The detail, very recently, of one officer for duty in the bureau has, in some measure, overcome this difficulty. But as the commission of Chief of Bureau is a special one, no officer so detailed can, as a mere matter of course, assume the duties in case of the illness or absence of the chief himself; he must be specially designated by the President for every such occasion-a condition materially detracting from the usefulness of the detail, and which should be remedied. The civil portion of the service has, to some extent, been provided; but the bureau is again compelled to call attention to its insufficiency. This is, in point of fact, two distinct bureaus, with voluminous correspondence and records under each; and under each, the amount of work is quite equivalent, to say the least, to that of any other bureau. The clerical force has always been so inadequate as to almost entirely preclude compilation of the greater portion of the reports and returns, and the copying of the correspondence into the proper record books, leaving the bureau dependent, for reference to its most important letters, for several years after they are written, on "press copies" of them, hastily and often very imperfectly taken at first, and liable to fade so as to soon become quite illegible. Without this correspondence and these records, it would be utterly impossible to comply with the laws in regard to appropriations, accounts, pensions, enlistments, discharges, &c., to follow out the history of any matter under the bureau, or to furnish information required by the Pension Office and other branches of the government, many letters from which are now lying unanswered since the unfortunate reduction in July last. The necessity for a laborer (the appropriation for whom, though allowed heretofore, was stricken out by Congress) is equally great. There are six apartments to be cared for, cleaned, heated, &c., and other constant work for a porter or laborer. At present this necessary work is performed by a laborer who is paid under another bureau, which has two. While, therefore, the bureau is able to report that its work has been prosecuted with the utmost diligence, and, fortunately, so as not to retard materially its current operations, it is compelled to recommend, most urgently: First. That an enactment by Congress be asked for (such as has been heretofore passed in the cases of some other bureaus, whose labors are less than those in either branch of this) authorizing the detail of an officer, not below the rank of commander, for duty in the bureau, to assist the chief in, and in case of his illness or absence to succeed to, his duties, so as to relieve the first-mentioned difficulty. Second. That, at as early a date as possible, and for at least such period as will suffice to put the records of the bureau in proper condition, the re-establishment of its former clerical force, and an increase over it, as set forth in the estimate herewith submitted, be authorized and appropriated for. Third. That the former appropriation for a laborer to the bureau be restored. The efficiency of the bureau would thus be greatly increased. In a short time, the economy of its operations would be promoted to an extent much more than sufficient to counterbalance the small additional expenditure in salaries, and as soon as the work in arrears could be brought up, and the records compiled, a smaller force would suffice to prevent the recurrence of the embarrassments described. The bureau might add a notice of several plans for the future, such as the preparation of a uniform system of watch and station bills, of seamanship exercises and instruction, and others which it has now and has for a long time had in view, and which will be immediately and substantially forwarded, to the great benefit and improvement of the service, whenever the force will admit. But it ventures to hope that the explanation already made will insure the desired increase at an early day. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. SMITH, Chief of Bureau. Hon. GEORGE M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Nary. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, Navy Department, October 20, 1869. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report from the Burean of Navigation for the past year, together with estimates for its support, and for the expenditures that will probably be required in that division of the naval service committed to its immediate charge, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. Included in this report, and transmitted herewith, are the reports and estimates of the Superintendents of the Naval Observatory and Nautical Almanac, and the report of the officer in charge of the Hydrographic Office. I. NAVIGATION. Navigation supplies.