Vol. VI

ON December 17, having reached the age of 62, Rear
Admiral Richard Wainwright, U.S.N., was placed on
the retired list.
Rear Admiral
Wainwright's
Retirement

He was born in the District of Columbia, and graduated from the Naval Academy in the class of '68.

With his retirement, there passes from the active list an officer who, throughout his career, has shown a spirit that should be an inspiration to future generations of naval officers.

His fame will go down into history principally for his conspicuous conduct in the battle of Santiago, while in command of the converted yacht Gloucester. In the geneneral engagement he boldly pushed forward with all the speed of his little craft, at once attacking at close range both of the Spanish torpedo boat destroyers, Pluton and Furor, and, although these destroyers received some fire from other ships also, his intrepid conduct conduced mostly to their destruction. For his gallantry, Congress advanced him ten numbers in his grade.

A REPORT on the bill to amalgamate the Pay and Constructors Corps with the Line of the Navy, has been submitted by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Winthrop, the president of the Amalgamation Board.

Amalga

mation Bill The report will show that if the bill is enacted, the increase in expense will be confined to the difference in pay of about six officers, who would be immediately promoted to higher rank, automatically, by the proposed legislation.

The subcommittee of the Board - Capt. Roy C. Smith, Pay Director Livingston Hunt, and Naval Constructor John D. Beuret has completed the work of drafting the measure.

The bill will probably provide that only the younger constructors and pay officers shall be required to fit themselves for the line.

No. 1

In the measure repealing this clause of last year's Appropriation Bill, the Senate provides that officers appointed Chiefs of Bureaus in the Navy Department will, if of lower grade, be entitled to the rank, title, and emolument of Rear Admiral, or to the corresponding title in their respective corps, only while serving on such posts.

The Bill is now before the House Naval Committee, and should be, and probably will be, passed. While it is obvious that any officer occupying the position of a Chief of Bureau should have the rank and pay of Rear Admiral, the reasons alleged in favor of the present law have no logical basis in fact.

THE proposed plan to amalgamate the Revenue Cutter
Service under the Navy Department, as a separate and
Revenue distinct branch of the Navy, like the Marine
Cutter Ser- Corps, is not likely to materialize.
vice Amal-

The Navy Department favors the plan, gamation as the revenue cutters could, under the proposed conditions, do their work better as adjuncts to the Navy in time of war than they can under present conditions; and because the revenue cutters can better participate in maneuvers in time of peace under navy control, than as at present organized.

The Treasury Department, however, does not favor the plan, believing that matters relating to the customs and revenue patrols can best be handled by the cutters while under the direct charge of the Department of the Government charged with the responsibility of this work.

Accident

WHILE the torpedo boat destroyer Warrington, in command of Lieut. W. M. Hunt, U.S.N., was proceeding to New York from Charleston, S. C., she was The struck by an unindentified schooner twenty Warrington miles south of Hatteras, on December 28. Twenty-five feet of her stern was torn away and two of her crew were injured. The Warrington left Charleston with other vessels of the 8th and 9th Divisions of the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet on December 27. The ramming occurred at half-past one in the morning, during a 45-mile gale. Had it not been for the strength and good working condition of the bulkheads, the vessel would have sunk immediately.

The revenue cutter Onondaga and scout cruiser Salem were despatched to the Warrington's assistance, the Onondaga towing her to the Norfolk yard, where she was immediately docked.

After towing the Warrington to Norfolk the Onondaga proceeded to sea to search for the vessel that rammed the torpedo boat. A three-masted schooner was reported sunk 14 miles off Hatteras the day following the accident, only her topmasts showing, and it is thought this vessel may be the one which struck the Warrington, and may have been so disabled herself that she afterwards went down.

IT is unlikely that Congress will permit the proposed abandonment of certain yards suggested by the Secretary of the Navy. For political reasons, RepreAbandonsentatives and Senators are desirous of ment of maintaining these establishments, inasmuch Navy Yards as they provide employment for many workmen whose votes count in elections.

Parcels of the ground upon which the Boston Yard is situated passed from the original private owners to the Government, with clauses in the titles which require the land to be used for public purposes. The Department is studying this question of titles, although, if the government should eventually decide to abandon the yard, condemnation proceedings could be instituted and any land disposed of.

With reference to the New York Yard, which Mayor Gaynor desires to see abandoned so that the space may be used by the city for docks, and about which he recently consulted with President Taft, it happens that the chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House is opposed to the plan.