Chapter 248. 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
1,451 words·~7 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-30/chapter-248-1863600·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 248.— 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. May 7, 1898. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Fortifications appropropriations. 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: fortifications and other works of defense.Fortifications, etc.
Gun and mortar batteries.For construction of gun and mortar batteries, three million dollars. Sites.For the procurement of land, or right pertaining thereto, needed for the site, location, construction, or prosecution of works, for fortifications and coast defenses, three hundred thousand dollars. Repairs.For the protection, preservation, and repair of fortifications for which there may be no special appropriation available, one hundred thousand dollars. Plans.For preparation of plans for fortifications, five thousand dollars.
Sea walls, etc.For construction of sea walls and embankments, fifty-five thousand dollars. Mines, etc.For the purchase of submarine mines and necessary appliances to operate them for closing the channels leading to our principal seaports, needful casemates, cable galleries, and so forth, to render it possible to operate submarine mines, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. armament of fortifications.Armament. Coast-defense guns, Army Gun Factory.For finishing and assembling coast-defense guns of eight-inch, ten. inch, and twelve-inch caliber, and one type sixteen-inch gun, at the Army Gun Factory, three hundred and eleven thousand five hundred dollars. —steel.For oil-tempered and annealed steel for high-power coast-defense guns of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve inch caliber, three hundred and *Provisos.*—maximum price per pound.sixty-nine thousand five hundred dollars: *Provided,* That no contract for oil-tempered and annealed steel for high power coast-defense guns and mortars shall be made at a price exceeding twenty-three cents per Steel-wire seacoast guns.pound: *Provided,* That in the discretion of the Secretary of War, a portion of this money may be used for the purchase of material for steel-wire seacoast guns.
FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 248. 1898. 401 For purchase or manufacture of carriages for coast-defense guns ofCarriages. eight, ten, and twelve inch calibers, seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. For purchase or manufacture of steel breech-loading mortars ofSteel breech-loading mortars. twelve-inch caliber, one million one hundred and eighty-seven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. For purchase or manufacture of carriages for steel breech-loading—carriages. coast-defense mortars of twelve-inch caliber, five hundred and fifty-one thousand two hundred dollars.
For powders and projectiles for a reserve supply for armament ofReserve supply powder, etc. fortifications, nine hundred and fifty thousand six hundred and eighteen dollars. For rapid-fire guns, including their mounts, five hundred and forty-fiveRapid-fire guns. thousand seven hundred and twenty-five dollars. For coast-defense guns of eight, ten, and twelve inch caliber, manufacturedContract guns.Vol. 26, pp. 319, 770. by contract under the pro visions of the fortifications acts approved August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, two hundred and twenty-four thousand six hundred and fifty-six dollars.
For powders and projectiles for the proof of coast-defense guns ofAmmunition for proof of guns. eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch caliber, forty thousand dollars. For powder and projectiles for the proof of twelve-inch breech-loading—mortars. mortars, twenty-six thousand dollars. For armor plates and deck plates for the test of armor-piercing andArmor-piercing tests. deck-piercing projectiles, twenty-four thousand dollars. For armament chests, including tools for coast-defense guns andTools, etc. mortars, twenty-six thousand dollars.
For metallic carriages for machine guns, calibers thirty and forty-five,Carriages, machine guns. model eighteen hundred and ninety, with limbers and protective shields complete, one hundred and thirty-one thousand nine hundred and eighty dollars. miscellaneous items.Miscellaneous. For steel field guns, ninety thousand dollars.Steel field guns. For carriages for steel field guns, seventy-seven thousand three hundred—carriages. dollars. For breech-loading rifles, siege, of five-inch caliber, eleven thousandBreech-loading rifles, siege. dollars.
For breech-loading rifled howitzers, siege, of seven-inch caliber, eleven—howitzers. thousand two hundred dollars. For carriages for breech-loading rifles, siege, of five-inch caliber,—carriages. including implements and equipments, twenty thousand dollars. For carriages for breech-loading howitzers, siege, of seven-inch caliber, including implements and equipments, twenty thousand dollars. For breech-loading mortars, siege, of seven-inch caliber, ten thousandBreech-loading mortars, siege. dollars.
For carriages and platforms for seven-inch breech-loading mortars,—carriages, etc. siege, including implements and equipments, eleven thousand dollars. For sights for cannon, three thousand dollars.Sights, fuses, and primers. For fuses and primers for cannon, three thousand five hundred dollars. For inspecting instruments, gauges, and templets for the manufactureInspecting instruments, etc. of cannon and projectiles, three thousand dollars. For powder for issue to the service, fifty-three thousand seven hundredPowder. and thirty-five dollars.
For projectiles, including shrapnel, for issue to the service, forty-oneProjectiles. thousand dollars. For the services of a chemist in investigating properties of smokelessInvestigation smokeless powder, etc. powders and high explosives, with a view to improving same for adoption in service, one thousand five hundred dollars. 402 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 248. 1898. proving ground, sandy hook, new jersey.Sandy Hook proving ground. Maintenance.For current expenses 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 repairingbutts and targets, clearing and grading ranges, twenty-seven thousand dollars.
Expenses of officers.For the necessary expenses of officers while temporarily employed on ordnance duties 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, sixteen thousand dollars. Repair of railroad tracks.For repairs of railroad tracks connecting the proving ground with the Central Railroad of New Jersey, three thousand dollars. watertown arsenal, watertown, massachusetts.Watertown Arsenal.
Gun-carriage plant.For enlargement and improvement of gun-carriage plant, including the purchase of such machine tools as may be necessary, sixty-five thousand dollars. Brick storehouse.For one brick storehouse for the storage of gun carriages, fifteen thousand nine hundred dollars. watervliet arsenal, west troy, new york.Watervliet Arsenal. New machinery, etc.For new machinery, tools, and fixtures, and alteration and improvement of same, twenty-six thousand dollars. Grounds.For filling and grading grounds, construction of necessary roads and covering the same with granite paving, two thousand dollars. board of ordnance and fortification.Board of Ordnance and Fortification.
Purchases, etc.To enable the board 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 material as may, in the judgment of the board, be necessaryVol. 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. 26, p. 769.Fortification provided by the Act of February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for the necessary traveling expenses of Expenses.said member when traveling on duty as contemplated in said Act; for the 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, carriages, and other devices procured in accordance with the recommendation of the Board of Ordnance and *Proviso.*Right to use inventions.Fortification, one hundred thousand dollars: *Provided,* That before any money shall be expended in the construction or test of any gun, gun carriage, ammunition, or implements under the supervision of the said board, the board shall be satisfied, after due inquiry, that the Government of the United States has a lawful right to use the inventions involved in the construction of such gun, gun carriage, ammunition, or implements, or that the construction or test is made at the request of a person either having such lawful right or authorized to convey the same to the Government.
Purchases to be of American manufacture.Exception.That all material purchased under the foregoing provisions of this 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 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Chs. 248, 249, 290. 1898. 403 United States to make purchases in limited quantities abroad, which material shall be admitted free of duty. Approved, May 7, 1898.