There are sixteen vessels now in commission without pursers. The duties of purser on board nine of these are performed by the commanding officers, against their will, and with almost certain pecuniary loss, for which they receive no additional compensation. A commander, acting as purser, cannot give his full attention to his appropriate duties, and he is placed in a false position by acting as paymaster to his crew, when there can be no umpire between them, himself being the arbiter as well as a party in any question which may arise relating to accounts. Four vessels have no pursers on board, but pursers attached to other vessels have been ordered to take charge of the accounts of both, and are held responsible for the property in the purser's department of both, though they may be separated for months. The duties of purser of three receiving ships are done by the respective navy agents on shore. It would, in my opinion, be of very great advantage to the service if Congress would authorize the creation of a grade of assistant pursers, who should be subject to examination before appointment, whose appropriate service should be in small vessels, and from whom all appointments of pursers should be made by regular promotion. Store-ships. The operations of this bureau might be carried on with much greater advantage if four or five additional store-vessels could be procured. A permanent store-ship at Panama would furnish storage for the Pacific squadron of a safer and more convenient kind and at a much cheaper rate than it can be had for on shore. Besides, in the absence of cruising vessels, a national store-ship might render important service in guarding and attending to the interest of the government and of individual Americans residing in or passing through that city. A propeller store-vessel could be most advantageously employed in running between New York and Aspinwall, supplying the store-ship and other vessels at Panama by means of the railway across the Isthmus, as well as the vessels of the home squadron on the coast of Central America; and she would do valuable service in bringing home invalids from the two squadrons and in taking out recruits for them. The African squadron is deprived of much of its efficiency by the want of a depot of provisions on the southern portion of its cruising grounds. From the present depot at Porto Praya to the southern limit of the station is nearly 3,000 miles by the usual route of cruisers. Small vessels carrying but three or four months' provisions, with the light winds and calms often prevailing, can hardly reach that limit before it becomes necessary to return for new supplies. They can cruise but very little on the southern coast, where the slave trade is most active, without buying supplies at exorbitant prices from transient merchantmen. A stationary store-ship at Great Fish Bay or St. Paul de Loando would enable vessels to cruise south of the equator as much as north of it, and far more usefully. A propeller of 300 or 400 tons would be sufficient to supply the two depots with necessary stores of all kinds, would afford, twice or thrice a year, direct and certain communication with the squadron, and would bring home invalids comfortably and at small expense. There are but three store-vessels now in service available for carrying supplies to the six established squadrons, and one of these is too small to be of much use. Four or five additional store-vessels would, in my opinion, conduce greatly to the convenience and efficiency of distant squadrons. Pay of pursers' clerks at navy yards. I renew my recommendation for an increase of the present inadequate pay of pursers' clerks at navy yards. This deserving class of officers, whose duties are both arduous and responsible, are now allowed by law much less than copying clerks or common writers receive in every navy yard. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. ISAAC TOUCEY, Secretary of the Navy. H. BRIDGE, REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, October 26, 1858. SIR: In compliance with your instructions of August 20 I have the honor to submit herewith estimates of the sums required for the support of this bureau and of the medical department of the navy, with the exception of hospitals, for the year ending June 30, 1860. The fiscal condition of the medical department is exhibited as follows: Balance of former appropriations remaining in the treasury July 1, 1858...... Appropriation for surgeons' necessaries and appliances, $7,810 41 32,150 00 47,964 46 9,990 00 35,600 00 The estimates are based upon the arrangement and distribution of the naval forces for the year, prepared by the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair. The excess of $3,450 over the estimates for The business of the department is conducted with the strictest I subjoin "tabular statements of sick," compiled from "reports of Summary of the prevalent forms of disease in squadrons on foreign and The statistics exhibit a very satisfactory state of health on board At the close of the year 1856, there remained under treatment 439 The average strength of the navy, including officers, seamen, The ratio of cases treated to the whole number of persons in service, The only occurrence of special interest, requiring notice in this latter part of March and the 15th of April, among a crew of 300 persons, of these 17 died on board, 85 were sent to the Royal Naval Hospital at Jamaica, where they received every possible care and attention. Twenty-three deaths occurred among those sent to the hospital; the others were returned to the United States on recovery. The Susquehanna reached the quarantine station, New York, April 15th, with 50 cases of fever on board, and was immediately put out of commission and abandoned by the remaining crew. When the process of breaking out and cleansing the vessel was commenced, sometime subsequently (in the month of June) occasional cases of fever of the same type, occurred among the men employed in the work; the last case as recently as the 6th of September. Six cases have occurred on board since the ship has been at quarantine, three of which proved fatal. These facts are conclusive to many minds, that the cause of this terrible disease existed in the vessel, and that it was not directly contracted in the port of San Juan, though the continued high temperature and drenching rains that prevailed at the time may have stimulated internal causes into such fearful activity. At the time the fever broke out on board, the Susquehanna was to all appearance in the best condition as respects cleanliness and order. The cause of the disease was doubtless to be found in those parts of the ship most difficult of access, where grease, oil, &c., from the engines and other deposits from leakage, &c., were likely to accumulate, and which are not to be reached in the ordinary mode of cleansing crusing vessels. It seems to be an admitted fact that steamers are less healthy than sailing vessels, owing perhaps to the different kind of materials received and used on board, and the greater liability of animal matter to decomposition by the high temperature maintained in the lower part of the vessel by the furnaces. During the period embraced in the tables, it affords me great satisfaction to refer to the highly favorable sanitary condition of our cruising vessels, and I call attention as an act of justice to the medical officers, to the very small ratio of mortality in the naval service, where from the very nature of the vocation there is such constant exposure to circumstances militating against health and life. The vessels composing the African squadron present the usual immunity from serious illness and death, with the exception of the "Dale," where fever prevailed to a considerable extent in the early part of this year. A resort to the islands, with other measures, restored health to the ship's company, without the loss of a patient by fever though sixty-one cases are reported. The "Cumberland," the flag-ship of the station, with a complement of 350 persons, has had but one death in nine months' service. The "St. Louis," with a complement of 185 perosns, has had two deaths during the year 1857. The Dale," with a complement of 145, has had one death in nine months. Indeed, vessels like the Constitution frigate, and Jamestown, first |