Chapter 344. making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 344.— An Act making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes.March 3, 1885. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Appropriation for naval service. That the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the naval service of the Government for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and for other purposes:
For the pay of the Navy, for the active-list, namely: For one Admiral,Navy active-list. one Vice-Admiral, seven rear-admirals, eight Chiefs of Bureaus, nineteen commodores, forty-three captains, eighty four commanders, seventy-four lieutenant-commanders, two hundred and sixty lieutenants, eighty-nine junior lieutenants, one hundred and ninety one ensigns, fourteen medical directors, fifteen medical inspectors, forty seven surgeons, seventy-four passed assistant surgeons, eight assistant surgeons, two assistant surgeons not in the line of promotion, thirteen pay-directors, twelve pay-inspectors, forty-eight paymasters, twenty eight passed assistant paymasters, nineteen assistant paymasters, sixty-nine chief engineers, eighty-eight passed assistant engineers, eighty-one assistant engineers, twenty-four chaplains, twelve professors of mathematics, ten naval constructors, nine assistant naval constructors, ten civil engineers, one hundred and sixty six warrant officers, thirty-seven mates, two hundred and ninety-six naval cadets; in all, three million six hundred and fifty-two thousand nine hundred dollars.
For pay of the retired list, namely: For forty-eight rear-admirals, fifteenNavy retired-list. commodores, twelve captains, ten commanders, twenty-one lieutenant-commanders, thirty-five lieutenants, eight ensigns, twenty-one medical directors, three medical inspectors, seven surgeons, six passed assistant surgeons, six assistant surgeons, ten pay directors, two pay inspectors, four paymasters, two passed assistant paymasters, one assistant paymaster, fourteen chief engineers, twenty-tour passed assistant engineers, twenty-five assistant engineers, eight chaplains, six professors of mathematics, one chief constructor, three civil engineers, seventeen boatswains, sixteen gunners, ten carpenters, and eleven sail-makers; in all, seven hundred and ninety-seven thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars.
For pay to petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen, andPetty officers, seamen, etc. boys, including men in the engineers’ force and for the Coast Survey service, not exceeding eight thousand two hundred and fifty in all, two million four hundred and ninety thousand dollars. MISCELLANEOUS.Miscellaneous. For two secretaries, one to the Admiral and one to the Vice-Admiral,Secretaries, clerks to paymasters, etc. Extra pay, exchange, mileage, etc. clerks to paymasters, clerks at inspections, navy-yards, and stations, and extra pay to men enlisted under honorable discharge; commission and interest, transportation of funds, exchange; mileage to officers while traveling under orders in the United States, and for actual personal expenses of officers while traveling abroad under orders, and for traveling expenses of apothecaries, yeomen, and civilian employees, and for actual and necessary traveling expenses of naval cadets while proceeding from their homes to the Naval Academy for examination and appointment as cadets, and for the payment of any such officers as may be in service, either upon the active or retired list, during the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, in excess of the numbers of each class provided for in this act, and for any increase of pay arising from different duty, as the needs of the service may require; for rent and furniture of buildings and offices not in navy-yards; expenses of courts-martial and courts of inquiry, boards of investigation, Contingent expenses.examining boards, with clerks’ and witnesses’ fees, and traveling expenses and costs; stationery and recording; expenses of purchasing- 427 paymasters’ offices at the various cities, including clerks, furniture, fuel, stationery, and incidental expenses; newspapers and advertising; foreign postage; telegraphing, foreign and domestic; telephones; copying; care of library; mail and express wagons, and livery and express fees; costs of suits; commissions, warrants, diplomas, and discharges; relief of vessels in distress, and pilotage; recovery of valuables from shipwrecks; quarantine, expenses; care and transportation of the dead; reports, professional investigation, cost of special instruction, and information from abroad, and the collection and classification thereof, three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
For all emergencies and extraordinary expenses, arising at home orExtraordinary expenses. abroad, but impossible to be anticipated or classified, exclusive of personal services in the Navy Department or any of its subordinate Bureaus or offices, at Washington, District of Columbia, twenty thousand dollars. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION. For foreign and local pilotage and towage of ships of war; servicesNavigation supplies.Items. and materials in correcting compasses on board ship, and for adjusting and testing compasses on shore; nautical and astronomical instruments, nautical books, maps, charts, and sailing directions, and repairs of nautical instruments for ships of war; books for libraries of ships of war; naval signals and apparatus, namely, signal lights, lanterns, rockets, running lights, drawings, and engravings for signal-books; compass-fittings, including binnacles, tripods, and other appendages of ships’ compasses; logs and other appliances for measuring the ship’s ways, and leads and other appliances for sounding; lanterns and lamps, and their appendages, for general use on board ship, including those for the cabin, wardroom, and steerage, for the holds and spirit-room, for decks and quartermasters’ use; bunting and other materials for flags, and making and repairing flags of all kinds; oil for ships of war, other than that used in the engineer department; candles when used as a substitute for oil in binnacles and running lights; chimneys and wicks; and soap used in the navigation department; stationery for commanders and navigators of vessels of war, and for use of courts martial; musical instruments and music for vessels of war; steering signals and indicators, and speaking tubes and gongs for signal communication on board vessels of war; and for introducing electric lights on board vessels of war, in all, eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars.
