UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



693 



armor, and by an armored deck and armored re- 

 doubts in front of the machinery, and the 4 13- 

 inch 35-caiiber guns in the fore and aft turrets 

 and 8 8-inch guns in 4 other turrets are protected 

 by inclined armor. These vessels were designed 

 to make over 10 knots, and the Iowa, of 11,410 

 tons, launched in 1896, carrying 12-inch guns, to 

 go 17 knots. In the Kearsarge and Kentucky, 

 of 11,525 tons, the armor belts are 16J inches 'thick, 

 the great guns are of 13-inch bore, and on their 

 turrets are superposed the turrets for the 4 8-inch 

 guns. The Alabama, Illinois, and Wisconsin differ 

 from these in having no 8-inch guns, but 14 G-inch 

 instead of the 5-inch guns carried by the others, 

 besides the 20 quick-firing 6-pounders, which all 

 these turret ships have. The Maine, Missouri, and 

 Ohio have a displacement of 12,500 tons, with 

 armor 12 inches thick and 12-inch guns, engines of 

 16,000 horse power instead of 10,000, since largo 

 coal endurance and a speed of 18 knots are the 

 objects sought. The Georgia, New Jersey, and 

 Pennsylvania will displace 13,500 tons, will have 

 for the main armament 4 12-inch and 16 6-inch 

 guns, and will be able with 16,000 horse power to 

 make at least 18 knots. The newer armored 

 cruisers, like the battle ships, are larger than their 

 predecessors, as in other navies. In the armored 

 cruiser Texas, displacing 6,315 tons, 2 12-inch guns 

 are mounted singly in turrets protected by an ob- 

 lique redoubt, and there are 6 6-inch and 12 quick- 

 firing 6-pounders; and in spite of her heavy arma- 

 ment and armor plates 12 inches thick the vessel, 

 which was launched in 1892, can make nearly 18 

 knots. The cruiser New York, launched in 1891, 

 having a displacement of 8,200 tons, engines of 

 17,500 horse power, giving a speed of 21 knots, 

 and in addition to 10-inch side plating a strong 

 curved steel deck, carries 8-inch guns in pairs in 

 the fore and aft turrets and 1 on each beam, with 

 a secondary armament of 12 4-inch and 8 other 

 quick firers. The Brooklyn, launched in 1895, dis- 

 places 9,215 tons, having 15-inch plates and an 

 armament of 8-inch guns disposed as in the New 

 York, and 12 5-inch and 12 smallerquick fircrs,and 

 could make nearly 22 knots with engines of 17,300 

 horse power. The California, Nebraska, and West 

 Virginia displace 12,000 tons, carry 14 quick-firing 

 8-inch guns and 14 6-inch and 20 smaller ones, and 

 are designed to make 22 knots an hour. All the 

 new cruisers are sheathed and coppered. The sec- 

 ond-class protected cruisers of 3,100 tons the 

 Chattanooga, Cleveland, Denver, Desmoines, Gal- 

 veston, and Tacoma to be armed with 10 5-inch 

 quick firers, are smaller than the Albany and New 

 Orleans, launched in 1899 and 1896, and even 

 than the Cincinnati and Raleigh, just as these 

 were lighter than the Olympia or the Newark, 

 Philadelphia or San Francisco, arid the latest ves- 

 sels are not intended to make over 16.5 knots. 

 The newest type of monitor, the Arkansas, Con- 

 necticut, Florida, and Wyoming, of 3,235 tons, 

 have 11-inch armor, 2 12-inch guns, 4 4-inch and 3 

 more quick firers, and a speed of 12 knots. The 

 fastest vessels in the navy are the unarmored 

 cruisers Columbia and Minneapolis, built in 1892 

 and 1893, displacing 7,375 tons, and carrying 1 

 8-incli gun and 22 quick firers of various sizes, 

 have triple-expansion engines of 18,500 horse and 

 20.800 horse power, enabling them to steam 23 and 

 22 knots respectively. There were at the end of 

 1S99 in the effective navy 9 first-class battle ships, 

 6 not completed and 1 of the second class 1 ; 19 good 

 coast-defense vessels, besides the 4 new monitors; 

 1 armored ram, Admiral Ammen's Katahdin, 

 which can be submerged excepting the turtle deck 

 and the well-armored funnel and ventilating shafts 

 when she is making an attack ; 2 armored cruisers, 



and 3 building; 15 protected cruisers, and 6 under 

 construction; 3 commerce destroyers; 17 gunboats, 

 and 1 building; 16 torpedo-boat destroyers under 

 construction; and 24 completed and 13 not yet 

 completed torpedo boats. 



