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Show uu SPEEDING UP THE U. S. NAVAL WORK "Washington, Jan. 14. To speed up construction at the Mare Island and New York navy yards of battleships, numbers 43 and 44, tho house naval committee ordered reported favorably today a proposal to divert $600,000 from tho appropriation for the ships in use in enlarging building slips and other work preparatory to laying the keels of the vessels. Mare Island would get $500,000 to enlarge the slip now occupied by tho fuel ship Kanawha, which will be launched within a few months. It is estimated that the keel of tho battleship battle-ship could be laid in September or early in October. New York would get $100,000 for increasing the facilities now employed employ-ed in building the battleship California, Califor-nia, which will be launchod in August Au-gust or September. Double shifts of men will be set to work on the California Cali-fornia as soon as the weather permits. per-mits. Contracts for the structural steel, armor and minor engines for both new ships already have been let and the department now is preparing specifications spec-ifications for the main engines and electric equipments. |