thousand when he is ready to put in the foundation for this carriage, and the other five thousand when he is ready to erect the carriage for its preliminary test. In the latter part of 1908 Mr. Emery constructed a railroad track connecting the site selected for his carriage at Fort Hancock with the Sandy Hook proving ground railroad. This track was used for the transportation of material for the construction of the concrete foundations for the carriage. Under the provisions of the act of May 27, 1908, Mr. Emery was paid $5,000 for the completion of this work, since which time no further deliveries have been made. Of the $114,343.02 available for the execution of the present contract with Mr. Emery for his carriage, $100,811.51 has been paid him. There may be added to the $114,000 mentioned above the sum of $135,656.98 paid under the first contract, which was canceled by congressional authority, so that the total amount authorized has been a quarter of a million dollars. Of this sum there remains to be paid Mr. Emery $13,531.51, or slightly more than 5 per cent of the total amount authorized. In its last annual report the Board stated that 18 years had elapsed since the construction of a carriage of Mr. Emery's design was first authorized. Little can be added to this except to say that the second decade is drawing to a close since Mr. Emery first undertook the work of developing a suitable gun carriage. In this 20 years other designs have been developed, served their time in the coast defenses, and been superseded by more perfect appliances, while Mr. Emery's work is still uncompleted. RANGE FINDERS. April 4, 1912, an allotment of $1,000 was made for the purchase of a Barr & Stroud field artillery range finder. This instrument is similar in principle to the fortress range finder manufactured by the same firm and now in use in our coast defenses. The allotment has not been expended, but an instrument has been furnished and is under test by the Field Artillery Board. RANGE AND AZIMUTH TRANSMITTERS. Barr & Stroud range and azimuth transmitter.-July 26, 1910, the Board made an allotment of $800 for the purchase and delivery at Fort Monroe of a range and azimuth transmitter designed by Barr & Stroud. As the result of exhaustive tests in competition with other instruments the device has been adopted for use in transmission of ranges and azimuths in mortar batteries and of ranges in gun batteries in all cases where mechanical transmission is impracticable. Gray type-printing telegraph.-July 7, 1910, the Board made an allotment of $727.50 for the purchase of a type-printing telegraph manufactured by the Gray National Telautograph Co., but as the result of tests it was finally recommended that the device be not adopted for service. ARTILLERY DEVICES. Portable searchlight for field artillery.-October 4, 1906, the Board made an allotment of $6,500 for the development of a portable search light for use with the field artillery. On October 3, 1907, the allotment was further increased $4,500 for the same purpose and to cover the expenses of test, including such alterations as the test might show to be desirable. The development of the outfit met with many difficulties, but it was finally completed and delivered in June, 1910, and was then sent to the maneuver camps at Gettysburg and Pine Plains for practical test under service conditions. An unexpended balance of $1,110.36 from the allotments was revoked on June 2, 1910. The outfit is now in the hands of the Field Artillery Board for tactical test. Waldron searchlight controller.-On May 2, 1912, an allotment of $750 was made for the construction of an experimental searchlight controller of a design submitted by Capt. A. E. Waldron, Corps of Engineers. The work of construction is proceeding under his super vision. MISCELLANEOUS. Mobile artillery targets.―December 1, 1910, the Board made an allotment of $5,000 for experimentation at the School of Fire for Field Artillery with the German system of mobile artillery target practice. Tests have been in progress for the past two seasons, but so far only a preliminary report has been submitted. Observation cart for field artillery.-November 3, 1910, an allotment of $3,500 was made for the purchase and delivery in New York City of an observation cart for field artillery of the latest design manufactured by Officino Galileo, of Florence, Italy. There was some hesitancy on the part of the manufacturers in entering into an agreement to furnish this device on account of their contracts with the Italian Government, and after considerable correspondence the allotment was revoked on January 4, 1912. Fontanamast.-On March 2, 1911, an allotment was made of $3,500 for the purchase and delivery of a field artillery observing platform, known as the Fontanamast, a German invention. The device has been received and is undergoing test by the Field Artillery Board, but no report has been received. Roof structures.-August 23, 1910, an allotment of $5,000 was made for conducting a series of firings at various types of roof structures for range-finder stations, with a view to determining the most suitable construction that will avoid or lessen the effect of exploding hostile shells. A change in the design of fire-control stations rendered this test unnecessary, and on June 6, 1912, the allotment was revoked. Hayden panoramic sketching case.