For special ocean surveys and the publication thereof, ten thousand Special ocean surveys.dollars. For contingent expenses of the Bureau of Navigation, namely: ForContingent expenses. freight and transportation of navigation materials, postage and telegraphing on public business, advertising for proposals, packing-boxes and materials, and all other contingent expenses, four thousand dollars. For the civil establishment at navy-yards and stations, five thousandCivil establishment. dollars.
BUREAU OF ORDNANCE. For preserving and handling ordnance and ordnance material of theOrdnance stores and supplies. kinds now in service, for the armament of ships therewith, for the purchase or manufacture of ammunition therefor, for materials and labor to be used in the general work of the Ordnance Bureau for these purposes; for furniture at magazines, at the ordnance dock, New York, and at the naval ordnance proving-ground, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. For the purchase or manufacture of steel guns of small caliber forSteel guns. ships now in service, and for testing the same at the naval ordnance proving-ground, twenty-one thousand dollars. 428 For the completion and public test of two breech-loading rifle cannonTest of breech-loading rifle cannon. of the larger calibers now in course of construction for the Navy, with carriages and ammunition for both, eighty thousand dollars.
For completing a six-inch wire-wound gun, four thousand dollars.Completion of wire-wound gun.Test of American armor. For testing American armor made of American material, twenty-five thousand dollars. For necessary repairs to ordnance buildings, magazines, gun parks,Repairs, etc. boats, lighters, wharves, machinery, and other objects of the like character, fifteen thousand dollars. For miscellaneous items, namely: For freight to foreign and home Miscellaneous.stations, advertising and auctioneers’ fees, cartage and express charges, repairs to fire-engines, gas and water pipes, gas and water tax at magazines, toll, ferriage, foreign postage, and telegrams to and from the Bureau, three thousand dollars.
For the civil establishment at navy-yards and stations, five thousandCivil establishment. dollars. For the torpedo corps, namely: For labor, material, freight and expressTorpedo corps. charges; general repairs to grounds, buildings, and wharves; boats; instruction; instruments, tools, furniture, experiments,and general torpedo outfits, sixty thousand dollars. BUREAU OF EQUIPMENT AND RECRUITING. For equipment of vessels: For coal for steamers’ and ships’ use, includingEquipment of vessels. expenses of transportation, storage, and handling; hemp, wire, hides, and other materials for the manufacture of rope and cordage; iron for the manufacture of anchors, cables, galleys, and chains; canvas for the manufacture of sails, awnings, bags, and hammocks; heating apparatus for receiving-ships; and for the purchase of all other articles of equipment at home and abroad, and for the payment of labor in equipping vessels and manufacture of equipment articles in the several navy yards, eight hundred thousand dollars.
For expenses of recruiting: For expenses of recruiting for the navalRecruiting. service, rent of rendezvous and expenses of maintaining the same, advertising for men and boys, and all other expenses attending the recruiting for the naval service and for the transportation of enlisted men and boys at home and abroad, thirty thousand dollars. For contingent expenses equipment and recruiting: For extra expensesContingent expenses. of training ships, freight and transportation of equipment stores, printing,advertising, telegraphing, books and models, postage, ferriage, ice, apprehension of deserters and stragglers, assistance to vessels in distress, continuous-service certificates and good conduct badges for enlisted men, schoolbooks for training-ships, medals for boys, and emergencies arising under cognizance of Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting unforeseen and impossible to classify, fifteen thousand dollars.