Pensions. The number of pensioners on the 

 rolls in the year ending June 30, 1900. was 993,529, 

 of whom 752,510 were invalids and 241,019 widows 

 and dependents. The disbursements during the 

 year amounted to $138,462,130, of which $9,828,625 

 were first payments and $128,633,605 other pen- 

 sions. Under the general pension law the total 

 number of 878,332 claims of invalids and 534,721 

 of widows, etc., had been filed up to June 30, 1900, 

 and 586,521 claims of invalids and 332,029 of wid- 

 ows, etc., allowed. Under the act of June 27, 1890, 

 there had been 847,327 applications of invalids and 

 338,488 of widows, etc., filed, and 451,531 claims of 

 invalids and 181,262 of widows, etc., allowed. The 

 new applications during the year were 2,753 for 

 invalids and 7,593 for widows, etc., under the gen- 

 eral law, and 10,940 for invalids and 338,488 for 

 widows, etc., under the act of 1890, and the claims 

 allowed were 1,690 for invalids and 3,308 for wid- 

 ows, etc., under the general law, and 21,345 for 

 invalids and 12,173 for widows, etc., under the act 

 of 1890. There were 7 applications of widows of sol- 

 diers of the War of 1812, and 1 was allowed, the 

 total number allowed up to date having been 25,713 

 for survivors and 35.480 for widows; of survivors 

 of the war with Mexico, 69 filed claims and 497 

 widows, while 21 claims of survivors and 420 of 

 widows were allowed; of survivors of Indian wars, 

 26 made applications, and 19G widows, and the 

 claims of 10 survivors and 144 widows were al- 

 lowed. The number of applications arising out of 

 the war with Spain was 12,038 for invalids and 

 1,383 for widows and dependent relatives, and the 

 number of claims allowed was 801 for invalids and 

 710 for widows, the total granted in the two years 

 since applications were first filed having been !>:!(> 

 for invalids and 888 for widows, etc., while the 

 total number of applications was 27,047 for in- 

 valids and 3,934 for widows, etc. The applica- 

 tions from army nurses were 49 in number; claims 

 allowed, 22. 



Public Lands. The total area of original 

 homestead entries in 1900 was 8,478,409 acres, of 

 which 1,853,090 acres were in North Dakota, 1.22(5.- 

 405 acres in Oklahoma, 477.523 acres in Minnesota, 

 456,855 acres in Nebraska, 446,518 acres in Arkan- 

 sas, 439,814 acres in Oregon, 410,040 acres in South 

 Dakota, 405,496 acres in Washington. 328.437 acres 

 in Montana, 312.784 acres in Colorado, 296,398 

 acres in Idaho, 264,536 acres in California, 251. 2 15 

 acres in New Mexico, 235,308 acres in Wyoming, 

 208,277 acres in Louisiana, 140,623 acres in Ala- 

 bama, 127,563 acres in Florida, 123,604 acres in 

 Mississippi, 119,750 acres in Missouri, 100,173 acres 

 in Wisconsin, 60,160 acres in Utah, and 53.594 

 acres in Michigan. The railroad selections in 1900 

 amounted to 1,932,139 acres, of which 507.467 acres 

 were in Wyoming. 347,625 acres in Kansas, 243,201 

 acres in Washington, 224.913 acres in Colorado, 

 204,888 acres in Oregon, 171,794 acres in California, 

 82,738 acres in Montana, 75,344 acres in Utah, 

 and 44.034 acres in Idaho. The number of acres 

 disposed of for cash under the homestead acts and 

 timber culture acts or located with agricultural 

 college and other kinds of scrip or with military 

 bounty land warrants or selected by States or rail- 

 roads was 13,391.464 acres, of which 1,869,792 acres 

 were in North Dakota, 1.270,403 acres in Okla- 

 homa, 1.157.088 acres in Montana. 995.9S2 acres in 

 Wyoming. S-12.015 acres in Oregon. 7S1.660 acres in 

 Colorado, 772.034 acres in Washington, 643,082 

 acres in Minnesota, 576,779 acres in California, 



