penn.

The Water-witch, a steamer.

               At Washington, D. C.

The Union, a steamer.

               At Gosport, Va.

The Delaware, a ship-of-the-line.

The Brandywine, a frigate.

The Constellation, a frigate.

The Vandalia, a sloop-of-war.

The St. Louis,      "             "

The Fairfield,      "            "

The Decatur,       "             "

The Preble,          "             "

The Perry, a brig.

The Phoenix, a despatch schooner.

               RECAPITULATION.

2  ships-of-the-line.

1 razee.

4 frigates.

6 sloops-of-war.

1 brig.

1 despatch schooner.

3 steamers.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                                             November 21, 1845.

--699--

I.

Statement of the cost or estimated value of stores on hand at the several navy yards, July 1, 1844; of articles received and expended from June 30, 1844, to June 30, 1845; and of those remaining on hand July 1, 1845, which are under the direction of the Bureau of Construction Equipment, and Repairs.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                      November 21, 1845.

__________

K.

Statement of the number of days' labor, and its cost, from July 1, 1844, to July 1, 1845, for the respective navy-yards, for building, repairing, or equipping vessels of the navy, or in receiving or securing stores and materials for these purposes.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

                                           November 21, 1845.

--700--

ESTIMATES FROM THE BUREAU OF "PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING,” 1846 AND 1847.

Estimate of provisions required for the United States navy for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1846, and ending June 30, 1847.

One ration per day for 7,500 petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys, in the naval service, is 7,500 X 365 days x 20 cents per ration, equal to                                                                                         $547,500.00

One ration per day for 718 commission and warrant officers, "attached to vessels for sea service," is 718 X 365 days X 20 cents per ration, equal to                                                                                                        $52,414.00

One ration per day for 718 marines, including officers "attached to vessels for sea service," is 718 x 365 days x 20 cents per ration, equal to                                                                                                                           $52,414.00

                                                                                                                              $652,328.00

Appropriated for the year ending June 30, 1846, for "provisions"                                   $615,828.00

Asked to be appropriated for the year ending June 30, 1847, for "provisions"                  $652,328.00

NOTE.—Although the ration is calculated at twenty cents, and the actual first cost of it is about fourteen cents, yet various causes concur to swell it sometimes beyond the estimated cost, and to cause the appropriation to fall short. Two of these causes are within the reach of correction by law. Owing to the perishable nature of almost all the articles composing the ration, and the severe tests to which they are subjected, by being sent to every variety of climate, and sometimes necessarily kept for a long period on hand, added to the practice never to allow any but sound and wholesome food to be issued, considerable quantities are condemned, frequently; not because they are not edible, but because they are not so good as the seamen have a right to expect. These condemned provisions are sold sometimes at very nearly their original cost, and the proceeds of these sales accrue, not to the appropriation for provisions to which they properly belong, but to the treasury.

Again, each person entitled to a ration, is allowed to relinquish the spirit part of it, and to draw in lieu nearly three times its value in money. This money is taken from the appropriation for provisions, so that the government pays to the seaman, as a premium for temperance, a large sum annually; which sum, instead of being taken from the treasury, is subtracted from the appropriation for provisions, and goes to swell the aggregate cost of the ration.

BUREAU OF PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING,

            November 22, 1815.

W. BRANFORD SHUBRICK.

__________

Clothing for the navy.

No appropriation is asked under this head. The sums appropriated at different times since the establishment of the bureau, though less in the

--701--

aggregate than the original estimate, have been found sufficient to get the system of clothing the seamen adopted by the bureau in healthful operation. A sufficient quantity of clothing made up is on hand, and a sum of money in the treasury to its credit sufficient to carry on the operations of the bureau; and it is hoped and believed, that unless there should occur unforeseen and unavoidable losses to a large amount, or the naval force should be very considerably increased, there will be no further occasion for assistance to this fund by appropriation from the treasury.

 Appropriated for the year ending 30th June, 1846, for "clothing for the navy"-                          $60,000.00

Asked to be appropriated for the year ending 30th June, 1847, for "clothing for the navy”        $000.00

BUREAU OF PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING, November 22, 1815.

W. BRANFORD SHUBRICK.

Estimate of the expense of the Bureau of "Provisions and Clothing" for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1846, and ending June 30, 1847.

--702--

BUREAU OF PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING,

        November 22, 1845.

W. BRANFORD SHUBRICK.

--703--

REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY,

October 23, 1845.