-The use of lard oil, alluded to in the previous report from this bureau, has proved to be quite satisfactory for illuminating purposes on board ship. No sperm oil has been purchased for two years past; and the conclusion appears to be practically reached, that lard oil may be used with about equal efficiency and facility, and with a considerable saving of first cost. Some experiments are also being made with the use of olive oil for the same purpose, this being obtained at still cheaper rates than lard oil, at the prices of the past season; but the results cannot be definitely announced at present. The manufacture of bunting appears to be permanently established in this country. With the encouragement afforded by this bureau and other departments of the government, under the authorization of the act of Congress of March 2, 1865, the American bunting now supplied will compare quite favorably in every requisite with the best English fabric. A useful improvement has lately been effected by the same manufac turer, in the making of boat flags, or the smaller sizes of American ensigns. Instead of being sewed up in parts of each color, as formerly made, requiring considerable labor, and resulting in a more or less clumsy flag, particularly when of small dimensions, they are now furnished to the navy dyed in pattern, so as to require but three pieces in making up. They are thus less costly, neater in appearance, and equally dura ble in fabric and color, while flying more easily in a light breeze. The reproach that we must go abroad for the material of which the national ensign is made, no longer exists. The treatment of compasses and chronometers remains the same as stated in the previous report. The means now taken to examine, test, and adjust these instruments, so important to the navigator, not only serves to insure their serviceable condition when issued to our ships of war, but is tending to elevate the standard of their manufacture in this country. It is already gratifying to know, from the results of experi ence in their use, that American chronometers, as supplied by our best makers, will compare well in actual service with the best of those obtained from abroad. And a similar opinion may be expressed with respect to American compasses, especially of the most improved form of the liquid compass as now made in this country. The increasing testimony for several years past in the quarterly reports from officers afloat, shows that the liquid steering compasses possess adequate sensibility, with the added quality of superior steadiness, and without being any wise deficient in directive power. Experiments are now being made with liquid azimuth compasses of the same maker on board ship, with a view to ascertain their relative fitness for use at sea, in comparison with the dry azimuth compass still in use in the navy. Efforts are being directed from time to time towards the improvement of the various nautical instruments and apparatus used in the navy. With unimportant exceptions, and then partly as samples of English and French makers, no instruments or apparatus are now imported, although, prior to the war, nearly all our nautical instruments were purchased abroad. We are still mainly dependent for our charts, sailing directions, and some other nautical publications, upon foreign importation, mainly from England, nearly all of which being issues from the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty, a few, however, being obtained from the French dépôt of charts in Paris. The necessity for doing this in the equipment of our navy is a reproach to our national independence; while it might be attended with serious inconveniences in the event of national complications, not only to the navy itself but to our whole commercial marine. Some progress is being made through the recent establishment of the Hydrographic Office, towards removing this reproach and the danger alluded to; but it will require a number of years to be completely done, unless the operations of that office can be adequately enlarged by additional appropriations. 11. HYDROGRAPHY. During the past summer a hydrographical survey of a portion of the waters bordering on Alaska Territory has been made by Commander R. W. Meade, jr., United States Navy. With these data, and those derived from previous surveys in Behring's Sea and contiguous waters, by Commander (now Commodore) John Rodgers, United States Navy, in 1855, and some from other sources, a directory and chart of the southeast coast of Alaska has been prepared and published for the use of the navy and commercial marine. Surveys, more or less limited, have also been made during the past year, as opportunities were presented, by different vessels of the Asiatic squadron; from all of which valuable information of portions of the eastern archipelago has been obtained; relative to which region, much of it is too little known, while all is of rapidly increasing interest to American commerce. Several charts with hydrographic notices embodying the results of these surveys have already been published, and issued from the Hydrographic Office. In all cases, the data transmitted by naval officers as results of these surveys are made available with the least loss of time, by being published for the use of navigators, either in the production of a new chart or in correcting old ones. Under your recent order to supply all vessels fitting for sea with the necessary apparatus for hydrographical surveying, it is to be hoped 560 that much more may be done by our national vessels, without interfer ence with other duties, in procuring information for the improvement of navigation. Some additional outlay for hydrographical instruments will be needed in order to properly equip the vessels charged with this duty. III. NAVAL OBSERVATORY. The new wooden building for the large transit, for which an appropriation of five thousand dollars was made at the first session of the forty-first Congress, is nearly completed and ready for use. Some additional apparatus is needed for the meteorological observa tions, which have so long and regularly been made at the Observatory. The special object in asking for new apparatus is to enable the Observa tory to avail itself of the recent improvements in observing, especially in that