UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



731 



same armament, with engines of 20,862 horse power, 

 making 23 knots ; the " Olympia," of 5,800 tons 

 displacement, engines of 17,813 horse power, a speed 

 of 21.5 knots, and an armament of 4 8-inch and 10 

 quick-firing 5-inch guns; the "Baltimore," of 4,413 

 tons displacement, 10,000 horse power, 20 knots 

 speed, and an armament of 4 8-inch and 6 quick- 

 firing 6-inch guns; the "Philadelphia," "San 

 Francisco," and " Newark," one of 4,324, the others 

 of 4,098 tons displacement, each armed with 12 6- 

 inch guns, and having engines developing 8,815 

 horse power for the first, giving 19.5 knots speed, 

 9,913 horse power for the second, giving the same 

 rate, and 8,862 horse power for the third, giving 19 

 knots; the "Charleston," of 3,730 tons displace- 

 ment, carrying 2 8-inch and 6 6-inch guns, and 

 making 18.2 knots with engines of 8,650 horse 

 power; the "Raleigh" and "Cincinnati," of 3,183 

 tons displacement, armed with 1 6-inch and 10 5- 

 inch quick-firing guns, and making 19 knots with 

 engines of 10,000 horse power ; the " Atlanta " and 

 " Boston," of 3,000 tons displacement, with 4,030- 

 horse engines, making 15.6 knots, armed with 2 8- 

 inch and 6 6-inch guns ; the " Chicago," of 4,500 

 tons displacement, with engines of 5,080 horse 

 power, making 15 knots, carrying 4 8-inch and 8 6- 

 inch guns ; the " Detroit," " Marblehead," and 

 " Montgomery," of 2,080 tons displacement, one of 

 5,227 horse and one of 5,480 horse power each mak- 

 ing 18.5 knots the third, of 5,580 horse power, mak- 

 ing 19 knots, and all armed with 95-inch quick firers ; 

 the " Bennington," " Concord," and " Yorktown," 

 of 1,700 tons, 3,436 horse, 3,408 horse, and 3,392 

 horse power, giving respectively 17.5, 16.8, and 16 

 knots, each vessel carrying 6 6-inch guns ; and the 

 " Nashville," " Wilmington," and " Helena," of 

 1,370 tons displacement, the first having a speed of 

 14 knots, with 1,750 horse power, the others 13 

 knots, with 1,600 horse power, each of them armed 

 with 3 4-inch quick firers. 



The four battle ships carry their heaviest guns in 

 turrets fore and aft protected with 15-inch armor, 

 their other heavy guns in turrets on each beam 

 plated with 8-inch to 6-inch armor. The " Iowa " 

 has 14-inch, the others 18-inch side armor, three 

 fifths of their length, with vertical armor projecting 

 above up to the armored deck of 3-inch steel and 

 bulkheads fore' and aft, 12 inches thick in the 

 " Iowa," 17 inches in the others. The " Texas " 

 has a vertical 12-inch belt extending two thirds of 

 her length, a 3-inch deck, and 12-inch bulkheads, 

 and carries her heavy guns in turrets protected 

 with 12-inch plates. The " Brooklyn " and " New 

 York " have a steel belt over their vital parts vary- 

 ing from 3 to 8 inches, and a deck varying from 2.5 

 to 6 inches, and carry their armored guns in ar- 

 mored barbettes. All the other cruisers are deck- 

 protected, the thickness of the deck varying with 

 the size of the vessel. The heavier vessels have 

 their guns protected by shields, and the ammuni- 

 tion hoists by tubes of steel. The monitors are 

 old vessels refitted, carrying heavy guns and having 

 good protection, but slow and unwieldy of move- 

 ment, the " Puritan " displacing 6,000 tons, the 

 " Miantonomoh," " Terror," and " Monadnock " 

 4,000 tons. The " Monterey " and the ram " Katah- 

 din " are not more efficient for offensive operations, 

 and the earlier monitors, the " Catskill," " Lehigh," 

 " Jason," " Nahant," and " Montauk," carrying 15- 

 inch smooth-bores in armored turrets, are fit only 

 for harbor defense. Three more of this class were 

 newly engined early in the year. The torpedo 

 flotilla consisted of the " Dupont," " Gushing," 

 "Ericsson," " Foote," "Porter, " Rodgers," and 

 " Winslow," from 140 to 170 feet long, having a 

 nominal speed of 22 knots, and the smaller 

 " Gwynn " and " Talbot." 