SIR: I have the honor to report the following statement of the fiscal condition of the surgical department of the navy, in obedience to your order of the 30th ultimo.

The amount of the appropriation for surgeons' necessaries and appliances on hand on the 30th of June, 1845, in the treasury of the United States, was         —           —           —           $1,506.10

Amount appropriated by the act of Congress for surgeons’ necessaries and appliances for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1845               —           —           —                                       $30,000.00

Aggregate                                          $31,506.10

There has been expended for surgeons' necessaries and appliances, including what remains in the hands of navy agents to meet approved bills on the first of October, 1845                  $6,406.22

Balance on hand                                                                                                                                            $25,099.88

The expenses estimated for the support of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for the year commencing July 1, 1846, are $7,470, (see table A.)

The expenses estimated for surgeons' necessaries and appliances for the naval service, including the marine corps, for the next fiscal year, commencing as above, are $45,120, (see table B.)

The surgical departments of vessels afloat, navy yards, and the marine corps, are thus estimated for. The naval asylum and the several hospitals derive their support from the hospital fund exclusively.

This fund, on the first of October, 1845, amounted to one hundred and seventy-five thousand seven hundred and twenty-three dollars and thirty cents. The hospital fund has considerably diminished during the last year, in consequence of the expenditure for improvements, authorized in 1844, as well as the increased number of pensioners in the naval asylum. The improvements made by Commodore Morgan during the last year on the naval asylum grounds have been extensive. Houses for the governor and surgeon, walls for the southern and eastern part of the grounds, a cemetery, and stables, have all been erected during the last year.

In consequence of the diminution of the fund, notwithstanding your directions limiting the expenditures which had been ordered in 1844, I again submit to your consideration the propriety of an appropriation to defray the expenses of the buildings which are now erecting for the benefit of our sailors.

The number of assistant surgeons is now entirely inadequate to supply the demands which are made upon them. There are at present required to fill the various situations ashore and afloat, sixty-nine. The number necessary to fill vacancies, and to complete the organization, according to the estimates, is ninety-two.

The great want of assistant surgeons is justly complained of by our commanders afloat. This deprivation is particularly noticed by those who are cruising in climates where their services are essentially demanded.

--704--

It is particularly important that those assistant surgeons who have seen five years' service should have a few months to prepare themselves at our public colleges for their examinations. This privilege has been denied them for the last few years, inconsequence of their continued public employment.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

THO. HARRIS.

Hon. George Bancroft,

         Secretary of the Navy.

__________

A.

Estimate of the sums required for the support of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for the year commencing July 1, 1846, under an act of Congress, approved 31st of August, 1842.

Contingent expenses.

THO. HARRIS.

__________

B.

Estimated expenses for the naval service during the year, commencing July 1, 1846, so far as coming under the cognizance of this bureau.

FOR GENERAL SERVICE.

                  45

--705--

THO HARRIS.

__________

C

Statement showing the number of assistant surgeons required for duty during the year commencing July 1, 1846; estimated upon the force to be employed.

--706--

THO. HARRIS.

NOTE.----Since the date of my report, the returns from the office of the Fourth Auditor, made up to the 1st of November, exhibit a larger amount of appropriations on hand, under the head of "Surgeons' necessaries and appliances," than was shown at that time. This discrepancy is explained by the recent settlements in the Fourth Auditor's office, by which settlements sums that were credited to different navy agents have reverted to the special appropriations from which they were drawn. The monthly statement, dated November 1, is as follows:

Surgeons' necessaries and appliances —    —            $41,677.48

This, excess of balance, $16,577.60, above that which is shown in my report, remaining on hand, should be deducted from the estimates for the medical department of the service afloat for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1846.

Thus deducted, the estimates are for                                                                            

Surgeons' necessaries and appliances                         $21,072.40

Bureau of medicine and surgery                                   $7,470.00

Total estimate                                                         $28,542.40

THO. HARRIS.

The Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT,

                       Secretary of the Navy.

--707--

Detail estimate of pay and subsistence of officers, and pay of non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the Marine corps of the United States, from July 1, 1846, to June 30, 1847, inclusive.

Respectfully submitted.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE MARINE CORPS, Paymaster's Office, October 22, 1845.

GEO. W. WALKER, Paymaster M. Corps.

--708--

Estimate of the expenses of the Quartermaster's department of the marine corps for one year from July 1, 1846.

*V*These items are omitted in the general estimate of the Secretary of the Navy, inasmuch as they do not appear to be of present necessity.

