The Navy's $600,000 Question: Was the Dry Dock Built on Bad Piles?

A dispatch to the Post-Intelligencer received last night from Washington City says that the first result of Secretary Herbert's Pacific coast tour is an official investigation of the new Puget Sound naval station. Capts. Asersen, Mene and Pundel, of the civil engineer corps, left New York very privately last Friday night for Seattle on a mission which has been carefully guarded. They are the ranking officers of their corps. The dispatch says an expert opinion is required as to the usefulness of the new dry dock, costing $600,000, now under construction. It is claimed that the contractors have not driven the piles deep enough, and that inferior concrete has been used. Secretary Herbert thinks it bad policy to have the dock prove a failure when an emergency arises for promptly docking a 10,000-ton battleship.

Byron Barlow, the contractor for the Port Orchard dry dock, was in Seattle yesterday, and when questioned relative to the work said that the tests of driving piles for the foundations with a water jet had proved a failure and that the government engineers had again ordered him to stop work until further orders were received from the bureau of yards and docks at Washington City. He thinks the officials at the capital are awaiting Engineer White's written report before acting on the matter. Mr. Barlow said: 'I took Capt. Symons, the army engineer, over there and he agreed with us that the piles should not be driven with the water jet; in fact all the government engineers who have seen the foundation agree with us and only those who have not seen it and therefore do not understand the conditions are causing trouble. We are going ahead with the other work, but the delay in piling is beginning to hinder it. The government has the best foundation in the world for a dry dock over there, but if the officials want to spoil it they may do it.'

When Hon. H. A. Herbert, secretary of the navy, and his party were in Seattle recently he went over to Port Orchard, where the secretary went to the bottom of the big hole which was being rapidly transformed by the contractors into the center of a great shipyard. Then began a discussion of the piling for the foundation among the various officials, during which two test piles were driven at the secretary's request. The secretary remained nearly two hours, making a general examination of the work before returning to the steamer. Immediately afterwards the secretary and Messrs. White and Holliday, the civil engineers in charge of the work for the navy department, retired to the cabin to consult regarding the piling of the dock, and they were afterwards joined by Messrs. Barlow, Blackwell and Dugan in a protracted conference. It is evident he considered it wise to inquire still farther.