Chapter 428. 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. 428.— 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. March 3, 1899. *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: fortifications and other works of defense.Fortifications.
Gun and mortar batteries.For construction of gun and mortar batteries, one million dollars. Transfer to War Department of Admiralty Head light-house reservation, Washing ton.—portion of military reservation to be exchanged.That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to transfer to the War Department, for purposes of the public defense, the present light-house reservation at Admiralty Head, on Admiralty Inlet, in the State of Washington, in exchange for a suitable and sufficient portion of the military reservation at that point, to be mutually agreed upon between the said Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War, which said portion of the military reservation, together with the necessary right of way to permit of access to the same, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to transfer to the Removal of lighthouse.Treasury Department for light-house purposes; and the Secretary of War is further authorized and directed to remove the light house and other buildings and structures pertaining to the light-house station from —reestablishment on new site.their present location and to reerect and establish them complete and ready for service on the new site to be selected therefor as herein provided, or to erect new buildings and structures in lieu of those which can not be so moved, as may be found necessary in accordance with plans and details to be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War, the cost thereof, not exceeding eight thousand dollars, to be defrayed from funds appropriated for gun and mortar batteries.
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, two thousand five hundred 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, and continuing torpedo experiments, fifty thousand dollars. FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 428. 1899. 1251 armament of fortifications.Armament. For finishing and assembling coast-defense guns of eight-inch, ten-inch,Coast-defense guns.
Army Gun Factory and twelve-inch caliber, and one type sixteen-inch gun, at the Army Gun Factory, two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. For oil-tempered and annealed steel for high-power coast-defenseSteel. guns of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch caliber, five hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars: *Provided,* That no contract for oil-tempered*Provisos.*Maximum price per pound. and annealed steel for high-power coast-defense guns and mortars shall be made at a price exceeding twenty-two cents per pound: *Provided,* That in the discretion of the Secretary of War a portion of this moneySteel-wire seacoast guns. may be used for the purchase of material for steel-wire seacoast guns.
For construction of one eighteen-inch Gathmann gun, sixty-five thousandGathmann gun. dollars. For powder and projectiles for test of eighteen-inch Gathmann gun, ten thousand dollars. For purchase or manufacture of carriages for coast-defense guns ofCarriages. eight, ten, and twelve inch calibers, one hundred and ninety-nine thousand five hundred dollars. For purchase or manufacture of steel breech-loading mortars of twelve-inchSteel breech-loading mortars. caliber, three hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars.
For purchase or manufacture of carriages for steel breech-loadingCarriages. coast-defense mortars of twelve-inch caliber, one hundred and seventy-one thousand two hundred dollars. For powders and projectiles for a reserve supply for armament ofReserve supply, powder, etc. fortifications, seven hundred and ten thousand dollars. For rapid-fire guns, including their mounts and ammunition, one hundredRapid-fire guns. and sixty-three thousand dollars. For coast-defense guns of eight, ten, and twelve inch caliber, manufacturedContract guns. by contract under the provisions of the fortifications ActsVol. 26, pp. 319, 770. approved August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, three hundred and twenty-seven thousand one hundred and two dollars.
For necessary expenses, other than for powder for projectiles, incident to the test and inspection of the twenty-five eight-inch, fifty ten-inch, and twenty-five twelve-inch guns provided under the fortifications Acts of August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and as provided for by said Act of February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, five thousand 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, twenty-one thousand dollars.
For powder and projectiles for the proof of twelve-inch breech loading mortars, twenty-five thousand two hundred dollars. For purchase and erection of armor plates for testing armor-piercingArmor-piercing tests. shot, twenty-five thousand dollars. For armament chests for siege and seacoast cannon, ten thousandTools, etc. dollars. For machine guns of caliber thirty, Army model, including metallicGuns of caliber thirty, etc. carriages, with limbers and protective shields complete for same, one hundred thousand dollars.
For amount required to complete the payment for ten Sims-DudleySims-Dudley dynamite guns. dynamite guns ordered by the Chief of Ordnance under instructions from the Secretary of War, dated June twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, five thousand five hundred dollars. For range finders for coast defense, twenty-six thousand dollars.Range finders. For implements and equipments for service, and for care and preservationCare, etc. of seacoast armament mounted or in process of being mounted in seacoast batteries, sixty thousand dollars.
For carriages for steel field guns, one hundred and seventy-eightCarriages for field guns. thousand dollars. For sights for cannon, twenty-six thousand dollars.Sights, fuses, and primers. For fuses and primers for cannon, thirty-five thousand dollars. 1252 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 428. 1899. Inspecting instruments.For inspecting instruments, gauges, and templets for the manufacture of cannon and projectiles, three thousand dollars. Investigation smokeless powder, etc.For the services of a chemist in investigating properties of smokeless powders and high explosives, with a view to improving same for adoption in service, one thousand five hundred dollars. 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 expenses incident to the transportation of men and material therefor, 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, thirty-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. watervliet arsenal, west troy, new york.Watervliet Arsenal.
For purchase and erection of two dynamos for electric-lighting plant, one thousand four hundred dollars. board of ordnance and fortification.Board of Ordnance and Fortification. Purchases.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 necessary in the proper discharge of the duty devolved upon it by the Act Vol. 25, p. 489.approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight;
Civilian member.to pay the salary of the civilian member of the Board of Ordnance Vol. 26, p. 769.and Fortification provided by the Act of February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for the necessary traveling expenses of said member when traveling on duty as contemplated in said Act; for the payment of the necessary expenses of the board, Expenses.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 Fortification, one hundred thousand *Proviso.*Right to use inventions.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 United States to make purchases in limited quantities abroad, which material shall be admitted free of duty. Approved, March 3, 1899.