Respectfully submitted.

AUG. A. NICHOLSON,

Quartermaster Marine Corps.

__________

Estimated--Continued.

--709--

Estimate--Continued.

--710--

Estimate--Continued.

--711--

ABSTRACT OF OFFERS

MADE

TO FURNISH NAVAL SUPPLIES,

COMING

UNDER COGNIZANCE

OF THE

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS.

EXHIBITING,         

In schedules, from No. 1 to 15, inclusive, those which have been rejected as               well as those which have been accepted, between January 1 and November             22, 1845: reported in conformity with the act of Congress of March 3,                     1843.

SCHEDULE No. 1.

Schedule of offers to furnish mast and spar timber at Gosport, Va., under advertisement of George Loyall, navy agent.

NAVY AGENT’S OFFICE, Norfolk, April 10, 1845.

GEORGE LOYALL, Navy Agent.

Offers opened in presence of—

R. GATEWOOD,

T. B. WEST.

__________

Schedule of offers to furnish 13,500 cubic feet of yellow pine plank stocks at Gosport, Va., under advertisement by George Loyall, navy agent, April 2, 1845.

NAVY AGENT’S OFFICE, Norfolk, May 1, 1845.

GEORGE LOYALL, Navy Agent.

Offers opened in presence of— 

THOS. B. WEST,

R. GATEWOOD.

__________

Schedule of offers to furnish 200 barrels of ropemakers' tar at the navy yard at Charlestown, Mass., under advertisement by J. Vincent Browne, navy agent, December 13, 1844.

NAVY AGENT’S OFFICE, Boston, January 10, 1845.

This is to certify that the above proposals, viz: F. W. Pearson & Co., Albert G. Browne, and Mayhew & Hamlen, were all the proposals received at this office up to 12 o'clock (noon) of this day; and that, F. W. Pearson & Co. being the lowest, the contract is awarded to them.

J. VINCENT BROWNE, Navy Agent.

Offers opened in presence of— 

JNO. B. NICOLSON,

SETH J. THOMAS.

--713--

[Advertisement—Schedule No, 2.]

NAVY AGENT’S OFFICE,

New York, March 13, 1845.

Sealed proposals, endorsed "Proposals for Naval Supplies," will be received at this office until the 11th day of April next, at 3 o'clock, p. m., for supplying the following specified articles for the use of the naval service for the quarter ending the 30th day of June next. The contractor will also be required to deliver, upon the requisition of the commander of the Brooklyn navy yard, or the navy agent, such further supplies of the same specified articles as the wants of the service may call for during said quarter, in addition to the quantities named.

The contractor is to deliver these supplies at the navy yard into the custody of the naval store-keeper, in appropriate packages, free of all expenses and charges for transportation. Those called for in this advertisement will be required by the first day of May next; and all subsequent requisitions must be supplied within ten days from the date of each requisition. Every article must be of the best quality in all respects. Samples of the required articles may be seen on application to the naval store keeper, at the navy yard, Brooklyn.

These supplies will be subjected to the inspection of such officers of the navy yard as the commandant thereof may designate. All rejected articles must, upon notice to the contractor, be immediately removed from the navy yard, and others of a satisfactory character be forthwith delivered in lieu thereof. A failure on the part of the contractor to comply with these conditions, will justify the agent in purchasing in open market to supply any deficiencies; and the contractor and his sureties will be held liable for any loss the department may sustain by reason of any such failure.

Bonds in two-thirds of the estimated amount of each contract will be required, with two satisfactory sureties, whose name must be submitted with the proposals. Ten per cent. of the amount on each delivery will be withheld as collateral security for the faithful fulfillment of the contract, until the expiration thereof.

Proposals must embrace one entire class of articles, and be endorsed according to its number. A form of offer will be shown to applicants.

CLASS No. I—Hardware, &c.

3 cooper's adzes, each.

6 carpenter's adzes, each.

24 wood axes, each.

1 dozen brass door bolts, 5 inches, per dozen.

2 do       do           do           4            do       do

1 do       do           do           3 1/2      do       do

1 do       do           do           6           do       do

1 do each, brass buttons, 2 and 2 3/4 inches, per dozen.

3  bevils, steel tongue, each.

3 drill boxes and bows, with drills.

2  patent balances (Dearborn's) to weigh 500 lbs. each.

3  butcher's cleavers, each.

2 dozen brass bulkhead bolts, 6 inches, per dozen.

2 do       do           do           do           5 do       do.

