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 mighty swear last
night, as, between flashes OF sheet-light-
ming and the reverberations of the
thunder, he chopped up three or four Com
greSsiOnal Records and copy OF the
"Kedge Anchor" and dipping his quill in
blood, ground ont the wonderful article
beginning Il 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 slow
bell or not, nor how the Trenton was
steamipg, 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 kind), which gives her very
warlike 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
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 board OF
Chandler's men. The other iron ship
builders, Messrs. Cramp q 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 thar
they could. OF course all OF this is an
cient now, and requires something specia
to fit it 80 as TO escape the name ol
"Chestnut," but then the thunder shove
was special visitation. That the eleC
trio fluid worked wonders may be seel
by the depth OF thought and reasoning
by which the morning paper winds u
this brilliant aggregate OF stunning news
What ought to be aimed at is ship whc
can outrun the ships of all other nations
armed with guns which can outshoot a
other guns. If Secretary Whitney can SO
cure the first of these, the War Department
ought to supply the latter.
| This is so very like the fable OF child
g hoods days about a dog and Il rabbit
=. that it comes very near the charge o
II plagiarism, and nothing but the we
II known mental calibre OF the paper il
t question saves it from that charge. Wit
G this showing as the result OF an ordinar,
, thunder shower, what nuggets of gran
J. information may we not expect if the ia
a OF yesterdays earthquake happens to ru
3 under the Rocky Mountains and ente
a this Territory?