The National Republican., 1885-11-17

| commodore Slcaru, IN MS forthcoming re-
port, "again recommends the purchase Of
swift torpedo boat abroad
This plan Of going abroad for implements
Of warfare has not heretofore found much
favor or many advocates among us, and
| has not been recommended to any extent
except by agents of English builders.
Some fifteen years ago q member of the
House naval committee asked the late Com
modore Jeffers, then chief of ordnance,
for his opinion as to the expedicncy of pur-
chasing one hundred Krupp guns for the
navy, proposing to introduce a bill in the
House for that purpose, in case the ordnance
bureau favored 1t.
The commodore promptly objected, stat
| ing that the Krupp guns of that day were
not up to the requirements OF the service,
and would be obsolete or nearly so in ten
years. He, therefore, recommended, in
| place Of the proposed purchase of the best
foreign guns Of that day which the United
| States had no immediate use for, an ap-
| preparation to improve the facilities for
making guns In the ordnance shop of the
| Washington navy yard.
"If," said Commodore Jeifcrs, "you
adopt my suggestion, you will, in few
years, have the skilled labor, machinery, and
all the facilities for making the best guns
in the world right here at home. On the
other hand, all the money you expend in
the purchase of foreign-made guns is alb
solutely thrown away"
The wise counsel of the commodore was
not disregarded. Congress made a small
appropriation for the Washington ordnance
shop as suggested, and continued making
appropriations up to the present time; and
now the establishment is turning out the
best steel guns in the world
1t is scarcely worth while to suggest the
| purchase of torpedo boats abroad when we
have dozen or more builders here at home
who are capable of furnishing the best that
can be made.
The best torpedo boat Of to-day is an un-
| known quantity. Some of these vessels are
more dangerous to friends than the enemy.
| The best American built boats are, however,
equal, and in some respects superior, to any
built In Europe, particularly in regard to
| speed.
There are those among us, however, who
profess to regard shipbuildingin the United
States as among the lost arts, in face Of the
| fact that the governments of England, Rus
sia, France, ana Spain have during the past
ten years had a large number of torpedo
boats built here, while single shipbuild-
ing firm on the Delaware has built over one
hundred steamers for South and Central
America, Mexico, and the West Indies
As long ago as Jan. 81, 1879, the secre-
tary of the British admiralty wrote from
London to Mr.. Herreshoff, of Bristol,
r. l.: "With reference to your letter
asking for certificate of the per-
formance Of the torpedo boat constructed
by you, I am commanded by my lords
commissioners of the admiralty to inform
you that the acceptance Of the boat by
their lordships is guarantee that she has
given them satisfaction
This American-built torpedo boat was
tried in English waters and proved to be
faster than, and in some other respects
superior to, any English boat of its size
and its acceptance by the English admi
rality was followed by orders for several
others.
Boats Of the same type have also been
frequently tested In American waters. A
board of United States naval officers, of
which Chief Engineers sherwood, Zeller,
and Carpenter were members, made an eX-
haustive trial in 1880 The following ex-
tract from their official report is of very
great interest In this connection
Each of the series embraced a large number
of experiments, the whole occupying about
July, and August, 1882 from o'clock in the
morning until s and 0 o'clock in the even
ing + The superior adaptabllity o.
the HerreshoG system to that of any other
known to US, for steam launches, steam yachts
steam pinnaces, torpedo.boats, small gunbo ITS
&C., Is SO unquestionable that after the mos
extensive experiments and thorough examina
tion of the subject, We are constrained Il
recommend 1t, though comparatively new,
the serious attention of the department fol
such classes of vessels. The management OF
the boiler differs from the management o
boilers of other types, but Is soon acquired by
the .humblest intelligence and we believe thC
engineering of the navy should be familiar
lied with 1t as speedily as possible, as its use i
certain to extend as its merit becomes under
stood.
In view Of these facts 1t Is not at all prob
able that Congress will appropriate money
to purchase foreign-built vessels of an!
kind.
There are about five thousand steam ant
sail vessels built In the United States ever!
year. The government can DE served will
everything II needs in this line at home
The English are, of course, ahead of us IL
the number of large ocean steamers bull
and owned in England, but in regard Il
all other vessels we are ahead of them.