1 do       do           do           do           4 do       do.

2 do       do flush   do           3 1/2      do           do.

--714--

6 dozen tin candlesticks fitted with lamps, per dozen.

72 Firmer chisels, handled, assorted, each.

36 Socket do       do           do           do.

10 pounds red chalk, per pound.

300 do white chalk, per pound.

3 companion stop-cocks for hose, each.

6 armorer's compasses, each.

6 dozen straight brass castors, per dozen.

20 pounds sash cord, per pound.

6 brass dividers, 8 inch, each;

3 drill stocks, press, each.

12 pounds coarse emery, per pound.

2 dozen plate escutcheons, 2 inch, per dozen.

3  do      do          do           1 3/4 do       do.

12 do     do           do           1 5/8 do      do.

6 do       do           do           1 3/8 do      do.

3 do       do           do           1 1/8 do      do.

12 do     brass eyes,              3/8 do        do.

1 pound escutcheon pins, 1/2 to 3/4 inch, per pound.

24 sets French escritoire trimmings, per set.

1 dozen pit saw files, 10 inch, per dozen.

6 do three-square files, from 4 to 8 inch, per dozen.

12 sets table fastenings, per set.

6 carpenter's gouges, each.

36 socket gouges, handled, each.

6 bundles Coopers flags, per bundle.

2 dozen French fitches, per dozen.

6 griddles, each.

6 dozen brass cabin hooks, 6 inch, eyes complete, per dozen.

1 do       do           do           4 do       do           do.

1 do       do           do           3 do       do           do.

2 do       do           do           2 1/2 do                do           do.

6 do brass screw hooks, per dozen.

6 pairs iron butt hinges, 5 inch, per dozen pair.

6 do       do           do           3             do           do.

6 do       do           do           2 1/2      do           do.

4 dozen pairs      do           2             do            do.

48 broad hatchets, handled, (cast steel) each.

1 dozen pairs brass butt hinges, 4 1/2 X 5 inches, per dozen pair.

4 do       do           do           3 1/2 X 3 1/2       do           do.

6 pairs   do           do           3 X 3      do          do.          do.

6 do       do           do           2 1/2 X 2 1/2       do           do.

5 dozen pairs brass do      2 X 2                       do           do.

1 do       do           do           5                        do           do.

1 do       do           do           4 1/2                  do           do.

4 do       do           do           2 1/2                  do           do.

12 tinner's hammers, each.

6 wrench hammers, each.

6 dozen brass hooks and eyes, 2 1/2 inches, per dozen.

1 do pairs table butts, 2 X 4 do per dozen pairs.

1 do       do           do           2 1/2 X 5              do.

1 do       do           do           1 3/4 X 3 1/2        do.

1 do       hooks for lamps, 3 inches, brass, per dozen.

--715--

1 dozen hooks for lamps, 2 inches, brass, per dozen.

6 marking irons, each.

2 bundles Russia sheet iron, No. 12, per pound.

10 do     hoop iron, 1 1/8 inch and under, per pound.

12 gridirons, each.

6 waffle irons, each.

6 dozen brass knobs, 3/4 inch, per dozen.

3 do       do           7/8         do           do.

6 cheese knives, each.

18 copper tea kettles, 6, 8, and 10 quarts, each.

6 pallet knives, each.

6 fish kettles, each.

6 putty knives, each.

12 dozen mahogany knobs, 2 inches, per dozen.

12 do     do           do           1 3/4      do           do.

6 do       do           do           1 1/2      do           do.

3 do       do           do           1 1/4      do           do.

2 do       do           do           1            do           do.

6 do       do           do           3/4 db    do.

2 do       do           do           7/8         do           do.

6 do       iron padlocks,     2 1/2      do           do.

5 do double faced cupboard locks, 4 inch, per dozen.

2 do closet locks, 6 inch,                               do           do.

1 do closet locks, 5 inch,                               do           do.

6 do closet locks, 4 inch,                               do           do.

8 do iron drawer locks, 2 3/4 inch,                 do           do.

6 do brass drawer locks, 2 1/2 inch,              do.

1 do brass drawer locks, 2 inch,    do            do.

1 do brass drawer locks, 1 1/2 inch,              do.

1 do iron chest locks,                    do.          do.

1 do iron desk locks,                     do.          do.

12 cooks' ladles, iron, long handles, each.

5 dozen chalk lines, per dozen.

10 tape lines, 100 feet, each.

