331) TeregrapQ. THE WAR IN FLORIDA. IMPORTANT. NAVAL OPERATIONS IMMENSE DESTRUCTION OF SALT WORKS AT LAKE OCALA, WEST AND ST. ANDREWS BAYS. Three MMus Worth of Property Destroyed The Town of St, Andrews Burned OFFICIAL REPORT' OF ADMIRAL BAILEY The Navy Department to-day received the following dispatches: 11. S. FLAGSHIP SAN JACINTO, } KW WEST, Dec. 28, 1883. Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: Bra: I have the gratification of reporting a very important service performed by the block ading force at St. Andrew's Sound, under- the command of Acting Master William B. Brown, In destroying a very extensive and valuable quantity of salt works, both at Lake Ocala and St. Andrew's Bay. The circumstances are as follows: On December 2d, a boat was despatched from the bark Restless, then lying at St. An drew's Sound, to Lake Ocala, some twenty miles to the westward, where Acting Ensign James J. Russell landed with his men, and marched some five miles inland to Kent's- salt works, consisting of three different establishments, and utterly destroyed them. There were six steam boat boilers at that place, cut in half length wise, and eleven kettles made expressly for the purpose, each holding 200 gallons. They were fa the practice of turning out 180 bushels of salt daily. Besides destroying these boilers, a large quantity of salt was thrown into the lake. Two large flat boats and six ox carts were de lnolished, and seventeen prisoners were taken, who were paroled and-released, as the bolt was too small to bring them away. On the 10th of December Acting Ensign lifdwin Cressy arrived at St. Andrew's Sound, from the East Pass of Santa Rosa Sound, with the stein wheel steamer Bloomer, and her tender, the , sloop Carolina—having heard of the expedition to Lake Ocala—and placed his com mand at the disposal of Acting Master Brown for more extensive operatiouP near St. Andrew's Accordingly, three officers and forty-eight men were sent from the Restless to the Bloomer, and she proceeded to West Bay, where the rebel government's salt works were first destroyed, and which produced 400 bushels daily. At this place there ware 27 buildings, 22 large boilers, and some 200 kettles, averaging 200 gallons each, all of which were destroyed, together with 6,000 bushels of salt, and some store houses containing some three months' provi slons—the whole estimated at half a million of dollars From this point the expedition pro ceeded down the bay, destroying private salt works which lined each side for a distance of seven miles, to the !lumber of 198 different establishments, averaging two boilers and two kettles each, together with a large quantity of salt; 607 kettles were dug up and rendered useless, and over 200 buildings were destroyed, together with 27 Wagons and five large fiat boats. The entire damage to the enemy is estimated by Acting Master Brown at 13,000,000. Thirty-one contrabands employed at those works gladly availed themselves, of this oppor junity, to escape, and were of great service in pofziting out the places where the kettles were buried for concealment. In the meantime, while these operations were going on, Acting Master Brown got under