NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



581 



Tin- ir.'ii-clad <>nond-i:ra \\.-i~ M :ni<I dcliv- 



. Quintan!, of Now York, 



i-Jth, for tin- Mini of 7.")!>/-7.'t, in .-! 



.vilh the act o!' March L', IS07. |',y the 



in- in>ii-cl:ul I Mmdcrborg was released 



and delivered to William II. \\Vhb, of New 



. her builder, upon the payment by him 



into tin- United States Treasury of the amount 



which had been advunc 'd on his contract 

 11,666, Tin- ram Stonewall, delivered l-.v 



'iitedcratcs to the: Si):uiish authorities at 

 Havana, and !>y them turned over to the United 

 a, w:i* sold to the Government of Japan, 

 Au-iist 5th, for the sum of $400,000. 



Tin' Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., con- 

 tinues uniK-r the able superintendence of Vice- 

 Admiral Porter, and is satisfactorily fulfilling 

 the work a>signed to it. A further purchase 

 of land and additional buildings is required, 

 to facilitate instruction in some of the depart- 

 ments and to furnish the officers and midship- 

 men MI it able accommodations. The graduating 

 cla-s i if i he present year numbered eighty-seven. 

 The under-graduates were at sea from two to 

 three month-; for practice in the sloops-of-war 

 Macedonia, Savannah, and Dale. 

 The naval apprentice system, which was re- 

 : about three years ago, appears to be in a 

 flourishing condition. The boys are transferred 

 from apprenticeships to men-of-war, and after 

 twenty years' service become beneficiaries un- 

 der tho act of March 2, 1867, and are provided 

 for in age. The authorized annual number of 

 apprentices for admission to the Naval Acade- 

 my, which was this year increased to ten, were 

 selected by competitive examination from those 

 eligible under the law; several others, nomi- 

 ! from the school-ship by members of Con- 

 iriv-'s, passed successfully through the same 

 ordeal. The increasing number of applicants 

 required the sloops-of-war Portsmouth and 

 Saratoga to In- put in commission, and these, 

 with the Sabine, will be used exclusively as ap- 

 prentice-ships The station of the Sabine is at 

 New London and vicinity, of the Portsmouth 

 at Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay, and of 

 the Saratoga at New York. Increased com- 

 pensation, and more effective punishments to 

 prevent desertion, seem requisite to retain our 

 >eann.-n in the service; and the Secretary, in his 

 annual report, calls the attention of Congress 

 to the subject, and asks for additional legisla- 

 tion to meet these wants. 



The Hoard for the examination of volunteer 

 officers for admission into the regular Navy, in 

 conformity with the act of July 25, 1866, has 

 been in session at intervals during, the entire 

 year, and submitted its final report of officers 

 examined. Its duty is to select and recom- 

 mend the authorized number in the several 

 grades, provided so many were found qualified, 

 and to send their names to the Senate for con- 

 tinuation. 



Some dissatisfaction is expressed by the staff 

 officers with the present law, which gives them 

 the rank of fleet surgeons, fleet paymasters, 



and licet engineers, when attached to.tho fleet 



only. They will probably n-<, 

 make the rank pel-man. -nt, a- tip y claim it ha* 

 been virtually reduced by the recent creation 

 of the several grades of admiral, comm 

 and lieutenant-commander. 



In pursuance of a resolution of Congress, 

 February ?,2, 1867, directing the Secret.! 

 assign public \ e.-sels for the transportation of 

 food and clothing to the Southern States, upon 

 application of the contributor-, the Purveyor 

 was placed at the dispo.-al of the Southern Re- 

 lief ('ummi->i'iri at New York, and made two 

 trips, one in March, and another in June, going 

 as. far as Mobile. The Relief was also sent to 

 Mobile from Baltimore, in May, u ider the aus- 

 pices of the Southern Relief Association. The 

 usual freighting lines were employed by the 

 Secretary in conveying supplies from Baltimore 

 to Wilmington, N. C., at a cost of $1,506. 



The investigation for the relief of con- 

 tractors for war-vessels and steam machinery, 

 authorized by the act of March 2, 1867, has 

 been pursued by a board which commenced its 

 sessions July 8th, and consisted of Commodore 

 J. B. Marchand, chief engineer, J. W. King, 

 and Paymaster E. Foster. 



By the act of April 17, 1866, $5,000 were 

 appropriated to test the use of petroleum as 

 fuel under marine boilers. Elaborate series 

 of experiments were made at the New York 

 and Boston Navy-yards, and its use in steam- 

 vessels was found to be opposed to comfort, 

 convenience, health, and safety ; the only ad- 

 vantage thus far shown is a not very important 

 reduction in bulk and weight of fuel carried. 



The naval pension fund, derived from the sale 

 of prizes, increased during the year $1,250,000, 

 making the present aggregate $13,000,000. 

 There has been an increase for the year ending 

 November 1, 1867, of 29 of the invalid pen- 

 sioners, and of 184 on the widows' and orphans' 

 roll ; making a total of 213, at an additional 

 cost of $49,089. The number of each class is 

 as follows : 



1,079 Invalids annually receiving $92,674 



1,892 widows and children annually receiving 226,898 



7 invalids under act of March 2, 1867, receiving 756 



2,479 persons receiving a total amount of $819,828 



The resources of the Department for the year 

 ending June 30, 1867, were $117,944,060, of 

 which $31,034,011 were expended, leaving a 

 balance of $86,910,049; adding to this sum 

 the appropriations for the current year, 

 $16,555,705, the aggregate balance at the 

 commencement of the new year was $103,- 

 465,754. Sii.re the close of the war no ap- 

 propriations have been required for the con- 

 struction and repair of vessels, for steam ma- 

 chinery, ordnance, provisions and clothing, 

 fuel, hemp, etc. ;. the sales of vessels and other 

 war property had also so far increased the 

 balance at the disposal of the Department, that 

 on September 80, 1867, the Secretary transferred 

 to the surplus fund of the United States Treas- 

 ury appropriations to the amount of $65,000, 



