Chapter 136. making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, for the Armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 136.— An Act making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, for the Armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other purposes.February 18, 1893. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Fortifications appropriations. That the sums of money herein provided for be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be available until expended, namely:
Gun and Mortar Batteries: For construction of gun and mortarGun and mortar batteries. platforms, fifty thousand dollars. Sites for Fortifications and Seacoast Defenses: For the procurementSites. of land, or right pertaining thereto, needed for the site, location, construction, or prosecution of work for fortifications and coast defenses, One hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. Preservation and Repair of Fortifications: For the protection,Preservation, etc. preservation, and repair of fortifications for which there may be no special appropriation available, forty-five thousand dollars.
For preparation of plans for fortifications, five thousand dollars.Plans.Armament.Sea coast guns, army gun factory. Armament of Fortifications: For finishing and assembling eight-inch, ten-inch and twelve-inch seacoast guns at the army gun factory, One hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. For eight, ten, and twelve inch guns manufactured by contract underContract guns.Vol. 26, pp. 319, 770. the provisions of the fortifications acts approved August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, seventeen thousand two hundred and forty-two dollars.
For steel field guns of three and two-tenths inch caliber, fifteen thousandSteel field guns. dollars. For carriages for field-gun batteries, thirty thousand dollars.Carriages.Altering carriages. For alteration of existing carriages for ten inch and fifteen-inch smoothbore guns to adapt them to present service conditions, fifty thousand dollars. To enable the Board of Ordnance and Fortification to procure andElevating carriage.Design of A. H. Emery. test one twelve-inch elevating carriage of A.
H. Emery’s design, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, of the several sums available for allotment by the Board of Ordnance and Fortification for experimental and other purposes under the several “Acts making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, tor the armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other Vol. 25, pp. 489, 887.Vol. 20, pp. 318, 769.Ante, p. 259.purposes, which several acts were approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, February fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and July twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-two. and this act, all of which sums are hereby set aside to the extent necessary and made available and Contract.continued in force for this purpose; and the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to contract, without advertising, with 459 A.
H. Emery for this carriage, and test it, the same to be built, erected, and tested, for a sum not exceeding one hundred and thirty thousandMaximum cost. dollars, which price shall cover the cost of the carriage erected, and including all the powder and projectiles necessary for its preliminary test by the contractor and the fifty additional rounds for proof, to be fired under the direction of said Board of Ordnance and Fortification, and in the presence of the said Board and the inventor, or his authorized agent, due regard being paid to suggestions offered by him with regard to the making of such test; said price also to cover all such repairs, if any, as may become necessary to have the whole carriage in good working order after the test of fifty rounds for proof.
It shall be constructed on the general plans put before the Board by A. H. Emery, and described by him in his letters to the Board under dates of November sixteenth, and December twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three. For the purpose of facilitating the more ready, satisfactory, and quickConstruction. construction of this carriage, and its foundations, the inventor is at liberty to make any and all changes in the design and specifications for and the construction of this carriage, at any time on or before the completion of the tests, which he thinks are desirable for the utility and use of this carriage or repetitions thereof, or which will facilitate the early completion and successful test of this carriage, which changes or alterations shall all be made at his expense; but no such changes shall be made which will render the carriage unable to fulfill all the requirements set forth by the Board as necessary to be observed and maintained for the construction and use of this carriage and its foundations in their letters to the inventor of dates August seventeenth and November seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two. fixing the engineering conditions, which must be fulfilled and observed in constructing the carriage and its foundations, unless such changes are sanctioned by the Board.
Of the price of this contract one hundred and ten thousand dollars shall be for the carriage and foundations erected, including all changes and repairs, and twenty thousand dollars shall be paid the contractor for the preliminary testing of the carriage and the powder and projectiles to be furnished by him for the fifty rounds of proof tests. Of the one hundred and ten thousand dollars to be paid for the carriagePayments. and its foundations sixty per centum shall be paid in partial payments as the work progresses, in accordance with the proposals submitted by A.
II. Emery to the Board in his letter of January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three. Before advancing any part of this sixty per centum, the contractor shall furnish bonds satisfactory to the Secretary of War for the return of this money if the carriage is not accepted. The balance of the one hundred and ten thousand dollars shall be paid as soon as the test is completed and the work found to be done according to contract. Of the twenty thousand dollars to be paid for the testing of the carriage, three-eights shall be paid the contractor when the preliminary tests are completed, and the other five-eighths shall be paid to him proportionally as the fifty rounds for proof are fired.
Should any damage be done to the carriage during these tests by theDamages to carriage. bursting or overloading of the gun which is being fired thereon, or by other guns or projectiles being tested such damage shall be made good to the contractor by the Government. This carriage shall raise the gun from loading to firing positionRequirements. fourteen feet, and shall be able to train the gun for firing at all angles of elevation from minus five degrees elevation to twenty degrees elevation, and to have an all-round fire of three hundred and sixty degrees.
For sights for cannon, and for fuses, five thousand dollars.Sights and fuses. For inspecting instruments, gauges, and templets, for the manufactureInspecting instruments. of cannon, three thousand dollars. For powder for issue to service, thirty-five thousand dollars.Powder. 460 For projectiles for issue to the service, thirty thousand dollars.Powder and projectiles. For powders and projectiles for the proof of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch guns, thirty thousand dollars.
