Chapter 233.
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CHAP. 233.— 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.July 23, 1892. *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 258 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. batteries, five hundred thousand dollars. Sites for fortifications and seacoast defenses: For theSites. procurement of land, or right pertaining thereto, needed for the site, location, construction, or prosecution of work for fortifications and coast defenses, five hundred 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, sixty thousand dollars.
For preparation of plans for fortifications, five thousand dollars.Plans. Armament of fortifications: For finishing and assembling ofArmament. eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch seacoast guns Seacoast guns, Army gun factory.at the army gun factory, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. For eight, ten, and twelve inch guns manufactured by contract underSeacoast guns made by contract. 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, fifty-three thousand dollars.
For necessary expenses, other than for powder and projectiles, incidentTests of guns made by contract. to the test and inspection of the twenty-five eight inch, fifty ten-inch, and twenty-five twelve-inch guns provided under the fortifications Vol. 26. pp. 319. 770.acts of August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and as provided for by said act, ten thousand dollars. For steel field guns of three and two-tenths inch caliber, twenty-fiveSteel field guns. thousand dollars.
For carriages for field-gun batteries, thirty thousand dollars.Carriages. For steel siege breech-loading rifles of five-inch caliber, thirty-fiveSiege breech-loading rifles. thousand dollars. For steel siege breech-loading howitzers of seven-inch caliber, thirty-fiveSteel breech-loading howitzers. thousand dollars. For carriages for siege breech-loading rifles of five-inch caliber, thirtyCarriages. thousand dollars. For carriages for siege breech-loading howitzers of seven-inch caliber, thirty-five thousand dollars.
For alteration of existing carriages for ten-inch and fifteen-inch Altering carnages.smoothbore guns to adapt them to present service conditions, fifty thousand dollars. 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 and projectiles, three thousand dollars. For powder for issue to service, thirty-five thousand dollars.Powder. For projectiles for issue to the service, thirty thousand dollars.Projectiles.
For powders and projectiles for the proof of eight-inch, ten-inch, andPowder, etc., for proofs. twelve-inch guns, twenty thousand 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 fortests. shell, seven thousand five hundred dollars. For steel armor piercing shot for breech loading seacoast guns,Steel shot. fifty thousand dollars.
For purchase and erection of armor plates for testing armor piercingArmor plates for tests. projectiles, sixteen thousand dollars. That the President is hereby authorized to appoint a board, to consistCommission to report on site for gun-plant, etc., Pacific Coast. of three officers of the Army and three officers of the Navy, who shall examine and report to the Secretary of War for transmission to Congress for its consideration what, in their opinion, is the most suitable site on the Pacific Coast or on the rivers or other waters thereof, for the erection of a plant for finishing and assembling the parts of heavy guns and other ordnance for the use of the Army and Navy. 259 That for the payment of the necessary expenses of the board to be appointed under the foregoing provisions the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to procure, by purchase or manufacture, the following, namely: Machine tools and fixtures adapted to the manufacture of steel seacoastWatervliet Arsenal. cannon, to complete the equipment of the south wing of the armyTools, etc., to make steel seacoast cannon gun factory, Watervliet Arsenal. West Troy, New York, the cost of which shall not exceed the sum of three hundred and forty-six thousand six hundred dollars; steel breech-loading rifled seacoast mortars of twelve inchMortars. caliber, the cost of which shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars; oil tempered and annealed steel for high-power coast-defenceSteel for guns. guns of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch caliber, in quality and dimension conforming to specifications, subject to inspection at each stage of the manufacture, and including all the parts of each caliber, the cost of which shall not exceed eight hundred thousand dollars; carriages for breech-loading rifled mortars of twelve-inch caliber, twoCarriages, breech-loading mortars, and guns. hundred thousand dollars; carriages for mounting new steel breech-loading eight, ten, and twelve-inch guns, three hundred thousand dollars, amounting in all to one million seven hundred and forty-six thousand six hundred dollars: *Provided*, That not more than five hundred*Proviso*.
Limit for present year. and seventy thousand dollars of this amount shall be expended for these objects during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, which sum of five hundred and seventy thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. For paving the highway to the extent of the arsenal frontage at theWatervliet Arsenal. Watervliet Arsenal, the sum Paving.of fifteen thousand dollars. For defraying expenses incurred in procuring expert opinions on largeExpert opinions on lathes. lathes for army gun factory, the sum of five hundred and eighty-eight dollars and fifty-three cents is hereby reappropriated, for the objectReappropriation. herein stated, from the sum of two hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars appropriated by the act approved February twenty-fourth, eighteenVol. 26, p. 769. hundred and ninety-one, for machinery, tools, power plant, and fixtures and for the equipment of the south wing of the army gun factory.
Proving Ground Sandy Hook, New Jersey.—For current expensesSandy Hookproving ground. Maintenance, etc. 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, cleaning and grading ranges, twenty-two thousand dollars.
To enable the Secretary of War, in bis discretion, to purchase theAdditional land. land adjoining the Government reservation at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. now belonging to the grantees of the Highland Beach Association of New Jersey, together with the right of way from said land to theRight of way, etc. main line of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, together with the rails, ties, switches, and all the railroad equipment on said lands, twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
For the necessary expenses of ordnance officers while temporarilyExpenses of officers, etc. 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 steam engine and boiler, two thousand dollars.Engine, machinery, trucks, etc. For woodworking machinery, to increase the capacity of carpenter shop, one thousand dollars. 260 For two railway tracks of thirty tons capacity, seven hundred dollars.
For the purchase of railroad tracks, sidings, frogs, and switchesRailroad tracks, etc. (about six miles of track in all), belonging to railroad companies, and now on the United States reservation at Sandy Hook, and for altering, relaying, and repairing the same, for Government use by the Ordnance Department, United States Army, at the United States Proving Ground at Sandy Hook, twenty-six thousand six hundred and seventy-six dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, and the Secretary of War is hereby empowered to purchase from the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, or other owners of said tracks, so much of said tracks as he may deem desirable and advantageous to the United States, and provided that the tracks can be purchased at satisfactory prices.
Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts: For enlargementWatertown Arsenal, Mass. Gun-carriage plant. and improvement of the heavy gun-carriage plant at Water-town Arsenal. Watertown, Massachusetts, one hundred and fifty-one thousand dollars. For fitting up new carpenter and pattern shop, moving and settingNew shop. up machinery and shaftings, including new machines required, nine thousand four hundred dollars. For the following, to be expended under the direct supervision of theBoard of Ordnance and Fortification.
Board of Ordnance and Fortification, created by the fortifications appropriation act approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred Vol. 25, p. 489.and eighty-eight, and in the manner prescribed by said act. namely: Board of Ordnance and Fortification: To enable the board toPurchases, tests, etc. 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 Vol. 25, p. 489.in the proper discharge of the duty devolved upon it by the act approved September twenty-second, eighteen-hundred and eighty-eight;
Civilian member.to pay the salary of the civilian member of the Board of Ordnance and Vol. 20. p. 769.Fortification provided by the act of February twenty-fourth, eighteen Expenses.hundred and ninety-one. and for the necessary traveling expenses of said member when traveling on duty as contemplated in said act; 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, two hundred and ten thousand dollars.
That all material purchased under the foregoing provisions of this actPurchases to be of American manufacture. Exception. 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, July 23, 1892.