For the civil establishment at navy yards and stations, nine thousandCivil establishment. dollars. BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS. For general maintenance of yards and docks, namely: For freightsYards and docks. and transportation of materials and stores, books, models, maps, and drawings; purchase and repair of fire-engines; machinery; repairs on steam fire engines, and attendance on the same; purchase and maintenance of oxen and horses, and driving teams, carts, and timber-wheels, and all vehicles for use in the navy yards; tools and repairs of the same; dredging; postage on letters and other mailable matter on public service; telegrams; furniture for Government houses and offices in the navy yards; coal and other fuel; candles, oil, and gas; cleaning and clearing up yards and care of public buildings; attendance on fires, lights, fire-engines and apparatus; for clerical and incidental labor at 429 navy-yards; water-tax, and for toll and ferriages; rent of four officers’ quarters at League Island; pay of the watchmen in the navy-yards; and for awning and packing-boxes, and advertising for yard and dock purposes, two hundred thousand dollars.
For contingent expenses that may arise at navy-yards and stations,Contingent expenses. twenty thousand dollars. For the civil establishment at navy-yards and stations, twenty-four Civil establishment.thousand dollars. BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.Medicine and surgery. For support of the medical department: For surgeons’ necessariesSurgeons’ necessaries, and civil establishment. for vessels in commission, navy-yards, naval stations, Marine Corps, and Coast Survey, and for the civil establishment at the several naval hospitals, navy-yards, naval laboratory, and Naval Academy, sixty thousand dollars.
For the naval-hospital fund, namely: For maintenance of the naval Hospital fund.hospitals at the various navy-yards and stations, thirty thousand dollars. For contingent expenses of the Bureau: For freight or expressage onContingent expenses. medical stores; toll, ferriages transportation of insane patients; advertising; telegraphing; rent of telephones; purchase of books; postage and purchase of stamps for foreign service; expenses attending the medical board of examiners; rent of rooms for naval dispensary and museum of hygiene; hygienic and sanitary investigation and illustration; sanitary and hygienic instruction; purchase and repair of wagons and harness; purchase and feed of horses and cows; trees, plants, garden-tools, and seeds; furniture and incidental articles for museum of hygiene, naval dispensary, Washington, naval-laboratory, sick-quarters at Naval Academy, and dispensaries at navy-yards; washing for medical department at museum of hygiene, naval dispensary, Washington, naval laboratory, sick-quarters at Naval Academy, dispensaries at navy-yards, and for receiving-ships and rendezvous, twenty-five thousand dollars.
For necessary repairs of naval laboratory, naval hospitals, and appendages,Repairs. including roads, wharves, out houses, sidewalks, fences, gardens, farms, and cemeteries, ten thousand dollars. BUREAU OF PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING. For provisions for the seamen and marines; commuted rations forProvisions and clothing. officers, naval cadets, seamen, and marines; expenses of inspections and storehouses, including labor; purchase of water for cooking and drinking on board ships; and for provisions and commutation of rations for seven hundred and fifty boys, one million eighty-five thousand dollars.
For contingent expenses: For freight on shipments, candles, fuel,Contingent expenses. books and blanks, stationery, advertising, furniture for inspection and pay-offices in navy-yards, expenses of naval clothing factory, foreign postage, telegrams, and express charges, tolls, ferriages, yeoman’s stores, iron safes, newspapers, ice, and incidental expenses absolutely necessary, fifty thousand dollars. For the civil establishment, six thousand dollars.Civil establishment. BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR.
For preservation and completion of vessels on the stocks and in ordinary;Preservation, repair, and completion of vessels, etc. purchase of materials and stores of all kinds; labor in navy-yards and on foreign stations; preservation of materials; purchase of tools; wear, tear, and repair of vessels afloat, and for general care, increase, and protection of the Navy in t he line of construction and repair: incidental expenses, namely, advertising, foreign postage, telegrams, photographing, books, plans, stationery, and instruments for drawing- 430 room, one million dollars: *Provided*, That no part of this sum shall be *Proviso*.Repair a of wooden ships.applied to the repairs of any wooden ship when the estimated cost of such repairs, to be appraised by a competent board of naval officers, shall exceed twenty per centum of the estimated cost, appraised in like *Proviso*.manner, of a new ship of the same size and like material: *Provided further*, That nothing herein contained shall deprive the Secretary of Repairs of ships abroad.the Navy of the authority to order repairs of ships damaged in foreign waters or on the high seas, so far as may be necessary to bring them home.