2 rolls sheet lead, 4 1/2 pounds per fool, per pound.

2 do       do           5 pounds per foot, per pound.

2 do       do           4 pounds per foot, per pound.

2 do       do           3 1/2 pounds per foot, per pound.

20 lengths lead pipe, from 1/2 to 3 inch, per pound.

1 1/2 dozen iron locker locks, per dozen.

1 dozen brass sideboard locks, 3 1/2 inch, per dozen.

36 upright mortice locks, 4 1/2 inch, each.

12 mortice closet locks, 2 1/2 inch, each.

25 2d. and 3d. clout nails, assorted, per M.

50 pounds 6d clout nails, per pound.

50 do     4d clout nails, per pound.

1 do       3/4 inch clout nails, per pound.

2 do       1            do           do per pound.

2 do       1 1/4      do           do per pound.

2 do       1 1/2      do           do per pound.

2 do       1 3/4      do           do per pound.

1 M 3/4 inch brads, per M.

--716--

1 M 5/8 inch brads, per M.

1 M 1/2 inch brads, per M.

200 pounds 3d iron cut nails, per pound.

200 do   4d           do do     per pound.

1600 do 12d        do do     per pound.

500 do 20d          do do     per pound.

300 do 30d          do do     per pound.

500 do 40d          do do     per pound.

400 do each 5 and 6 inch, cut spikes, per pound.

10 do 6d iron wrought nails, per pound.

300 do 8d            do           do           per pound.

200 do 10d          do           do           per pound.

300 do 12d          do           do           per pound.

200 do 40d          do           do           per pound.

100 do wrought copper sheathing nails, per pound.

200 do   12d iron boat nails,           per pound.

200 do   10d        do           do           per pound.

200 do   8d          do           do           per pound.

10 do     6d          do           do           per pound.

10 do     4d          do           do           per pound.

100 do   3d          do           do           per pound.

200 do   3d copper nails,                     per pound.

100 do   4d           do           do           per pound.

200 do   5d           do           do           per pound.

300 do   6d           do           do           per pound.

100 do   8d           do           do           per pound.

10 do     10d        do           do           per pound.

10 do     20d        do           do           per pound.

200 do   20d        do           do           per pound.

12 long jointers, carpenter's D I, each.

24 pincers, each.

15 bake pans, each.

9 moulding planes, each.

500 pounds nail rods, per pound.

30     do copper boat rivets, per pound.

6 compass saws, each.

6 wood saws, framed, each.

3 whip saws, each.

2  dozen brass sash pulleys, per dozen.

24 C. S. shovels, each.

6 trying squares, each.

3  hand shears, each.

400 pounds steel blister, (L) per pound.

100      do German steel, per pound.

300      do best cast steel, per pound.

3 butcher's steels, each.

6 spades, C. S. each.

2 tinner's shears, each.

4 bread scales and beams, large with set of weights, per set

25 pounds brass solder, per pound.

12 iron squares, each.

4 iron stakes, per pound.

--717--

4 tinner's edging stakes, per pound.

4 planishing stakes, per pound.

12 clamp screws, wood, each.

1 brass square, each.

24 flat brass sash springs, per dozen.

10 pounds 3/4 inch wrought copper tacks, per pound.

10 do     7/8 do do do        do           do           per pound.

10 do     14 ounce iron tacks, per pound.

25 do     thread, assorted, per pound.

12 do     shoe thread, per pound.

200 do   India tin, per pound.

25 do     3/8 inch brass wire, per pound.

100 do   1/2 inch brass wire, per pound.

4 sets lead weights, 1 ounce to I pound, per set.

4 sets iron weights, 1 to 28 pounds, per set.

1 pound 1-16 inch copper wire, per pound.

100 pounds 5-16 do do per pound.

20 do     1/4 do do per pound.

20 do     3/8 do do per pound.

Sheets, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 (6 sheets brass, per pound.)

Nos.       16, 18, 20, 22, 25, (6 sheets brass, per pound.)

Iron screws--per gross.

--718--

Brass screws--per gross.

CLASS No. 2—Ship Chandlery.

2 dozen hair tar brushes, long handles, per dozen.

3  dozen hair tar brushes, short handles, per dozen,

2  dozen dashing brushes, per dozen.

8 dozen whitewash brushes, No. 12, per dozen.

3  smith's bellows, 30 inches, each.

40 yards of baize, green, per yard.

600 comp'n sheave brushes, assorted, per pound.

12 silver calls, each.

