Chapter 135.
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CHAP. 135.— An act making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, and for the armament thereof, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and for other purposes.March 3, 1881. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Appropriations.Forts and fortifications. That the sum of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the protection, preservation, and repair of fortifications and other works of defense, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, the same to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War; and the Secretary of War to make report, etc.Secretary of War is directed to make report of the condition of the fortifications, and what number of them, if any, can be dispensed with; also, the following for the armament of fortifications, namely :
For the armament of seacoast fortifications, including heavy-guns andArmament, etc. howitzers for flank defense, carriages, projectiles, fuses, powder, and implements, their trial and proof, and all necessary expenses incident thereto, and for machine guns, including the conversion of smooth-bore President to select board of Army officers to examine ordnance, etc., and report, with recommendations.cannon into rifles, three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. And the President is authorized to select a board, to consist of one engineer officer, two ordnance officers, and two officers of artillery, whose duty it shall be to make examinations of all inventions of heavy ordnance and improvements of heavy ordnance and projectiles that may be presented to them, including guns now being constructed or converted under direction of the Ordnance Bureau ; and said board shall make detailed report to the Secretary of War, for transmission to Congress, of such examination, with recommendation as to what inventions are worthy of actual test, and the estimated cost of such test ; and the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated for such purpose.
For torpedoes for harbor defenses, and the preservation of the same,Torpedoes.*Proviso*. and for torpedo experiments in their application to harbor and land defense, and for instruction of engineer battalion in their preparation and application, fifty thousand dollars: *Provided*, That the money herein appropriated for torpedoes shall only be used in the establishment and maintenance of torpedoes to be operated from shore stations for the destruction of an enemy’s vessel approaching the shore or engineering the channels and fairways of harbors.
And the Secretary of War is hereby authorized, in his discretion, toExchange or side of unserviceable powder and shot. exchange the unserviceable and unsuitable powder and shot on hand for new powder and projectiles, or to sell the same and purchase similar articles with the proceeds of the sales; and he shall make statement of his action under this provision in his next annual report. Approved, March 3, 1881.