Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 24.djvu/251

 216 FOBTY-NINTH CON GRESS. Sess. I. On. 849. 1886. Construction- S20. 7. That the Secretary of the Navy shall not contract for the construction or completion of any of said vessels, or- of their engines, machinery, or boilers, until drawings and specifications of the same shall have been provided or adopted by him; and after said drawings and specifications shall have been provided, adopted, and approved as afore- Contracts. - said, and work shall have been commenced on any contract made there for, such plans end specifications shall not be changed in any respect when the cost of such change in the execution of the work exceeds five hundred dollars, except upon the written order of the Secretary or Acting Secretary of the Navy; and if changes are thus made, the actual cost thereof and the damage caused thereby shall be ascertained, estimated, and determined by a board of naval ofdcers to be provided for in the contract; and in any contract made pursuant to this act it shall be provided in the terms thereof that the contractor shall be bound by the determination of saidboard, or a majority thereof, as to the amount of increase or diminished compensation said contractor shall be entitled to receive, if any, in consequence of such change or changes. In everycoutract to be made under this act there shall be prescribed a period within which the work provided for in said contract, or specified portions thereof, shall be completed, and the completion of such work within the periods prescribed shall be insured by penal provisions. For the construction or completion of such vessels hereinbefore provided for as the Secretary of the Navy shall propose to have constructed or completed by contract, as well as also for the engines, boilers, and machinery herein- ' before provided for, he shall invite proposals hem every American shipbuilder and other person who shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Navy that within three months from the date of the contract he will be possessed of the necessary plant for the performance of the work in the United States which he shall ofer to undertake, and such contract shall be let to the lowest and best responsible bidder or bidders, aber at least sixty days’ advertisement, published in five leading papers of the United States, inviting proposals for the work proposed, which work shall be subject to all such rules, regulations, superinteudenee by naval oiicers during construction, and provisions us to bonds and security for the quality and due completion of the work as the Secretary of the Navy shall prescribe; and no vessel, boiler, engine, machinery or portion thereof shall be accepted unless completed in strict confznnnity with the contract; and the authority given hereby · shall take effect at once. The Secretary of the Navy shall have the . power to reject any or all bids made under the provisions of this uct. Armament- Sec. 8. That the sum of one million dollars is hereby appropriated towards the armament of the vessels authorized by the act of March _ third, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, of the vessels authorized by Vol. 23, p. 433. · · · · . section one of this act, and of the unfinished monitors herembefore mentioned, und of the Miantanomoh; and the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to direct the application of such portions of this sum as may be necessary to the manufacture or purchase of such tools and mM_ machinery or the erection of such structures as may be required for use ummmmm M in the manufacture of such armament, or any part thereof: Provided, g,,,,_ That the Secretary of the N svy may contract with domestic manufacturers for the construction of such portion of the heavy guns herein provided for as may act be built by the Government. Qynnmitc · g nn Sm:. 9. That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to cou- ¤‘¤¤¤¤‘· tract with the Pneumatic Dynamite-Gun Uompeny of New York for one ~ dyuemitegun cruiser as follows: Said cruiser to be not less than two hundred and thirty {ect long, twenty-six feet breadth of beam, seven and one~half feet draught, three thousand two hundred horse-power, and guaranteed to attain a speed of twenty knots an hour, and to be equipped with three pneumatic dynamite-guns of ten and one-half inch caliber, and guaranteed to throw shells containing two hundred pounds of dynamite or other high explosives at least one mile, each gun to be capable of being discharged once in two minutes, at a price not to cx-