Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-12-23

The Recent Scare Among Patriotic Rri.
tons-l.ord NOrthbrOOk's Exposition Of
the Strength Of the NavY-HOW Eng.
land Compares with France and Other
Countries AZ a Naval Power.


land Compares with France and Other
Countries AZ a Naval Power.
Ut Is something more than two months since
the scare about the navy was started, !" writes G.
W. s., the Tribune correspondent from London.
IAN sober men agree, and even Mr.. Golden did
not wholly deny, that the safety Of the British
Empire depends on the efficiency of her navy.
The Irish dynapiters thought so when they
hoped to create panic By threats of blowing up
shlps-of-war. If. therefore. anybody outside of a
lunatic asylum tells the British public that their
navy is going to the dogs he will be listened to-
Lord NOrthbrOOk, the minister responsible to
Parliament for the navy, had to get up and
make long statement, and end by proposing to
spend the sum OF f5, 525, 600 on the navy over
and above what two months ago he meant to
spend. This sum. it is true. is to be distributed
over five years. Sir Thomas Brassey secretary
to the admiralty, and its mouthpiece in the
House OF Commons. made similar statement.
And IN both houses critics rose. as soon as these
naval ministers had sat down, to complain that
they We're not going to do enough. and not GO
ing to do it quickly enough.
The panic-mongers have made the increase of
the French navy the basis of their appeals, and
In order to show that the English navy was de-
creaslng relatively to the French, they invented
an arbitrary classification of ships into first sec
ond and third and they insisted that the French
mad OF late years been building so much faster
than the English as to threaten a rapid eytinc-
ton of the superiority of the latter Lord North
brooks answer to all this seems to me sensible
and sufficient. 1t is true, he says. that some
ten years ago the French began building new
arlnored ships more rapidly than had been their
habit. But why? Because down to that date,
ana long after the English had abandoned the
type. the French had gone on constructing ships
OF wood plated with iron; now admitted to be
wrong system. When they discovered their
mistake they had to begin over again. There is
no evidence that the French then dreamed of
entering upon serious contest with England
Tor naval supremacy: or that they now dream
of it,
He. or rather his naval colleagues, take the
ships in both navies for next year. and without
attempting to arrange them in classes, set ship
against Shlp-Inatchlng each ship in the English
fleet with the ship nearest to her in strength in
the French fleet, and distinguishing between
modern ships and obsolete ships; between. that
is. those which are efficient and those which are
not. OF these modern ships fit for present
lighting, there are 80 English of 210 400 tons
and 10 French of 127S2S tons, a balance of II
ships in favor of the English. OF the obsolete
types, ships not fit TO fight against the new
ones, but which might be paired off against
Others OF their own strength. there are Is Eng
lsh OF ll5,52O tons and IL French of So 066 tons,
balance of only four ships in favor of the Eng
llsh, but with an English tonnage more than
double the French.
So much for the actual state of the two ma
vies. English and French But the French are
building much faster than the English, cry the
alarmsts. and will soon be ahead. No, answers
Lord NOrthbrOOk. that is not SO. During the
last four years (and 1t takes five years to build
an ironclad), the admiralty have begun two
armored vessels for every one which the French
nave begun. | may as well quote here the an
sWer OF foreign naval officer whom l asked
the other day whether the English or French
guns were the better The present French gun.
he said, is superior to the present English, but
the pattern which the English have adopted and
are now making. and with which their navy will
soon be armed is superior to the French.
The ships to be built with the three million
now asked for include four ironclads of over
10000 tons each, of the ConquerOr type with 10
inches of armor on the side. two 110-ton guns
IN ner turret an lS-tOn rear-firing gun. twelve
6-inch guns in a steel-protected battery, and
speed OF 1515 knots. Then come two torpedo
rams OF 5000 tons like the POlyphemus five
''belted cruisers" of 5000 tons. bigger and
stronger than the Leander or Mersey. steaming
Ia knots; ten scouts of 1,5O0 tons, otherwise
called torpedo cruisers. and thirty irst-class
torpedo boats
1t is urged, and urged with great force, that
England ought to be not only superior but over
whelmingly superior to France, and superior to
any probable (some people say possible) naval
combination that can be arrayed against her
England now spends no more on her navy than
she d!d quarter OF century ago, while the
great continental powers have increased their
naval outlay by one-third. England has colo
nies commerce. coaling stations. multiplicity
of vulnerable points to defend. and she is moth
ing II not the greatest naval power in the
world. She must not allow her control of the
seas to be so much as questioned or challenged
;.nd SO on. There is weight in these arguments
and the distress of those who use them ia so
genuine that should like to alleviate it if DOS
sible. Perhaps | can best do it by quoting
What thp foreign naval officer | have already
mentioned writes to me:
The question Of weakness all depends on the
point OF view. Many are of opinion that twice the
French force is necessary, and would not be salts
ned with less. think am within bounds when I
say That the addition, either at present or within
the next two years. OF either the Italian or German
neet TO the French, would only make the latter
about equal in actual force to the English. The
addition OF both would perhaps give some supertor
1ty to the combination.
That is the opinion of foreign naval officer
OF exceptional ability. who is intimately ac-
quainted with the condition of the fleets of
England and OF the continental powers 1t is
confirmed by the opinion of another officer with
equal advantages. who goes SO far as to say
that he thinks England equal, for all purposes
OF naval warfare, now or in the near future, to
france, Italy and Germany together.
Condiments and Indigestion.
Cayenne pepper may be selected as a typical
example of a condiment properly SO called
Mustard is a food and condment combined:
this is the case with some others. Curry
powders are mixtures of very potent condiments
with more or less of farinaceous materials, and
sulphur compounds, which, like the oil of mus
tard, of onions. garlic, etc., may have q certain
amount of nutritive value
The mere condiment is a stimulating drug
that does Its work directly upon the inner lining
OF the stomach. oy exciting it to increased and
abnormal activity A dyspeptic may obtain i'm
mediate relief by using cayenne pepper. Among
the advertised patent medicines is pill bearing
the very Ominous name of its cOmpounder, the
active constituent Of which is cayenne Great
relief and temporary comfort are commonly OBJ
talned BY using 1t as 'dnner-pill." If thus
used only as a temporary remedy for an acute
and temporary, or exceptional. attack of indi-
gestlon all is well, but the cayenne, whether
taken in pills or busted over the food or stewed
most cruel OF slow pOisOns when taken hdbitt-
ally. Thousands of poor wretches are crawling
miserably towards their graves the victims of
the multitude of maladies of both mind and
body that are connected with chronic. incurabe
dyspepsia. all brought about by the habitual
use OF cayenne and its continental cousins.
The usual history of these victims is that they
began by overfeeding, took the condiment to
force the stomach to do more than it's healthful
amount or work, using but q little at first
Then the stomach became tolerant of this little
and demanded more; then more, and more, and
more. until at last Inflammation liberation
torpidlty and finally the death Of the digestive
powers, accompanied with all that long train Of
miseries to which have referred-Frona 1.-The
Chemistry OF Cookery" By W. Mdnieu Williams