The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1880-02-28
szashamesos. Ese4ssr.
4OuR pEFENCELEss GoAsT.--ADMIRAL
PoRTEg's ToRpEDo B0AT.--ADMIRaL
AMMEK's RAM.--4FffE DANGER OF DE
LAYING DEFENSIVE ACTION.
(From Our Regular tcorrespondentD

LAYING DEFENSIVE ACTION.
4 (From Our Regular CorrespondentD
MAsnrNGroH, ID. c., Feb..2l, 1880.
/ Senator Bagara, who was in Europe
last summer and saw some of the pow
erful armored vessels of the European
navies, recently made the remark that,
he knew Of no defence, unless itmight
be torpedoes, that would prevent the
ships of foreign powers from entering
any United States port and placing our
Wealtfiest cities under contribution.
Notwithstanding themillions that have
recently been expended on our navy, 1T
is fact well known that our entire
naval force would be powerless to meet
a single ship of the class which is not
uncommon in the maNies OF England,
France, Prussia and Russia.
Torpedoes may be very effective IN
defensive maritime warfare, but they
have not yet had the thorough testing
that will enable them To be relied upon
withlassurance. Hhenext which
ships take part will show startling nov
cities In methods and means. The
,eleotriclig light will play a prominent part,
and it will be very difficult for the fur
tive torpedo to creep up to a floating
fortress, with the sea for rods in every
direction almost as light as day, and
the ship protected by an ,outwork of
wire
The proposed inter-oceanic canal
makes it all the more important that
we should look in time to the Tprotec-
tion of our coast. The canal compile
will always be on the At
lantic or the Pacific side number of
monsters with which nothing
in our himsy navy can cope.
admiral Porter is the inventor of a
marine ram with "a submarine beak to
which torpedoes arefixed. 1T was sup
posed that this would be terribly de-
structive vessel, but she has mo more
speed than a ferry-boat, and one shot
from the heavier guns of a first class
English vessel would disable her.
Admiral Ammen appeared, hast week, !
gefore the naval committee of the
House and advocated the construction
If anumber of marine rams, the pur-
pose of which shall be collision only; I
hey are to carry no guns or torpedoes,
tut to be built with a view to iirresist-
Ible strength, speed, and facility in
1t is estimated that one
# these vessels, with itssteel beak, will
ink any ship with which it can collide,
md while 1T lis eminently probable that
he ram itself win be sunk in the col /
ision, still it feels that it can afford
t-for the ramis supposedtolb be worth
'nly half ambition of dollars, while the
essel that it has sent to ocean bottom
has cost at least ss2,000go0. The re
ult of war, whether on seatorlland has
eased to he a question of physical II
ourage, endurance, or skill; lit is.ibe4
oming every day moro a question of L
cience, of mathematical and peenniary K
orces, and if we can successfully OPP
'ose S2,000,000 with $5aD,eOOiif will 4
eem that we ihavesan advantage of -four
0 one in defensive maritime warfare.
ADMIRAL Ammen has urged the adop- u
ion Of this ram forfhe last seven wears, \
nd the truth of his theories has since 4
ad conclusive and tragic illustration
4 the instantaneous sinking of the
trosser KurfuFst, the most powerful
ron-clad of the Prussian fleet, from a \
ollision in the English Channel. But
5hateyer maybe the means, it lis folly
0 delay the ctiveipreparationthatt
fill enable us to sit in security amid 1
he great and increasing wealth of our
oastcities. We are SO strong on land Il
hat we have no fear of such armies as
he combined world might bring ito at
ack us on our own soil, but our weak 4
ess is at points where we can he at-|l
acked from lfhe sea---at Boston, New
gork, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Nor-lr
ok, Charleston, NewO Orleans, aud San III
francisco. AT these points we are la /
lentally weak. Hi
Am unsupported Comet. III
X j ~