Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-09-01
STARTLING INFORMATION.

The naval editor of the morning Repub
lican paper swore a mighty swear las
night, as, between flashes of sheet-lght
ming and the reverberations of tn,
thunder, he chopped up three or four Con.
greSs6on0t Records and a copy of the
"Kedge Anchor" and dipping his quill in
blood, ground out the wonderful article
Beginning Navy" which ornaments
this mornings paper. After wading
through lot of contradictory twaddle
we come to the wonderful fact that the
U. s. Steamer Trenton, recently outran
the Occidental and Oriental Company's
Steamer. This is quoted to show that
we have good ships still in our navy,
Notwithstanding the columns of stale
puns and timber editorials that paper has
published, in attempting to poke fun at
the said navy. 1t does not state whether
the merchant steamer was under a slow
bell or not, nor how the Trenton was
steaming, only that the latter beat the
former into Gibraltar. The Trenton is
the longest vessel in the navy, and has
proven the most costly to keep in COM
mission of any ever in the service. She
is fine looking ship, and all Admirals
on the European station want her for her
very roomy quarters, and her heavy bat
terry (of the kindly, which gives her very
warllke appearance, but for years she has
been considered unsafe as a sea boat, and
has cost for repairs and strengthening
three times her original cost, in the past
ten years. She never steamed over
thirteen knots and then her consumption
OF fuel nearly beggared the Department.
She dared not fire both broadsides at
once, and in sea-way she works and
bends longitudinally, enough to start the
pivot-gun tracks on her deck. Yes, she
is fine ship. Then the huge Joke is
sprung that at the recent investigation to
pick out ships for an auxiliary navy, all
the vessels selected were built by Roach.
This is cited as huge joke on Secretary
Whitney. There were two vessels of the
required speed selected, and both were
built by Beach, but they were built under
the supervision of private firms and there
was no chance to work in a board of
men. The other iron ship
builders, Messrs. Cramp l. Sons, and the
unfortunate Commander Gorringe, were
frozen out OF competition by the favors
granted Roach by the Department, and
which enabled him to build cheaper than
they could. OF course all of this is an
cient now, and requires something special
10 tit it so as to escape the name of |
Chestnut" but then the thunder shower |
was special visitation. That the elec-
tric fluid worked wonders may be seen
by the depth of thought and reasoning
by which the morning paper winds up
this brilliant aggregate of stunning news:
What ought to be aimed at is a shin which
can outrun the ships of all other nations.
armed with guns which can outshoot ali
other guns. If Secretary whitney can Sc
sure the first of these, the War Department
ought to supply the latter.
This is so very like the fable of child
hoods days about a dog and rabbit
hat 1t comes very near the charge of
plagiarism, and nothing but the well
Known mental calibre of the paper in
question saves it from that charge With
his showing as the result of an ordinary
hunder shower, what nuggets of grand
may We not expect if the tail
II yesterdays earthquake happens to run
lnder the Rocky Mountains and enter
his Territory?