“The engines were subsequently taken out and compound engines of poor design were put in by parties who had never built a compound engine before. The performance of these engines was but little better than that of the original. “Having been eminently successful in the introduction of compound engines in this country, by the construction of four compound engines for the American Line and one set for the ‘George W. Clyde’ of our own design, we made application to the government to substitute the design of compound engines in place of the first set of ‘Madawaska,’ but our offer was not accepted, unfortunately for the government. “All of these vessels were of good model, and all built according to the latest improvements of the great ship-builders and contractors, and the devices in the way of rigging, spars, and other outfit, besides the model and general arrangements were from the stand-point and designs of the naval constructor and ship-builder at the yard where they were built. No ships in modern times have been superior to them in design, construction, and ship-building technique. The engines, however, were not up to the standard, and, no matter what else may be said of them, they were much too small. “Some time after these vessels were laid up, an effort was made by private parties in New York to utilize them in a trans-Atlantic line to carry the mail, and a proposition was made to the government covering certain conditions under which they could be operated. The proposition meeting a favorable consideration, an exhaustive examination of the engines was made by Mr. Norman Wheeler, of New York. He found that the gearing of the driving-wheels and pinion had been worn down five-eighths of an inch during their trials; the project was abandoned, and the ships gradually disappeared. “It has been stated that the ‘Wampanoag’ made her designed speed from New York to Charleston in one trial. “The British government was very much interested in this scheme of building fast cruisers for our navy. Captain Bye-the-sea, who was Naval Attaché of Great Britain, was ordered to investigate the matter here. He decided to obtain the plans and drawings of the ‘Chattanooga,’ and applied to the Secretary of the Navy for his approval. The Secretary sent a letter to us stating that, so far as he was concerned, he had no objection. So we furnished Captain Bye-the-sea with the drawings of the ‘Chattanooga’ in return for some valuable information that he had, which we expected to utilize in some construction of our Navy Department. We did not, however, realize anything in that direction.