The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-10-05
VOL. XXIV.-NO. 4S.

Is, OF course, enormous. 10 stop 1t, cylln-
ders filled with water, glycerine, or some
times with air merely, in which piston
works, are used. The largest guns are
thus stopped after a recoil of less than six
feet. The gun-carriages rest on heavy
steel or bronze tracks, and they, with the
heavy guns, are turned by machinery; the
guns are elevated and depressed by ma
chinery; are run in and out by machinery
they are loaded in many instances by ram
mers driven by machinery; the shot and
shell are hoisted to the gun by machinery;
the gun can even be fired by electricity,
and not by the pulling of lanyard The
machinery spoken of is usually actuated by
compressed air or hydraulic power, some
times by steam, and will probably in the
near future be driven by electricity
All modern ships have in addition to
the heavy guns-that is, guns of over five
or six inches bore-what is called secon-
dairy battery of revolving cannon; rapid
firing guns, and Gatling guns. The so-called
revolving cannon are made up of several
| rifle gun-barrels of from one to two inches
calibre revolving about a central axis. The
bIeech mechanism, which is stationary, is
/ Sc constructed that each barrel is success
sively loaded and fired as it reaches GER
tain point.
A rapid-fring gun is rifed and throws
a steel shell of from one to six inches in
diameter Like the revolving cannon the
smaller sizes of these guns are SO fixed as
to have no reeoil The breech mechanism
is simple and there is a shoulder-piece so
arranged that man can aim and fire the
gun very much as hewould fire an ordinary
musket. These guns are mounted on the
side of the ship, or even in the "tops" on
the masts, very much as were the old cul-
yerines in the days of the Flying Dutch
man, and can be fred fifteen or twenty
times a minute, while revolving cannon can
throw many more shell in that time, with all
the accuracy of Springfield rife.
The masts of the Texas are short and
serve merely as signal-poles or for carrying
platform on top in which viii be placed
Hotehkiss gun. Her bulwarks and
bridge bristle with those deadly weapons,
and few lighter cannon, with the great
turret- guns, complete her armament above
water. She has in her hull tubes leading
to the water out of which torpedoes can be
projected toward an enemy's ship on the
water Her sides are nearly as high as
those of an old frigate; for she is meant to
go to sea.
Over her upper deck, resting on sup
ports or cradles, are two fast torpedo-boa
fifty feet and upward in length Near
them is powerful crane, by which they
are lifted out of their cradles and lowered
into the water Across the decks are two
bridges sneh as any ocean steamer has for
her captain or pilot, aud well forward is a
pilot-house built Of iron and steel in which
the captain will stand in time of action
With very few exceptions our old ships
of war had one set of engines and one
propeller; nearly all modern ships have
two propellors and two sets of engines
There are in this arrangement many
advantages. As there is less strain on
each engine when the power is thus
divided, they are lighter and the various
parts can be more readily repaired, when
necessary, than in the enormous engines
Of modern ocean steamships with single
screws Again, the small propellors used
make it possible to build ship with less
draught than if one large one were used,
and still keep the propeller under water,
and bulkhead or partition which sepa-
rates the TWO engine-rooms strengthens
the ship and reduces the size of the CON-
partments, into which, in case OF injury
under water, water would flow. 1t would
not be possible TO enter on description
of the various types of engines or to emu
merate the different engines on a ship.
Where it has been possible to do so steam
and even electricity have been made to
take the place of manual labor, so that a
modern warship has become one vast
machine-shop.
On the bridges spoken of are great
electric lights, so arranged that they can
be turned about in any direction, and the
light is, by means of a very powerful
reflector, so concentrated that it is daz-
zling at distance Of several miles. By
means of the lights the ocean can be swept,
searched, and. in clear weather, very small
vessels are distinctly brought to view at
distances of from two to three miles.
They are called search-lights, and are of
the greatest value to ship in looking for
an enemy.
The bow Of the Texas is built with
projecting ram, for as in the days of
ancient Rome, the ram is again one of the
most valuable of weapons in sea-fghts.
During the rebellion the ram was con-
stantly used as weapon Of attack. The
largest ships of the Federal navy were
not infrequently strengthened at the bows
by additional timber to resist the shock
when ramming an enemy, and many ships
built during the wsr were made up for
ward of solid mass of timber several feet
deep.
In modern war-ships the ram is rarely
omitted. The cutwater of these vessels
curves outward to point several feet
under water, which forms snout-shaped
ram. II is often solid casting of steel
OF bronze, and is stiffened and strength
ened in every way possible. The protect
i've deck is carried down into the snout to
give it additional strength, and in general
everything possible is done to resist the
bending and twisting strain the ram is
subjected to when striking an enemy's
vessel.
How powerful the blow of a large ship
moving eighteen miles an hour is it would
be difficult to describe Nothing, appar-
emily, seems able to resist the blow of
ram, and in the cases of the accidental
collisions such as those between the Brit
ish ironelads Vanguard and Iron Duke
and the German ironclads Kurfurst and
Kaizer Wilhelm the vessels struck sank,
in spite of powerful pumps and water-tight
compartments.
OF course, ram is built to strike
vessel below the armor, where her sides
/ are thin and where shot could not reach
/ on account of the water. To prevent the
vessel from sinking, all modern steamers,
whether war-ships or merchant steamers,
are divided into numerous compartments
of such size that if one or even two are
open to the water the inhowing water
would not be sufficient to sink the ship.
Again, the bottom of an iron ship is built
with an outer and inner sheathing, which
are several feet apart. Thus, if the outer
skin is pierced the inner skin will still
keep the water out of the ships hull and