-An allotment of $200 was made December 1, 1910, for construction of a panoramic sketching case designed by Lieut. Herbert Hayden, Fourth Field Artillery. A type instrument was made and turned over to Lieut. Hayden for experimental development, after which it was tested at the engineer school at Washington Barracks. The results of this test were not entirely conclusive and the instrument was then sent to Fort Leavenworth, where it was tested by the field engineer school. result of this test it was decided that the device is unsuited to the military service on account of being bulky, delicate, and expensive, the results obtained not being sufficient to overcome the defects. Deport field gun.-An allotment of $15,000 was made on December 7, 1911, for the purchase and test of a Deport field gun, carriage, limber, and ammunition. This gun is the invention of Col. Deport, of the French Army. Its distinguishing feature is the carriage, which has a split trail that enables the gun to be fired with wide angles of azimuth without moving the carriage and also at considerable elevation. The material has been delivered and is now under test at the Sandy Hook proving ground, after which it will be tested by the Field Artillery. Deport mountain gun.-The manufacturers of the Deport field gun offered to submit for test at the same time a differential recoil mountain gun, which is also under test at Sandy Hook, the expense of test to be covered by the allotment of $15,000 referred to in previous paragraph. ESTIMATES FOR THE COMING YEAR. The Board has submitted to the Secretary of War for transmission to Congress an estimate for $10,000 to carry on its work for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914. It is recommended that the appropriation be made in a single amount as heretofore. This estimate is sufficient to provide only for the running expenses of the Board for the year, as it is believed the balance on hand from prior appropriations will be sufficient to cover such expenditures as may be necessary for the experimental work with the conduct of which the Board is charged. No extensive experiments are in contemplation, and until the necessity arises the Board refrains from submitting estimates to cover problematical expenditures. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. On July 1, 1910, the books of the Board showed a balance available of $133,865.77, which included $10,000 appropriated by act of March 2, 1889, for submarine torpedoes, and $1,203.61, appropriated August 18, 1890, for purchases abroad. This left $123,865.77 available for general expenditures. There was appropriated $25,000 and revoked from prior allotments $11,086.79, making the book balance $159,952.56. A careful examination of the records of the War Department made during the year disclosed errors in the financial statements in the earlier reports of the Board. Correction of these mistakes resulted in a deduction of $6,264.52 from the reported balance. This search also disclosed two small balances of $636.22 and $593.39 from appropriations made in 1888 and 1890 and still available. The sum of $14,775, which was reported for return to the Treasury several years ago, was found not to have been returned. It was part of an appropriation made March 2, 1889, for movable submarine torpedoes. The books of the Board showed $10,000 available for the same purpose, and the whole amount, $24,775, was returned to the Treasury to the credit of the war surplus fund. The errors mentioned as corrected were simply in bookkeeping and do not affect the actual Treasury balance. The total of allotments, expenditures, and corrections in the general fund was $42,057.22, leaving a balance of $117,895.34 for continuing the work of the Board, and $1,229.61 for special purposes. LEONARD WOOD, Major General, Chief of Staff, President of the Board. Brigadier General, Chief of Ordnance. Brigadier General, Chief of Engineers. Brigadier General, Chief of Coast Artillery. E. ST. J. GREBLE, Colonel, General Staff. STANLEY D. EMBICK, Captain, Coast Artillery Corps. Civilian Member of the Board. ROBERT R. RALSTON, Captain, Corps of Engineers, Recorder of the Board. APPENDIX A. TABLE SHOWING ALLOTMENTS AND EXPENDITURES MADE BY THE BOARD OF ORDNANCE AND FORTIFICATION FROM JULY 1, 1911, TO JUNE 30, 1912, INCLUDING STATEMENT OF UNEXPENDED BALANCES. ACT OF SEPT. 22, 1888. Credit as shown by letter of Chief of Ordnance dated June 1, 1912_ ACT OF MAR. 2, 1889. Balance on hand July 1, 1911_- 1912. June 6. Sum reported to Chief of Ordnance May 4, 1900, for credit to war surplus, but never passed to that fund___ Returned to Treasury for credit to war surplus fund__ 1912. June 6. ACT OF AUG. 18, 1890. Balance reported by Chief of Ordnance May 24, 1912, as ACTS OF 1892 TO 1911, INCLUSIVE. 1911. July 1. Balance as shown by annual report dated Revocations of allotments under these Nov. 2. Balance of allotment of July 30, 1909, for Wilby mine anchor_. $123,865.77 81.94 $636.22 10,000.00 14, 775.00 24, 775.00 593.39 1912. Jan. 4. Allotment of Nov. 3, 1910, for observation 3,500.00 Allotment of Feb. 3, 1910, for installation of Mar. 7. Allotment of Feb. 3, 1910, for transportation 400.00 100.00 Allotment of Nov. 2, 1911, for chilled cast- 2,000.00 June 6. Allotment of Aug. 23, 1910, for test of roof structures.... |