12 pounds crocus, per pound.

600 pounds cotton batts, best, per pound.

15 yards hair cloth, 24 inch, per yard.

5 yards hair cloth, 28 inch, per yard.

5  yards hair cloth, 30 inch, per yard.

10 yards bottle green broadcloth, per yard.

45 yards fearnaught, per yard.

2 dozen sail hooks, per dozen.

300 sheets horn, large middle, per sheet.

1,000 pounds houseline, tarred, per pound.

1 jack screw, large size, each.

50 hand lead lines, 1 inch, 30 fathom, per pound,

100 sides bellows leather, per side.

25 sides W. O. tanned, pump leather, per pound.

6  pitch ladles, iron handles, each.

48 lamp chimneys, each.

--719--

200 yards white muslin, 36 inch, per yard.

50 yards black muslin, per yard.

6 long reels, with iron spindles, each.

20 dozen C. S. ship scrapers, iron handles, polished, per dozen.

60 pounds whipping twine, per pound.

100 pounds cotton wick, per pound.

15 gross wove lamp wick, per gross.

6 pounds worsted yarn, per pound.

CLASS No. 3—Paints, &c.

4 dozen paint brushes, (000,) per dozen.

2 dozen paint brushes, (00,) per dozen.

15 pounds Prussian blue, per pound.

100 pounds chrome green, per pound.

6 packs gold leaf, extra, per pack.

50 pounds sugar of lead, per pound.

50 gallons neatsfoot oil, per gallon.

50 gallons bright varnish, per gallon.

25 gallons copal varnish, per gallon.

10 pounds Chinese vermilion, per pound.

200 pounds umber, per pound.

20 gallons best furniture varnish, per gallon.

CLASS No. 4—Lumber.

1000 barrel hoop poles, large size, per 100.

500 Albany boards, clear, each.

1000 feet             4 inch, dry, clear white pine plank, per M feet.

1500 do                3 do       do           do           do           do

2000 do                2 1/2 do do          do           do           do

4000 do                 box boards                                        do

1000 do                 4 inch, dry, clear, ash plank,          do

1000 do                 3 do       do           do                          do

2000 do                 1 1/2 do do          do                          do

3000 do                 1 1/4 do                do           do                          do

4000 do                 1 do       do           ash boards,         do

100 do                  3/4    do         mahogany do                     per foot.

50 do                    1/2 do    do           do                          do

25 do                    2 do       cherry plank,                      do

25 do                    1 1/2 do                               do                          do

500 do                  7/8 do    do           boards,                               do

50 do                    5/8 do    do           do                          do

50 do                    1/2 do    do           do                          do

1000 do                1/2 do    bird's eye maple,               do

50 do                    maple veneers, assorted,                                do

500 do                  1 inch dry, black walnut boards,   do

500 do                  7/8 do    do           do           do           do

200 do                  1/2 do    do           do           do           do

200 do                  crotched walnut veneers,                               do

500 do                  5/8 inch, cedar boards,                    do

--720--

CLASS No. 5—Yellow pine spar timber.

3 pieces 50 feet long, to work 16 inches; per cubic feet.

2 do 70 do do 25 do do

1 do 72 do do 22 do do

1 do 67 do do 14 do do

2 do 77 do do 18 do do

1 do 68 do do 21 do do

2 do 57 do do 16 1/2 do do

2 do 55 do do 12 do do

CLASS No. 6—Stationery, &c.t

9 logbooks, 4 quires each, full bound, each.

40 memorandum books,                  do

24 blank books, 2 quires cup, half bound, do.

3 dozen pieces India rubber, per dozen.

24 bottles black ink, pints, each.

84 do     do half pints,       do.

60 do     red ink do            do.

3 dozen inkstands, lead, par dozen.

4 reams log paper, per dozen.

30 sheets linen drawing paper, 15 medium, 15 double elephant, per sheet.

1 1/4 reams blotting paper, per ream.

6 parallel rulers, 3 12 inches, 3 24 inches, each.

500 slate pencils, per 100.

24 sand boxes, boxwood, each.

1 ream buff envelope paper, per ream.

6 wafer seals, each.

6 letter books, 3 quires each, demi, full bound, each.

18 log slates, double, with hard wood frames, brass hinges, 12 x 16

inches, slate, each.

4 boxes water colors, 2 rows paints, 12 pencils, &c, each.

6 pounds red wafers, 3 large, 3 small size, per lb.

7 dozen paper ink powders, per dozen.