For the civil establishment, twenty thousand dollars.Civil establishment. BUREAU OF STEAM ENGINEERING. For repairs, completion, and preservation of machinery and boilers, includingSteam-machinery. steam steerers, steam capstans, steam-windlasses, and so forth, in vessels on the stocks and in ordinary; purchase and preservation of all materials and stores; purchase, fitting, and repair of machinery and tools in the navy-yards and stations; wear, tear, and repair of machinery and boilers of naval vessels; incidental expenses for naval vessels, yards, and Bureaus, such as foreign postages, telegrams, advertising, freight, photographing, books, stationery, and instruments, nine *Proviso*.hundred and fifty thousand dollars: *Provided*, That no part of said sum shall be applied to the repair of engines and machinery of wooden ships where the estimated costs of such repair shall exceed twenty per centum of the estimated cost of new engines and machinery of the same character and power; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the repair or building of boilers for wooden ships the hulls of which can be fully repaired tor twenty per centum of the estimated cost of a new ship of the same size and materials.
For contingencies, such as instruments and materials for draughting-room,Contingent expenses. one thousand dollars. For the civil establishment, ten thousand dollars.Civil establishment. NAVAL ACADEMY. For pay of professors and others: For two professors, namely, one of Pay of professors and others.mathematics and one of chemistry, at two thousand five hundred dollars each; three professors (assistants), namely, one of physics, one of Spanish and French, and one of English studies, history, and law, at two thousand two hundred dollars each; six assistant professors, namely, tour of French, one of English studies, history, and laws, and one of drawing, at one thousand eight hundred dollars each; sword-master, at one thousand five hundred dollars, and two assistants, atone thousand dollars each; boxing-master and gymnast, at one thousand two hundred dollars; assistant librarian, at one thousand four hundred dollars; secretary of the Naval Academy, one thousand eight hundred dollars; three clerks to superintendent, at one thousand two hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, and eight hundred dollars, respectively; one clerk to commandant of cadets, one thousand two hundred dollars; one clerk to paymaster, one thousand dollars; one dentist, one thousand six hundred dollars; one baker, six hundred dollars; one mechanic in department of physics and chemistry, seven hundred and thirty dollars; one cook, three hundred and twenty-five dollars and fifty cents; one messenger to superintendent, six hundred dollars; one armorer, five hundred and twenty nine dollars and fifty cents; one gunner’s mate, four hundred and sixty-nine dollars and fifty cents, and one quarter-gunner, four hundred and nine dollars and fifty cents; one cockswain, four hundred and sixty-nine dollars and fifty cents; one seaman in the department of seamanship, at three hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents; one attendant in the department of astronomy and one in the department of physics and chemistry, at three hundred dollars each; six attendants at recitation-rooms, library, store, chapel, 431 and offices, at two hundred mid forty dollars each; one bandmaster, five bundled and twenty eight dollars; twenty one first-class musicians, at three hundred and forty-eight dollars each; seven second-class musicians, at three hundred dollars each; in all, fifty-three thousand five hundred and fifty-nine dollars.
For pay of watchmen and others: For captain of the watch andCaptain of watch and others. weigher, at two dollars and fifty cents per day; four watchmen, at two dollars per day each; foreman of the gas and steam-heating works of Academy, at five dollars per day; ten attendants at gas and steam-heating works, one at three dollars, one at two dollars and fifty cents, and eight at two dollars per day each; oi e yeoman, six hundred dollars; one foreman of joiners, one foreman of painters, and one foreman of masons, at three dollars and fifty cents per day each; one mason, at three dollars per day; two joiners and one painter, at two dollars and fifty cents per day each; one tinner, one gas-fitter, and one blacksmith, at two dollars and fifty cents per day each; in all, twenty-three thousand and twenty-five dollars and fifty cents.
For pay of mechanics and others: For one mechanic at workshop,atMechanics and laborers. two dollars and twenty-five cents per diem; one master laborer, to keep public grounds in order, at two dollars and twenty eight cents per diem; fourteen laborers, to assist in same, three at two dollars per diem each and eleven at one dollar and fifty cents per diem each; one laborer, to superintend quarters of cadet-midshipmen and public grounds, at two dollars per diem; twenty servants, to keep in order and attend to quarters of cadet-midshipmen and public buildings, at twenty dollars per month each; in all, fourteen thousand five hundred and seventy-six dollars and ninety five cents.
