The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-02-09
OtIR MYTHICAL NAVY.
PLAINLY Of Officers But no Bhips-A Laugh
Inv Matter for the Rest Of the World
Advantages Of Bngland's
Merchant Fleet.
,uta.,,,gt,n Correspondence New YORK EVEN
t"a7h''e Ing POst.l

|, xrr1,,.rt,n rorreapc,senne New YORK Even
Ing P0st.l
Tho report on the state 81 t.e nnsy :, nff,nai
r,anr.santafiva Harris, only Tells ~ o.o.a s
f.,s... what every one intefesVa que" ,,,o is
The mi y feature Of q navy whtct We Hafa
wv ~ ~ w have 10 chips, no guns. Y mign1
O ,...',.t no sa,d no crews but sofae two thou
say wn,,d be difficult to exaggera,te,, W. ~
surdity Of our pt.sa,nu s nash 81 the world.
III the nreeent hiarity, for instance. WIZ,
IGs,inh Nj de besseps and his trienus wv u1',,
raad tha threats Of = naval dennussla.ion ~,
-, the part OF the United states III oahs vu
vi , am- n,ment suddenly came to the conclusion
Hns n was worth while 10 stand by the
Mnn,x,a doctrine III serious earnest. Euro
.s.,o,, uo vernments would Contemplate such
dianlRy with the same sentlnents Wneh
drill OK Chinese lorehas ana 'ahRe oo"'' ~
NH. Harris shows that, out " one hundred
and rorty-two alleged vessels OF war. nut
fnrty-eIght can by courtesy be deslenaleu, ~
thnt ttle. and of these forty.eiEht. the sh.ps
M IN meet. or course not the beat, pit tue
aano NJ nt third-rate vessels Of rival nations
nan ht counted Oh the fingers. take tna lsn
,aaourt, for instance. This vessel COST ehouAn
for a sh,p or h fleet Of good ships, " u nYm
the fsg ship u the North A.lan.n s nasH.,I.
and Ia s,,pnnsed to be one ut the pesb Vesse,s
+, 1u t ~ navy Yet. as ship-of-war, " la
MA formidable, but ridiculous IL was ~
i~,ualiv hujlt TO help catch the Alanama'
INT while on the stocks another navei WE
Del had the bad taste nd s"ea th teT o @
found its occupation gone before y wAs
begun, and II has never invented Iof lcsel'
any particular career or Hseiulitsss s.u s'..
For time, indeed, 1t had 9 reputati9n ioI
a,,and ard th,s IL certainly Of great value III
al rneI,can chip of-war whose only saiety
in 4 naval combat would be ~ its an,llIy J. !.
pm away. hut an officer now attacheu Y
the shlp told me recently that at pIeeenI. =
can only 70 nine or ten knots All houl ~ 'sE
Our naval ships, for warllke efficiency
aho,,ld MT Ia compared with what are known
and classed elsewhere "a vessels OF Wal, pu
rather az ships of commerce, when ihlRhG "
on an emergency, utilized Tor mill.aay p ,h,,
country and England. for instance, the ~
miralty need not detach a ship from routing
rnncefll duty In the contingency namet
the British steamers engaged ~ Maus ~
tween Liverpool and New York wouid pe celi ll
nnrarily idle. and few Of these could De pre-
f,afef for service In fortnight GO 90 70 SWEEP
s,nr tiar from the seas and even make |
dangerous for non combatants 70 20 u psIn
inr AZ Co,ney Island A ship like the Yer
manic, Galeia OF CITY 81 berlin w onn ve "s
IN the United States navy. Arm the Yer
manic with three or four Krupp or Armstron.
runs. provide 1t with euitable crew anu
supply or coal, stores ana ainmuhiG.uh. I'll
she could sink our chips at leisure. Properl.
handled abe could choose her own poeluon
distance and convenience In every particular
What chance would any Of our men-ol- va
have against an enemy capable q steamlnl
.aixteen and eighteen knots AL hour, an
throwing heavy projectllee miles beyond th
answering reach Of our best artillery. 49,
Nh. We have no navy: only officers. In
pyramid is standing gracefully on its ape,
Hut mathematician tell us that this poeitio
ia one OF unstable equilibrium, and preoede
generally tumble.