The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-05-02 00:00:00

the 3tourbriby Obserba.

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1 A 74.

THE BRITISH WAVY

It is our ships bf ear "Ma i von, tinder the
e...m1 prey bletwe if Gen, the wealth, st ?mgt.,
aml safety of the kingdom, chiefly depeiolf'.
aceording b. the Act of Parliament. annually
passisl for the goverment of the Navy. it
14 ne institution whit+ beasts nu existencel
o a t housind yearn, for as far Istek as 817
the first fleet of galleys, reeemhing those cit.
the Danes, was lmilt by Alfred the area.
Seventy years afterwards the itumber of
gilleys was greatly inereased byrdgar, who
claimed to be Lord of the ocean surrentftling
Great Britaio. I, LOW, Ethelred 11.
equipped n formidable fleet, assinted by the
contributions of every town in England,ln
order to be ready to do battle with the Danes.
Nearly seven centuries have preds.e.4l since
Rirhard I. nutintained it fleet, and ezuteten
n tval la as. F. ir hundreds of years the
Cinque pegs am! maritime cities furnished
war ships when commanded by the King
and his officers. The foundation of the
Royal Navy, however, as we now knew it,
may be said to date frolll titu hlllitrink of the
Great Harry, in 1510. This vessel, 0ri,200
tons burthen, was considered a splendid
piece of naval arehieminre in her day, end
her consorts were two ship.; elf 1011 tons, anll.
mix or seven of smaller dimensions. The
Stuart Kings, with till their faulty, never
forgot the bulwatrks of the sea. George 111.
with nil his parsimony in private life,
invariably insisted upon the neeessity of
keeping up our naval defences, and to much an
extent was this dirtied, that in 1814 this
country possessetlllll)o vessels of war. Oar
I wenn battles with the combimsl fleets of
eontinentid nations tire ineineuts which Stand
out in held relief in our national history.
When a foreign soveroign has visited our
Wel, a naval re% iew is the 'nest iutere:4 ing
spectacle which we eon furnish for we
know that upon the broad higtway •if
seu we have ter equal. England's promt title,
"Mistress of the Sena," has been nelenote-
!edged *diesel. A satite to the tnglisli nig
was insisted upon by Alfred, mei although
sometimes divided, may be said to have
been continued ever Pince. The Dottili
agreed to the strike to the English coheirs
in the British HON, in 1673. The honour of
the flag salute at sea was also 10111101 y ILSSCII-
teII to by Fiance in 1.7044 although it bud
lung previously been exacted by this mein ry.
Our pride in the development of. the New
has, indeed, tastily grout witk our growth
and strengthened with our strength
. .

This brief historical retrospect lends sotue
interest to tho recent disetissions in Portia.*
ment respecting the actual ehnilition of navy
as it exists at present. It may lin at one°
admitted that their is little Or no differeuPo
of opinion as to the prineiples tmon, whit+
the main issue depends. 'I hero is a general
agreement amongst politicians that it is
essential not only to the ma iut enanet, of the
petition which we OCCUpy as a pewl,,, but •
to the security of tur national existenCt.
that the naval supremacy of Great Britain
should hi upheld. The administ
the navy is comparatively free from party
considerations, and if it could be demon-
strated to the House of Commons that a
larger outlay than tempi was necessary for
Maritime purposes, it would be avidity voted,
inr is there any reason to suppose that the
nation would grumble at the additionaj
but-thou. But what is the best way in
which the work should be dons ? The money
expended upon the " reconstruction of the
Navy," of which we are sit proud, less than
half a generation ago, was practically
tleown away, for the first-class war ship of
IST,9 h 4 almost as obsolete as file gallop ef
the Saxon king+. A shot or WO from Hach
a monster as the Devastotion would send
them to the bottom. For it is evident that
the development Sf science must winder the
maintenmico of the Navy a question of con-
plidomble difficulty, mid the problem duce not
become more easily soled& with the tildvanoe,
of time. For years the moat eminent of Our
naval architects found it iinporattbletodecide
whether turret-ships or broadsides were the
more suitable for sea-going and fighting
purposes; and the awful tossed H.M.S. Cap-
tain in Vigo Bay on a stormy night In that
autumn of 1870, show the fully of belittling
a large number,of vessels upon a plan, the
success of which had not been platted•beyond
all doubt by actual exlkrience. But even
when this is done, we find the opponents of
the adopted system denouncing it, and urging
the superiority of their own. What, then,
is the First Lord of the Atlntiralty to dolt If
he constructs one Warrior only, 11,, is asked,
"What is that among so many?" If he hailtis
a dozen, he is told that ho should have
awaited the introduction .of nnprovements.
In a year or two an artillerist invents a gun,
which is warranted to knock the Warrior
out of the water, and the Devastation up.
pears upon the scene with a reputation of '
being ablp to cope with the combined. navies
of the woNd. Yet within the past few days
wehave been told that this gaeat floating
battery herself is not much a success hetet-Add
have been wished, that she would be
unmanageable in a gale in mid-ocean, and
is suitable only for coast and harborer
&relive.

