The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-01-19
The Pending speck of War.


officers state on oath that the SDaniard
first fred blank charges, and then when
the American flag was run up on the
Florida pitched a solid shot at the mer-
chairman, which caused her to lay to,
and the Spauiard sent officers on board,
who went through the Florida in a
naughty, dOmineering style. For this
outrage the Government is going to bring
Spain to account-so it is said But from
the following article, which we clip fro
a late number Of the New York Sus, it
will be seen that the United States is in a
poor fix to enter into naval warfare with
any nation under the eye Of the Sun or
anything else:
The Navy and War Department, and
especially the FIRST n lmsd, are in ii huge
flutter OF excitement over the threatened
aspect of affairs between oar Government
and that of Spain. Mr. Robes, 5 prov
ing himself nos only an excellent Score
tary Of the Navy. but an American clti
zen, and exhibits the right sort Of fee ing
in the present emergency. Bot he can
not hut his eyes u TIC fact thIt were
we involved in war with Sp in tlIat
power would blow Us out OF waser IN
thirty days, leav ne all oar srapDFts az
the mercy Of Spanish guns " 2 are in
a most deplurlb!e cuudIriou, SO far as our
navy is concerned. While the Republi>
can party has been fighting over the
spois ike gang Of pirates Or the deck
OF rover, and while high sounding Ads
misals have been visiting Europe 1T IA
expense sufficient if properly donated 80
remedy some Of our defects, tue navy has
gone down until we are utterly helpless,
even before such an insigniEtan5 mura
time power as Spain.
10 understand this matter and learn
how it Is that VIC are IN this drplorab!e
condition it is necessarJ to % back a few
years and put on record a few facts Of
the past At the close of the late rebel,
lion, according to tho Secretary S report,
we had COL vessels making carriage for
4,6lO guns. This was our navy on paper.
We boosted to the world that We lIaQ IN
that arm force equal to the ir5t-class
powers In Europe. But when we came
to investigate we found that 500 Of those
gun ca riageS We're sailing vessels of no
manner of use in model naval warfare
Besides this we had to take out ~ pad>
DIE wheel steamers, merchant vessels
with their machinery exposed, that were
useful ln our peculiar conflict for pUr-
poses Of blockade Then these la YES
sells carried 92I guns that had to be de-
Quoted. In addition to this, we found l 40
screw vessels, light propelIers, bought
likewise from the mercantile marine.
The were used to catch blockade run
ner@, and were of no other use what5 yer,
and had to be dispensed with when the
blockade was raised.
Whan the business ofsdbstracting was
done, from the aggregate of 57i vessels
we struck off 435 vessels and 2,3Sj guus,
leaving US 236 ships, bearing ,225 guns.
Bat we could not end here There were
II paddle wheel steamers, known as
double enders, ferry boats, river steam
ers-smali hawks used to catch blockade
rune also; but for naval service with
foreign power of no sort of use. With
th.s class we had also to deduct paddle
wheel steamer Of the old navy. These
two classes of paddle wheel steamers car
ried 524 guns, and wien deducted from
the :, 225 guns left ,70l, with lS4 vessels
Of war properly so called OF these 1874
ssei5 p were screw steamers of the Old
navy, 62 iron clais, Of which, a5 the end
Of the late war, - only were yloat, icav-
ing ~ III service. aad 81 modern vessels,
mostly of smaller size; so that our feet
actually afoat was reduced to about I34
vessels, bearing l $50 guns. Of these,
the only vessels making an approach to
modern warfare are the iron cIads, and IL
is safe to say that, out OF ali that we have
aIoat, probably one only 10 Of any SER
vice as all
TO understand this it viii be remem-
bered that during the war the Merrimac,
captured by the enemy, had been Turned
into an iron clad, and alarmed the whole
country With a mysterious Tumor of its
destructive power. While this vessel was
making its first experiment, and vas en-
gagged 10 Hampton Roads trying e. d5~
stroy some Of our vessels, the Monitor, u
crazy invention OF an ingenious man, ac'
eide ntaliy came IN collision wish that
vessel A few shots were exchanged
when the Merrimao withdrew, and the
country was impressed with tue belief
that in EricssoR's Monitor a match had
been found for the famous rebel iron
clad. We run wild over TWO guns Ii a
cheese box on a raft, and Secretary
Welles immediately contracted for a navy
OF monitors. The facts, as they BOW ap-
pear in the light Of history, are that the
NeTmac drew more water than the YES
sells it went out to destroy, aut could not
therefore reach them. n addition to
this, q chance shot from one Of eur
wooden vessels entered through an open
port, disabling portion of her machinery
She therefore put back unaffected one
way or other by Ericsson's raft and
cheese box.
4 This was asday Of contracts, and Penn
sylvaDia, whose patriotism can be meas
ured by the amount Of money to be made
was called ia with her iron mines and
manufacturers by Mr.. Fox to supply US
with navy. Twenty were puJ under
contract at ence, at cost amounting to
So 200 600. The Department also. stiu-
ulated by the contracts aud the cheese
box, ordered the Dictator and the iUri>
tan, ut cost Of - 100000 So that We
find the Department expen1inL in vessels
that were at the time totally unbuowu as
to their power, and hove since proved
worthless, some $1,000, 700 Sabse-
quently the sum Of 800 900 was added
to this, and nov we find, with the rxpe~
rieneeS of the late war before Us, that we
have n0Lhing to show for all this except
useless pot metal
The scheme proposed and acted upon
by Mr.. Ericsson and others was 10 have
in the iron clad, CT monitor, a carriage
for one or two guns. These guns were
of course to be of an en- rmous size
When placed in Il turrat the turret re-
VOWED upon machinery so delicate tia
any chance shot was liable to throw iC
out of Order This however was not tho
worst. These iron cofiss were kept
aHoat With great di iiculty-some eight of
them, If We recollect rightly, Ering down
With their crews on board, one of thcm
In the quiet waters Of bay, wirhout any
warning whatever-sni when adoat they
were extremely unhealthy AMI uacom-