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says have been presented, which were forwarded to the judges on the seventh of January. The judges have been requested to specify only the most deserving essay.

From a pecuniary point of view, it is desirable to diminish somewhat, the number of papers, and at the same time to increase the interest felt by members, in participation in the proceedings. I therefore recommend that a plan of general discussion on the same subject, in the Institute and its Branches at the same time, be adopted by the Executive Committee, so that original papers may be presented in certain months, and general discussion on fixed professional subjects take place on the alternate months.

JOHN C. SOLEY, Secretary.

GENTLEMEN:

TREASURER'S REPORT.

U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE. Annapolis, Md., Jan'y 7th, 1880.

I beg leave to submit the enclosed report of the receipts and expenditures of the Institute, from Jan'y 7, 1879, to Jan'y 7, 1880; and in connection therewith, I would state that there are 378 names borne on the books of the Treasurer, 10 of which are over two years in arrears; and by the Constitution will be dropped from this date; thus leaving

368 paying members, at $3.00 7 associate

giving a total income of

1.00

$ 1,104

7

$1,111

There is now in the printer's hands work to the amount of (probably) nearly $300.00. And there is the coming "Prize Essay" and Medal to provide for, to, the amount of $150.00; which will leave in hand only about $75.00 of the $ 525.70 shown in the tabulated report.

It will be seen that during the year past the amount expended for printing, (when paid for) will be nearly $ 1,185.00, which amounts to nearly the whole income of the Institute; leaving comparatively nothing for other expenses; the only way this was provided for in 1879, was by the surplus which had accumulated, on account of the yearly dues being $5.00 (instead of $3.00), and the small number of papers printed in previous years; it is therefore evident that, on account of the reduction of the yearly dues, and the greatly increased number of papers offered, (the number of members having largely increased) there must be some rule in regard to what papers shall be published; as it will be impossible to print, hereafter, as many as were printed in 1879, because during this year some $ 350.00 was expended for this purpose, more than the present income of the Institute will warrant.

Respectfully,

JAMES P. SPRAGUE,

Treasurer U. S. N. I.

AMOUNTS RECEIVED

by the Treasurer of the U. S. Naval Institute, from Jan'y 7th, 1879, to

Jan'y 7th, 1880, inclusive.

From the former Treasurer, W. T. Sampson,

For dues received at Annapolis,

$439 34

644 85

dues received from Wash't'n Branch, J. H. Moore, Sec'y,

505 00

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Bills paid for Printing Committee,

Am't paid for " Prize Essay" and Medal, A. D. Brown,

For postage on Proceedings, Stamps and Wrappers,

freight on Proceedings and Papers,

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"Services of I. Glynn, to former Secretary and Treasurer,

Cash in hands of Treasurer to balance,

$885 62

150 00

93 95

36 30

25 15

66 45

6 77

10 50

15 00

$1,289 74

525 70

$1,815 44

NOTE-Jan'y 20th, 1880. Since the Annual Report the number of members has been increased by thirty-nine; as follows:

Associate members 10, Boston Branch 21, South Pacific 17, Annapolis 1, total, 49.

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Commander S. D. AMES, U.S. N., in the chair.

OUR RIFLED ORDNANCE,

BY LIEUT. H. W. LYON, U. S. N.

MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN :—

My endeavor in this paper will be to lay before you the efforts that have been made during the past few years by the Ordnance Bureau of the Navy Department to increase the efficiency of our ordnance; and to discuss the results attained in the three types of guns now being issued for service. These are the 8 inch M. L. R., converted from XI inch S. B., the breech loading rifles converted from Parrott M. L. R., of the same calibre, and the 3 inch steel B. L. Howitzer.

Undoubtedly we are very far behind the great military nations of Europe in the production of heavy rifled guns, and this paper will entirely omit the consideration of smooth-bores, but there have been and still are, many reasons, entirely beyond the control of our ordnance officers, why, since the late war, we have remained almost at a stand-still. It has simply been a question of want of money, and it is not necessary to more than hint at some of the reasons why money has been withheld; the national debt with which the country became burdened, and which at first seemed so overwhelming, the eager set of the people to return to the paths of peace, to renew the suspended, and to rebuild the broken branches of trade and industry, the general feeling that war, for this generation, and probably the next, was a thing of the past; the pressure of tax payers on their representatives to reduce

all expenses; and other causes equally apparent have tended to a neglect of our armament on land and sea, and have resulted in that starvation policy regarding ships and ordnance which we feel so keenly. It is well when the question arises, as it so often will, "Why are we not making guns to compete with those of the greater foreign powers?" to weigh all these things carefully and to assign the blame where it justly belongs.

Working along with what little money could be obtained, but mostly with the proceeds of the sale of old material, the Ordnance Bureau, has converted upwards of fifty XI inch S. B., into 8 inch M. L. R., by lining with coiled wrought iron tubes, a number of 100 pdr. and 60 pdr. Parrotts into 80 pdr. and 60 pdr. B. L. R. by inserting a short. steel tube from the breech, and has introduced a steel B. L. Howitzer of 3 inch caliber. I will take up these guns in turn, as being improvements on our ordnance of five years ago, and call your attention to what there is to be said in their favor. I do not by any means advocate resting satisfied with these guns. What I wish to say is this; if it be impossible to get appropriations to manufacture guns such as are developing such wonderful power abroad, but if at the same time we can get just enough, either by appropriation or sale of useless material, to improve any old guns already on hand, it would seem clearly our duty to do so. It is a decided, if not a long, step in the right direction. It is what we see being done in a greater or less degree in all the constructive bureaus, and although we may, in our natural eagerness to compete with the most advanced nations in all matters relating to our naval economy, chafe at and hastily condemn as "makeshifts" all utilizatious of old types of guns, ships or engines, still, we must allow that it is better than doing nothing at all. It is certainly making an advance, doing our best under embarrassments, and at the same time showing ourselves worthy of greater trusts in the future. It is indisputably better than sitting down with folded hands to await the dawn of a new era that, in coming, would find us totally unprepared to cope with its responsibilities.

Keeping in view, then, the rigid economy forced upon the Ordnance Bureau, we find that the conversion of the XI inch, S. B., into 8 inch R. was attended with little of the expense inseparable from a new or experimental type of gun. It was, in fact, no longer an experiment, but demonstrable by theory, and proved by exhaustive trials in England, and satisfactory experiments at Sandy Hook, by our Army Ordnance officers, that a cast iron gun could be lined with a wrought iron

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