However, let the price be whaeit may. wo
are bound to keep the lead in naival seiener.
°t haw nations must not be lIUa layld to ',N um
weapons of morainic warfare alibi' Wa . ill
Hot ourselves possess, or possessing, snake
tio use of. If we have not attained
in the art of shipluabling, we must make
tle• Is•st 01 ,8111 improvement as it is brought
ola If IL better ship than the Dovastation
ele is. ea MR( 11111141, let it 61 dolle. Typeri
slaips may vary, lint ilic sea waioligo our
shoares just as it dial in tie of a.
or a Stuart, and the bi Dow., of the ocean atit.io
are eliangelms and miehanizes bk. And lilac
the restless waters bent up, oi our c.st,to, and
es long as we anchor our navies in kJ the
liarlsoirs of the WI 4.1.1, so !wig niwyt liii egort
1e spired b i I'ollll our maritime Sal preurlei.

RHICO:InsIT.-1,4P,C• C011,..—Ai111.1,11171 AND C 311.•
s ••i4 thori.o ILlD•YeioNlipi of ft.. •Vol•flr
I.*, which vv... the oyl.tat,.D.t 1.1 digrtni;ll rad H 4.
1111 l , by it carritai •H.Drat I Ikon*. prolbertino
4.1we1l sclrclkol Mr Lans 4.nr bn.sk
. . .

lest table,. niU.• .lelieuteli. throttle-A I.ll.erege
may •saVe las lash) hear, dulnorso•
/41/:• t.r. with I....fing ...ler Of
by lino:era ,inly, ini.al4r4 •• nes
lioinuoinatlii, Chemists, 13, T`o•rotneiwiln Street, mot
lilt. ; Works, Kimble. Road, LoeJoe,
f 4 Sir A CTI; a i.e I%lol\ - ••• o cii iaQwrife Do .41,
COIIIII ii tbproCtillf Saloplell by 11 . James I*.ffs
, t, if glielolle. yri.lol.ll, at their with. to
the Road, - t're, •i loin in
flow w' add Iliad.,.
In TMKHC AIM ANY LADIV• who horse riot at eiteaffi•
01.11‘1.11 lii Stature, they are respectfully eolieiteit to
give Ibis Wall heel cAlcllidAy gala the dirretion•
printed cvory priekag.•, rod if Ulla Al June, they will
lit,' theQitituic lonaiar.•., it in the Anent Stureli
they ever lewd. When milt for 111.P.NC11.3.1. Sr
see that )011 get it, on ulterior koi.ls utiittit ..ilettituled
for the rule of eaten profit. Iten Lire therefore of eiAll
imitations.
Toe., r Aerauturts Inn 11,4111,1PR118. —All Mani*
11,11mlitn1 of the throat mid hoaren49. will be sacra.

•611, 1.114.1111.41 at the 1111IIMItt. Immoshatc rehcf we!,
by Ow ass I•• Ittrosn'a 14. I,
1111 l in+ '• lomn‘rm.' aro 11 ;.! I. .• .
iniatr m that annuity,
troubled "Mx • loarkivg, • • .
bronchial affections cannot by t,h% !•• • .04 -
troubles. it • allowed to min cab, t 1. an ..
nary and Asthmatic inactions. Ku ILA, liit
••lir,wn. I4vooel,jal Trochna '• Sr.. on th 2 tioNcrun:: 4
Staiun sroand cacti Ims.—ifatitt4olut.4 by Jollw If
W.NII Boston, Uat.d State* lleitdt,
Vaturit-strsia,