For powder and projectiles for proof of twelve-inch breech-loading mortars, four thousand six hundred and sixty-three dollars. For steel deck-piercing shell for twelve-inch breech-loading mortars,Steel shells. thirty thousand dollars. For purchase and erection of steel plates for the test of deck-piercingSteel plates for tests. shell, seven thousand five hundred dollars. For steel armor-piercing shot for breech-loading seacoast guns, fortySteel shot. thousand dollars. For purchase and erection of armor plates for testing armor-piercingArmor plates for tests. shot, sixteen thousand dollars.
To provide for payments that may become due in the purchase orWatervliet Arsenal.Tools, etc. manufacture of machine tools and fixtures to complete the equipment of the south wing of the army gun factory, Watervliet Arsenal, West Mortars.Steel for guns.Carriages.Troy, New York; steel breech-loading rifled seacoast mortars of twelve-inch caliber; oil-tempered and annealed steel for high-power coast-defense guns of eight, ten, and twelve-inch caliber; carriages for breech-loading rifled mortars of twelve inch caliber, and carriages for mounting new steel breech-loading eight, ten, and twelve-inch guns, procured *Ante*, p. 250.under the provisions of the fortifications act approved July twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, said payments being in excess of the money therein appropriated for these objects, seven hundred and *Proviso*.Limit.fifty thousand dollars: *Provided*, That the total amount expended for each of these said objects shall not exceed the amount specified therefor in the said act.
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to procure,Steel for coast defense guns. by purchase or manufacture, the following, namely: Oil-tempered and annealed steel for high-power coast defense guns of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch caliber, in quality and dimensions conforming to specifications, subject to inspection at each stage of manufacture, and including all parts of each caliber, the cost of which shall not exceed six hundred thousand dollars; Carriages for breech-loading rifled mortars of twelve-inch caliber,Carriages, breech-loading mortars and guns. one hundred thousand dollars;
Carriages for mounting new steel breech-loading eight, ten, and twelve-inch guns, two hundred thousand dollars; In all nine hundred thousand dollars: *Provided*, That not more than*Proviso*.Limit for fiscal year. four hundred thousand dollars of this amount shall be expended in the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four: which sum of four hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise, appropriated.
Proving Ground, Sandy Hook, New Jersey: For current expensesSandy Hook proving ground.Maintenance. and maintenance of the ordnance proving ground, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, including general repairs and alterations, and accessories incidental to testing and proving ordnance, including hire of assistants for the Ordnance Board, skilled mechanical labor, purchase of instruments and other supplies, building and repairing butts and targets, clearing and grading ranges, twenty-two thousand dollars.
For the necessary expenses of ordnance officers while temporarilyExpenses of officers. employed at the proving ground and absent from their proper stations, at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per diem while so employed, and the compensation of draftsmen while employed in the Army Ordnance Bureau on ordnance construction, nine thousand five hundred dollars. For one locomotive engine, three thousand five hundred dollars.Locomotive.Watertown Arsenal.Gun-carriage plant. Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts:
For completing enlargement and improvement of the heavy gun-carriage plant at Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts, ninety-six thousand six hundred and fifty dollars. 461 Watervliet Arsenal, West Troy, New York: For paving theWatervliet Arsenal.Paving. highway to the extent of the arsenal frontage at the Watervliet Arsenal, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars; For electric-lighting plant, including a new turbine station for drivingElectric plant. dynamos, twenty-five thousand dollars.
For the following, to be expended under the direct supervision ofBoard of Ordnance and Fortification.Vol. 25, p. 489. the Hoard of Ordnance and Fortification, created by the fortifications appropriation act approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and in the manner prescribed by said act, namely: Board of Ordnance and Fortification: To enable the BoardPurchases, tests, etc. to make all needful and proper purchases, experiments, and tests to ascertain, with a view to their utilization by the Government, the most effective guns, small arms, cartridges, projectiles, fuses, explosives, torpedoes, armor plates, and other implements, and engines of war, and to purchase or cause to be manufactured, under authority of the Secretary of War, such guns, carriages, Armor plates, and other war materials and articles as may, in the judgment of the Board, be necessary in the proper discharge of the duty devolved upon it by the act approved SeptemberVol. 25, p. 489. twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight; to pay the salaries of the civilian members of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification,Civilian members.Expenses. and for the necessary traveling expenses of said members when traveling on duty; for payment of the necessary expenses of the Board, including a per diem allowance to each officer detailed to serve thereon, when employed on duty away from his permanent station, of two dollars and fifty cents a day; and for the test of experimental guns and carriages procured in accordance with the recommendations of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars; *Provided*, That hereafter no person shall be a member of or serve on*Proviso*.No member to be interested in device, etc., before Board. said Board who has been or is in any manner interested in any invention, device, or patent which, or anything similar to which, has been considered or may be considered by or come before said Board for test or adoption; or who is connected with or in the employ of any manufacturer who has or shall have contracts with the United States for any ordnance materials.
That all material purchased under the foregoing provisions of thisPurchases to be of American manufacture.Exception. act shall be of American manufacture, except in cases when, in the judgment of the Secretary of War, it is to the manifest interest of the United States to make purchases in limited quantities abroad, which material shall be admitted free of duty. Approved, February 18, 1893.