6 ivory pounce boxes, filled, each.

6 round rulers, 2 feet, hard wood, each:

6 flat do                              2 do       do           do.

12 Gunter scales, each.

18 slates 10 x 14 inches, hard wood frames, slate, each.

3 paper knives, each.

6 rolling rules, do

5 dozen pieces silk taste, assorted colors, per dozen.

12 do lead pencils "Monroe's" S and SS, do.

6 ivory paper folders, each.

CLASS No. 7.

2500 yards cotton hammock stuff, 42 inches wide, twilled, per yard.

CLASS No. 8.

100 cords sound oak wood, 4 feet in length, per cord.

JAMES H. SUYDAM,

Navy Agent

                              46

--721--

Schedule showing the aggregate sums demanded by different persons to furnish supplies at Brooklyn, N. Y., during the second quarter of 1845, under navy agent's advertisement of March 13, 1845.

* Accepted

Offers opened in presence of --     

Wm. L. HUDSON

JAMES A. COFFIN

April 11, 1845.

--722--                                                                                                     

[Advertisement.—Schedule No. 3.]

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

April 18, 1845.

Sealed proposals (endorsed proposals for hemp) will be received at this bureau until the 31st day of May next, for furnishing and delivering at the navy-yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, on or before the 1st day of July, 1846, four hundred tons of water rotted hemp.

This hemp must be equal to the Riga Rein hemp now at the navy yard, Charlestown. In deciding upon offers, preference will be given to American hemp, if offered at equal or lower price than may be asked for foreign hemp. The hemp must be subject to inspection and approval at the navy yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, by persons to be appointed, by and under instructions from this bureau, and none will be received which shall not pass such inspection.

Persons who may wish to furnish hemp perfectly free from tow, and ready for spinning, can forward separate proposals for such hemp; which hemp, if the proposals should be accepted, must, like the other, be subject to inspection and approval at said navy yard before it will be received.

Persons making offers must state the price asked per ton of 2,240 pounds, delivered at said navy yard, and must forward with them an obligation from two persons of sufficient property to become sureties for the fulfillment of the contract to be entered into, in one-third the amount of said contract.

To diminish the hazard to contractors of forwarding hemp from the western states, which may not be of proper quality, or sufficiently well prepared, the Secretary of the Navy has appointed two agents, who will, when requested, inspect hemp that may be prepared and intended to fulfill contracts to be made under this advertisement. One of these agents will inspect the hemp that may be sent to Louisville, Kentucky, and the other that which may be sent to St. Louis, in Missouri. These agents will be furnished with samples of the Riga Rein hemp, excepting for hemp fully prepared for spinning, and with the means of testing the strength of hemp, and will be ready to give all information in their power, to enable contractors to have their hemp properly prepared, and to ascertain the strength and character of it, before the expense of sending it to the navy yard is incurred. It must be distinctly understood, however, that the inspection and opinion of these agents is merely to diminish the risk to contractors, by furnishing useful information. The only inspection by which the hemp can be finally received and paid for will be that at the navy yard where it is to be delivered.

In addition to the bends which will be required for the faithful performance of the contract, ten per centum will be deducted from the amount of all bills for deliveries, and retained until the completion of the contract, as additional security for its performance. The remaining ninety per centum will be paid within thirty days after bills, duly approved, shall be presented to the navy agent at Boston, Massachusetts.

--723--

SCHEDULE No. 3.

Schedule of offers to furnish four hundred tons of hemp at the navy yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, under advertisement by the bureau of April 18, 1845.

*Accepted.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS, June 10, 1846.

The state of the bids being such, that the bureau conceived the interests of the government would be promoted by offering to Mr. Curtis (his offer being the lowest for a portion of the hemp) a contract for 250 tons, and wrote to him to that effect on the 4th instant. He, however, declined the offer by letter of the 7th instant. The bureau then taking the aggregates of the several bids into view, and that of Francis Cox. No. 2, being the lowest, the contract was awarded to him for the 400 tons.

W. BRANFORD SHUBRICK,

For Commodore C. Morris.

Offers opened June 2, 1845, in presence of—

C. MORRIS,

W. B. SHUBRICK,

J. H. REILY.

--724--

[Advertisement— Schedule No. 4 .]

Proposals for flax and cotton canvass, hammock and bag stuff, and twine.

BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND REPAIRS,

May 13, 1845.

