Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-01

osy or March, 1899, In comparison with
the same ss,it existed on the 4.h dsy of
March, 1855, and furnishing q list Of
srmofed vessels herstofore authorized by
congress, the secretary says:
"So far IS arriored ships are cor cerned,
the subIeci Is yet to be treated In broad
way by the department. ana by congress.
At the presens, time Me conditions srs
such that everything & necessary 70 fist
Glars lighting ship csn be produced and
furnished TO the department. In this ceun-
try as soon as in course Of construction or
any element or feature Is REQUIRED; but
this hiss never heretofore until the Sres-
ent time been true, and therefore corsid-
Grafton OF the subject has been necessa-
rily postponed py the department until
the present time. The Efforts CT the de-
parsment In ship Construction have reces.
sarily sinces March, 1885, been devoted to
unsrmed vessels, snd IS 10 these the de-
paItment Is able to report that when the
ships 49,. q. s.s.., - - :.
a IN ceURsE OF. CONSTRUCTION
and those authorized shall have been
completed The Uaited States will rank
second among the nktions In possession
OF unsrmed cruisers or commerce de.
stroyers, having the highest characterize
les, viz: OF eizs 5000 tons and upward,
and possessing speed CT nineteen kuots
and upwards. The importance which
has been placed upon this br.sca OF nAv7.
armament will oe appreciated from the
statement that England and France pos
cess sixty, five vessels Of this class known
as unarmed cruisers. The attention Of
the world WAS attached to the destructive
effect which WAS produced on the COM
merce Of the Uaited States by cruisers
fitted out under the auspices OF the Com
federacy in the war OF the rebellion. The
total tennsge OF registered vessels Of the
United States had risen yssr bv year I'M
I'll In 1861 il amounted to 2, 642 .62S tons,
and hetweea 1861 and 1865 Il sss reduced
TO 1872. 926 tons, or, 10 other words, to
the point which We had reached in ls49,
from which decline
WE HAVE NKyRR RECOVERED,
Tie insufspce risks upon American
vessels during the war were in excep-
tional csses as high as Is per cent. Sir
Charles Wilson, director general Of the
ordinance survey OF Great Britain, re-
Gently stassd that III th>re Is one point
H1er than smother In the history of com,
merce It Ia thie, that when a slate can
not tn.ctuslly protecs It's carrying trade
In time OF wac that trada passes from
1t and Goes mot return;' and Lord
Charles Bsresforo, lately member OF the
board OF admiralty, in the same .connec-
ton stated" To day one haifthe people in
England would absolutely have no bead
to est but for that which comes in over
the seas. It Is matter Of life and death
for you TO protect commerce, and you
have not ships to do 1t with. We cannot
protect our coast but we can
RETURN BLOW FOR BLOW,
for we shall soon>oe N condition TO
launch large and fast cruisers against the
commerce Of An enemy. and s6le to irfi!c.
most serious and lasting II ury thereon"
With regard to the production OF power
by machinery the report says:
discrimination OF the state Of the art In
1885 led to the CONCLUSION that the ma
chinery Of raval vessels ought
to be so designed IS to
produce ten-horse power for
esca ton Ct machinery, and II was deter
mined to make ths. standard and enter
into no new contracts thl. were not
based substantially thereon. The plans
Of the machinery were purchased abroad,
which upon trial had the appropriated
result. Builders were authorized 70 bid
upon the plans submitted to competition,
o. were permitted to submit their own
plans, but were obliged to guarantee the
results determined upon By the depart
Con,iu,ked IN FOurth Pozs