For pay of the employees in the department of steam-engineering,Employes in department of steam-engineering. Naval Academy: One master machinist, one boilermaker, and one pattern-maker, at three dollars and fifty cents per day each; two machinists and one blacksmith, at two dollars and fifty cents per day each; four laborers, at one dollar and fifty cents per day each; in all, seven thousand six hundred and sixty-eight dollars. For necessary repairs of public buildings, pavements, wharves, andRepairs of buildings, etc. walls inclosing the grounds of the Naval Academy, and for improvements, repairs, and furniture and fixtures, twenty-one thousand dollars: *Provided*, That no appropriations provided for in this act shall be construed*Proviso*. to authorize or be applied to a new building for the use of the superintendent of other officers of the Academy.
For fuel for beating and lighting the Academy and school-ships, seventeenFuel, lights. thousand dollars. For contingent expenses, Naval Academy: For purchase of books forContingent expenses. the library, two thousand dollars. For stationery, blank books, models, maps, and for textbooks for useStationery, etc. of instructors, two thousand dollars. For expenses of the Board of Visitors to the Naval Academy, oneBoard of Visitors . thousand five hundred dollars. Fur purchase of chemicals, apparatus, and instruments in the DepartmentChemicals, etc. of physics and chemistry, and for repairs of the same, two thousand five hundred dollars.
For purchase of gas and steam machinery; steam-pipe and fittings;Miscellaneous. rent of building for the use of the Academy; freight; cartage; water; music; musical and astronomical instruments; uniforms for the bandsmen; telegraphing; for feed and maintenance of teams; for current expenses and repairs of all kinds; and for incidental labor and expenses not applicable to any other appropriation, thirty-four thousand six hundred dollars. For stores in the departments’ steam-enginery, eight hundred dollars.
For materials for repairs in steam-machinery, one thousand dollars. 432 MARINE CORPS.Marine Corps. For pay of officers on the active-list, as follows: For one colonel commandant,Pay of officers on active-list. one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, one adjutant and inspector, one quartermaster, one paymaster, four majors, two assistant quartermasters, one judge advocate-general United States Navy, nineteen captains, thirty first lieutenants, and twenty-two second lieutenants, one hundred and eighty-five thousand two hundred and forty dollars.
For pay of officers on the retired list: For one colonel, three majors,Officers on retired-list. two assistant quartermasters, four captains, and three second lieutenants, twenty-seven thousand three hundred and fifteen dollars. For pay of non commissioned officers, musicians, and privates: ForNon-commissioned officers and privates. one sergeant-major, one quartermaster-sergeant, one leader of the band, and one drum-major, fifty first sergeants, one hundred and forty sergeants, one hundred and eighty corporals, thirty musicians, ninety-six drummers and fliers, and one thousand five hundred privates, three hundred and eighty nine thousand and fifty two dollars.
For ten clerks and two messengers, sixteen thousand and thirty-fiveClerks, messengers, etc. dollars; payments to discharged soldiers for clothing undrawn, twenty thousand dollars; transportation of officers travelling under orders without troops, eight thousand dollars; commutation of quarters for officers where there are no public buildings, four thousand dollars; in all, forty-eight thousand and thirty-five dollars. For provisions for the Marine Corps, and for difference between costProvisions. of rations and commutation thereof for detailed men, sixty thousand dollars.
For clothing, seventy-seven thousand dollars.Clothing.Fuel.Stores. For fuel, eighteen thousand dollars. For military stores, namely: For pay of one chief armorer, at three dollars per day; three mechanics, at two dollars and fifty cents per day each; purchase of military equipments, such as cartridge-boxes, bayonet-scabbards, haversacks, blanket bags, canteens, musket-slings, swords, flags, knapsacks, spare parts for repairing muskets, drums, fifes, bugles, and other instruments, five thousand dollars; purchase of ammunition, one thousand dollars; purchase and repair of instruments for the band, and purchase of music, five hundred dollars; in all, nine thousand seven hundred and eighty-six dollars and fifty cents.
For transportation of troops and for expenses of recruiting, ten thousandTransportation and recruiting. dollars. For repairs of barracks, and rent of buildings to be used for the manufactureRepairs of barracks. of clothing, stores for supplies, and offices of assistant quartermaster at Philadelphia, and for hire of quarters where there are no public buildings, fourteen thousand five hundred dollars. For forage for four public horses, one for messenger to commandantForage. and staff, Washington, District of Columbia, and three for general use at marine barracks, Mare Island, California, and League Island, Pennsylvania, seven hundred and twenty dollars.