feature by which the apparatus is made continuously self-recording, now so important an addition to the completeness and accuracy of this class of physical observations. To this recommendation of the superintendent, for which estimates are appended to his report, not being included in the regular estimates of the bureau, your attention is respectfully invited. It will be seen by the report of the superintendent that much pains were taken to secure widely separated points of observation of the total eclipse of August 7. Not satisfied with sending a corps of observers to Des Moines, Iowa, and Bristol, Tennessee, other observers, with the necessary instruments, were also sent to San Francisco, where, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, a vessel of the Pacific fleet was placed at their disposal by Admiral Turner, commanding, for transportation to Behring's Sea. Though but partially successful there, on account of passing clouds, some quite satisfactory results were obtained; while their success on this side of the continent left little to be desired. A full report of results will be submitted as soon as prepared. IV. NAUTICAL ALMANAC. Some progress has been made in extending the advance date of the Nautical Almanac. It is quite desirable, for the convenience of navigators, when fitting for long voyages, that almanacs of at least three full years shall be supplied in advance of date. The English almanac is still somewhat in advance of our own publication. It is hoped, how. ever, that, with the regular continuance of the almanac computations, an equal advance may at least be gained and subsequently maintained for the American almanac. At the last session of Congress an appropriation of five thousand dollars was made for observations of the total eclipse in August of this year. By a judicious distribution of the considerable number of scien tific observers, who volunteered from different parts of the country for co-operation with the Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, aided by unexceptionable weather, results of unusual completeness were obtained which promise to be of great interest, and a substantial acquisition to science. A full report of the results of these observations is preparing for publication. V. HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. The report of the officer in charge of the Hydrographic Office exhibits the operations of that office during the past year. An increased atten tion is given to the chart rooms, with a view to maintaining a full supply of all needed charts, as soon as published, whether by this office or by foreign governments, and to keep them, through all accessible means, corrected to date. It will be seen, by reference to that report, that a considerable number of charts, from new and revised plates, have been published during the past year. As already alluded to under a previous head, it is highly desirable that the operations of this office should be expanded, so far at least as to provide for a steady and more rapid advance towards the complete emancipation of our naval and commercial marine from the present dependence on foreign sources of supply for their charts and sailing directions. An appropriation of a few thousand dollars, additional to that now made, would probably enable this work to go on as rapidly as would be expedient consistently with the requisite care in revision and in the incorporation of new material. The estimates for the support of the Hydrographic Office are comprised in the fourteenth specification of the general estimates, No. 2, for navigation and navigation supplies. VI. THE NAVAL SIGNAL SYSTEM. It being proposed to adopt the army code of signals which was found so useful in communicating between the two branches of the service during the war, for general use, in connection with the present naval signal code, Commodore S. P. Lee was placed in charge of that department, and is now making arrangements with General Myer, chief signal officer of the army, for the proper teaching and organization of a signal corps in the navy, similar to that now so successfully employed in the army. The new signal book is now in the hands of the printer. VII. NAVAL APPRENTICES. The utter failure in the object sought, namely, to improve the class of enlisted seamen by "the introduction of thoroughly drilled and educated apprentices in the navy," is due, primarily, to the fact that when the result of the annual examination for the admission of ten, out of about five hundred, to the academy, was known, the remainder naturally became dissatisfied and took no further interest in learning the duties of seamen, and deserted in large numbers. While an apprentice system may work well in any of the older countries, overburdened with population, like England and France, the inducements in most of the other walks of life in our own are so great, that the life of a common sailor is generally looked upon as the last to be chosen. The bureau is of the opinion, in harmony with that expressed by the chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, that the law in relation to the enlistment of minors should be more exactly defined, so as to specifically authorize the enlistment of persons over eighteen years of age, and make the oath of the recruit conclusive as to his age. The following statement exhibits the number of apprentices during the past year: Number on board apprentice ships September 30, 1868 197 271 Total number.... 468 Discharged or deserted since September 30, 1868.... 202 |