The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-02-04
GUNS AND CRUISERS.
An Alabama Congressman Chats About
Fast European war ships.

An Alabama Congressman Chats About
Fast European war ships.
Congressman Herbert, who has been
abroad since the close of the last session
Of Congress, devoted. considerable at.
tention to the study of naval matterA
His service as Chairman Of the Naval
Affairs Committee in tho last Congress
made him especially familiar with the
subject, and, of course, added to his
interest in his studies and researches.
III saw the fastest cruiser ever built"
he said to your correspondent ''Shc
was just being completed by an En-
glish firm when l visited her. She Is
finished now, however, and has been
tested and makes, as / learn from the
builders, over twenty-one knots an
hour"
"How many miles is that, Mr.. Her
bertP"
"a knot" said the ex-Chairman Of
the Naval Committee, with look Of
pity for the ignorance Of the newspaper
man who don't know u knot from
mile, "a knot, my dear sir, is about a
mile and one-seventh. Apply your
mental arithmetic, and you will find
that twenty-one knots are equivalent
to twenty-four miles. As this vessel
made something over twenty-one knots.
it is safe to put down her speed at
nearly twenty-five miles an hour. or
nearly equal to fair railroad rate"
'How does that compare with the
speed attained by our new cruisers"
"Well.' was the frank reply, 'it is
considerably ahead Of us. Our new
cruisers as 1now completed we began
several years ago, and have not all the
appliances of the latest sort to secure
speed. They make something over
sixteen knots an hour. We are prom
ised, however, that one or two of the
vessels lately contracted for will be as
fast as any thing afloat in this line"
"Does this new fast cruiser carry
very large guns9"
mo; cruisers do not carry large
guns, you know. She has four twenty.
one ton guns and several smaller
ones"
"You don't call twenty-one ton guns
large, thenP"
20, no; they are very small compared
with the large guns made now."
"How large are the largest guns now
madep"
"That is little difficult to answer at
an off-hand statement, but it is within
tho limit to say that the great guns
now made, the greatest Of them, shoot
ball sixteen inches or more in dame
ter and weighing over 1000 pounds" "
"How far, do they shootP"
"Some of the great guns now made
will shoot ball fifteen miles"
Fifteen miles-you don't mean
that, do you, Mr.. HerbertP"
"Yes. fifteen miles. Of course. they
will not shoot with great precision that
distance. nor will they shoot so far as
that from the deck of a vessel. But
they. can shoot that far with sufficient
accuracy, for instance, to throw shot
into a city or among fleet of vessels
OF course, it would only be by chance
that it would hit single vessel if fired
Mt it ut that distance. In fact, 1t would
be difficult, probably impossible. to see
the hull Of vessel that distance"
"Why can not these big guns be
fired Us we'll from vessels deck IS on
landp"
because the deck of the vessel does
not offer the same firm and unyieldine
foundations: and, beside, the use of SC
much powder and such a heavy CUR
would make it likely to sink the vesse
from whose deck it was fired. You SEE
when they shoot these long distance:
they elevate the gun-that is to say
they elevate the muzzle of it, so thai
the gun stands at an angle of thirty OF
even forty-five degrees to the earth's
surface. OF course, the recoil of CUR
weighing two hundred tons, when free
with nearly one thou sand pounds o.
powder would be something tremend
ous."
''Do the improvements in armor keeI
pace with those in gunsp"
"Well, they are now using armor fol
turreted vessels. of thickness of abou
twenty.six to TWEEN ty-eight inches. Ye
they are able to make guns that will
pierce that"
"How about dynamite guns and tor
pedoes."
THAT is still in an experimental stage
The year past has demonstrated the
possibility Of throwing shell contain
ing great quantity of dynamite q dis.
tancc Of mile or so. and exploding i,
against vessel. But some of the ex.
periments have led to doubt as to the
effectiveness of the dynamite when ex'
plodeJ against the side of vessel in
this way. 1t is still in the experimental
stage. = Washington Cor. Ci,scissat'
Times.
LUCK IN A HUMP,