Just before the war with Spain the new English- 

 built Brazilian cruisers " Admiral Abreu " and " Am- 

 azonas" were secured for the navy and renamed 

 " New Orleans " and " Albany," each having a dis- 

 placement of 3,600 tons, 7,500 horse power, a speed 

 of 20 knots, and an armament of 6 6-inch and 4 

 4.7-inch quick firers. 



During the progress of the war the Navy Depart- 

 ment contracted for 16 torpedo-boat destroyers, to 

 be completed within a year and a half, to have a dis- 

 placement of 400 tons each, with two quadruple- 

 expansion engines of 11,000 horse power and twin 

 screws, giving a speed of 28 knots, to be protected 

 with 2 inches of inclined nickel steel armor over 

 cellulose, to carry 100 tons of coal, and have a 

 steaming radius of 5,000 miles, and to be equipped 

 with 3 12-pounders, one of them on the conning 

 tower, 5 6-pounders, and 2 torpedo tubes in the bow. 

 The " Kearsarge " and " Kentucky," battle ships of 

 12,000 tons and 10,000 horse power, were laid down 

 before the war began. In these vessels turrets for 

 the 8-inch guns are placed above those for the 

 13-inch guns, instead of beside them, as in the 

 " Oregon," saving the weight of two smaller turrets, 

 while increasing the power of the fore and aft bat- 

 teries, at the same time enabling them to carry 14 

 5-inch rapid firers in the broadside battery where 

 the " Oregon " carries 4 6-inch guns. The " Ala- 

 bama," " Illinois," and " Wisconsin " are of equal 

 size, with a speed of 16 or 17 knots, the greatest 

 possible cruising radius, and a secondary armament 

 of 14 6-inch rapid firers, without any 8-inch guns. 

 The naval programme authorized by the act of May 

 4, 1898, provided for 3 first-class battle ships, 4 coast- 

 defense monitors, 12 torpedo boats, and 16 destroy- 

 ers. The battle ships will be of 13,500 tons dis- 

 placement, and will cost, exclusive of armor and 

 armament, $3,000,000 each. They were contracted 

 for in September, to have a speed of l&J knots, 2,000 

 tons coal capacity, and a radius of 10,000 miles at 

 10 knots, and have been named the " Maine," the 

 " Ohio," and the Missouri." The coast-defense 

 vessels " Arkansas," " Connecticut," " Florida," and 

 " Wyoming," to be completed in two years at a cost 

 not exceeding $1,500,000 for each one, will be built 

 of steel, with double bottom and water-tight di- 

 visions, displacing 2,700 tons, with coal capacity 

 for 200 tons, and will carry 2 12-inch guns in a tur- 

 ret forward, 4 4-inch rapid-firers, and in the second- 

 ary battery 3 6-pounder rapid-fire and 4 1-pounder 

 automatic rifles; the side armor will be 11 inches in 

 the thickest part, tapering down to 5 inches. The 

 programme presented to Congress in December, 

 1898, includes, besides three battle ships, 3 heavily 

 armored cruisers of 12,000 tons, costing $4,000,000 

 each ; 3 protected cruisers of 6,000 tons, costing 

 $2,150,000 each ; and 6 unarmored cruisers of 2,500 

 tons, costing $1,141,800 each. 



Pensions. The total number of pensioners on 

 the roll on June 30, 1898, was 993,714, snowing an in- 

 crease in the year of 17,700. There were 327,080 

 invalids, 655 nurses, and 92,557 widows and de- 

 pendents drawing army pensions and 4,833 invalids 

 and 2,300 widows and dependents drawing naval 

 pensions under the general law; and 399.366 in- 

 valids and 119,785 widows and dependents con- 

 nected with the army and 14,543 invalids and 5,944 

 widows and dependents connected with the navy 

 were receiving pensions under the act of June 27, 

 1890. The number of claims allowed during 1898 

 was 52,648, making a total of 1,579,324 since 1861. 

 The disbursements for the year were $145,748,865. 

 Public Lands. The number of homestead en- 

 tries during the year ending June 80, 1898, em- 

 braced 6,206,557 acres; entries under the timber- 

 culture act, 160 acres. The area of public lands 

 remaining vacant and subject to entry and settle- 