Proposals, sealed and endorsed, will be received at this bureau until 3 o'clock p. m., of the 16th June next, for furnishing and delivering the following quantities of flax and cotton canvass, hammock and bag stuff, and flax and cotton twine, viz:

Flax canvass.

Cotton canvass.

200 bolts of No. 4, each bolt to weigh 38 pounds avoirdupois.

200 do of No. 5, do           do           36           do

100 do of No. 6, do           do           34           do

100 do of No. 7, do           do           32           do

90 do of No. 8,    do          do           30           do

90 do of No. 9,    do          do           28           do

90 do of No. 10, do           do           26           do

Cotton hammock and bag stuff.

300 bolts hammock stuff, each bolt to weigh 100 pounds avoirdupois.

240 bolts bag stuff, each bolt to weigh 75 pounds avoirdupois.

Twine.

3,600 pounds flax twine.

2,400 pounds cotton twine.

--725--

The flax canvass to be 20 inches wide, and each bolt to contain 40 running yards. Strips to test the strength of the flax canvass will be one inch wide, except for No. 8, which will be one and a quarter inch wide.

The cotton canvass to be 20 inches wide, and each bolt to contain 50 running yards.

The hammock stuff to be 42 inches wide, and each bolt to contain 50 running yards.

The bag stuff to be 42 inches wide, and each bolt to contain 50 running yards.

The twine must conform in size, number of threads, and in other respects, to the requisitions which shall be made from the respective navy yards.

200 bolts No. 1 flax canvass.

100 bolts No. 2 do                            do

95 bolts No. 6 do                              do

15 bolts No, 7 do                              do

40 bolts No. 8 do                              do

400 lbs. flax sewing twine.

70 bolts No. 4 cotton canvass.

70 bolts No. 5 do                              do

10 bolts No. 6 do                              do

5 bolts No. 8 do                               do

60 bolts hammock stuff.

20 bolts bag stuff.

250 pounds cotton sewing twine.

To be delivered at the navy yard at Philadelphia.

One-fourth of the remaining quantities of the different numbers of canvass, hammock and bag stuff, and of the quantities of twine, to be delivered at each of the navy yards at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and Brooklyn, New York ; and the remainder at the navy yard at Gosport, Virginia. Proposals to be made separately for the flax canvass, cotton canvass, hammock and bag stuff, and twine; and separate proposals will be received and considered for the quantities to be delivered at each of the navy yards named. The proposals for all the canvass and hammock and bag stuff must be by the bolt, and not by the yard.

One-half the quantity to be delivered to each of said navy yards must be delivered on or before the 1st December next, and the remainder on or before the 1st of May, 1846.              

               Flax canvass.

The warp and filling to be spun exclusively from long, well-dressed flax, water rotted, and of the very best quality, without any mixture of shorts or tow. The yarns to be evenly spun and properly twisted; the warp to be rather more twisted than the filling; the yarns to be boiled in a solution of the best American pot ashes, in the proportion of seven pounds of ashes to every hundred pounds of green yarn, and one gallon of water to every pound of green yarn, then to be thoroughly washed and rinsed in pure water, and carefully dried. The yarns to be thus prepared between April and November. No deleterious substance, starch, tallow, glue, paste, nor any description of weaver's dressing, to be used in the manufacture. All cylindering, calendering, pressing, and beating is strictly prohibited.

--726--

The cotton canvass, hammock and bag stuff, and twine, must be of the best quality of materials and workmanship, and, with the flax canvass, be subject to such tests and inspection as the chief of the said bureau may direct or authorize; and be in all respects to his satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of the respective commandants of said navy yards. A blue thread to be placed at such distances from each selvage of all the canvass as may be directed in the contract.

All deliveries must be at the risk and expense of the contractor; and the articles must conform to the stipulations and conditions of the contracts to be entered into—proof of which must be furnished to the satisfaction of the commandant of the yard.

Bonds, with two approved sureties, in one-half the estimated amounts of the contracts, will be required, and ten per centum in addition will be withheld from the amount of each payment to be made, as collateral security for the faithful performance of the contract, which will not be paid until the contract shall have been fully complied with in all respects.

The bureau reserves the right to reject all oilers from persons who have heretofore failed to fulfill contracts.

Two persons, whose responsibility must be certified by some navy agent, commandant of a navy yard, or other person known to the chief of the bureau, must state upon the offer their readiness to become sureties for the persons offering, if their bid should be accepted.

--727--

SCHEDULE No. 4.

Schedule of offers to furnish flax canvass, under advertisement by the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repairs, May 13, 1845.