For the purchase of forage, four thousand six hundred and eighty dollars:*Proviso*.Contingencies. *Provided*, That no commutation for forage shall be paid. For contingencies, namely: For freight; ferriage; toll; cartage; funeral expenses of marines; stationery; telegraphing; rent, of telephone; apprehension of deserters; per diem to enlisted men employed on constant labor for periods not less than ten days; repair of gas and water fixtures; office and barrack furniture; mess utensils for enlisted men; packing-boxes; wrapping-paper; oilcloth; crash; rope; twine; carpenter’s tools; tools for police purposes; purchase and repair of hose; repairs to public carryall; purchase and repair of harness; repair of fire-extinguishers; purchase and repair of handcarts and wheelbarrows; purchase and repair of cooking-stoves, ranges, and so forth; stoves where there are no grates; purchase of ice; towels and soap for offices; improving parade grounds; repair of pumps and wharves; laying drain and water pipes; introducing gas; and for other 433 purposes, including gas and oil for marine barracks maintained at the various navy-yards and stations; and water at marine barracks, Boston, Massachusetts;
Brooklyn, New York: Annapolis, Maryland, and Mare Island, California; also straw for bedding for enlisted men at the various posts, and furniture for Government houses; in all, twenty-five thousand dollars. At the Naval Asylum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: For superintendent,Naval Asylum, Philadelphia, Pa. six hundred dollars; steward, four hundred and eighty dollars; matron, three hundred and sixty dollars; chief cook, two hundred and forty dollars; two assistant cooks, one hundred and sixty-eight dollars each; chief laundress, one hundred and ninety-two dollars; six laundresses, at one hundred and sixty-eight dollars each; twelve scrubbers and waiters, at one hundred and sixty-eight dollars each; six laborers, at two hundred and forty dollars each; stable keeper and driver, three hundred and sixty dollars; master-at-arms, four hundred and eighty dollars; corporal, three hundred dollars; barber, three hundred and sixty dollars; carpenter, eight hundred and forty-five dollars; water-rent and gas, two thousand dollars; cemetery and burial expenses, and headstones, three hundred and fifty dollars; improvement of grounds, five hundred dollars; repairs to buildings, and for grates, furnaces, ranges, furniture, and repairs of furniture, four thousand five hundred dollars; and for support of beneficiaries, forty-three thousand five hundred dollars; in all, sixty thousand and sixty-seven dollars, which sum shall be paid out of the income from the naval pension fund.
To enable the President, to strengthen the naval establishment of theAdditional vessels for increase of Navy. United States by additional vessels of the best and most modern design, having the highst attainable speed, the sum of one million eight bun died and ninety-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be expended as follows and under the following limitations: For the construction of two cruisers of not less than three thousandConstruction of cruisers and gunboats.Cost, plans, etc. nor more than five thousand tons displacement, costing, exclusive of armament, not more than one million one hundred thousand dollars each; one heavily armed gunboat of about sixteen hundred tons displacement, costing, exclusive of armament, not more than five hundred and twenty thousand dollars; and one light gunboat of about eight hundred tons displacement, costing, exclusive of armament, not more than two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars; and authority is hereby given for the construction of said four vessels, at not ex ceding the total cost for each above specified, in accordance with such final plan as may be determined upon, after a revision and reconsideration of all designs which have been heretofore made, and in the manner and conformity to the conditions and limitations provided for the construction of the new cruisers in the acts of August fifth, eighteen hundred1802, vol. 32, ch. 391, p. 291.1883, vol. 22, ch. 97, p. 477. and eighty-two, and of March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, except so tar as said acts provide for and define the duties of Naval Advisory Board.
Sec. 2 That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to returnReturn of steamer Alert to England authorized. the Arctic steamer Alert to Her Majesty’s Government, with the thanks of the Government of the United States for the generous and graceful act of courtesy in so promptly tendering the gift of that vessel, and for the valuable service thereby rendered to the cause of science and humanity. Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, directedSteamer Bear to be transferred to Treasury Department; steamer Thetis to be used in the Navy. to transfer to the Treasury Department, for use as a revenue cutter in the waters of Alaska, the steamer Bear, of the late Greeley relief expedition, and is hereby authorized to place the steamer Thetis for use in the Navy, as a surveying vessel or otherwise.
Approved, March 3, 1885.