The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-01-19
COST OF ROYAL YACHTS.
ENORMOUS GUNS LAID OUT ron
THEM m The OLD WORLD.

Admitting the Importance IN VVu""S
which has a monarchical form Of govern
mcnt that the splcndoE and dignity OF
the sovereign should be maintained. The
London Daily News remarks that there
are extravaoant rs well az reasonable
methods Of maintaining all the splendor
and dignity that mag be desirable, and
few people who give themselves the
trouble Of inquiring into the subject will
be found 10 deny that an enormous
amount Of money has been Decdlcssly
wasted in connection with royal yachts.
Great Britain is far from being the
only country in which such wasteful ex-
ponditure has occurred and is occurring.
Russia is a great transgrcssor in this re.
spcct The late car already possessed
half dozen capital yachts when he gave
orders for the building Of the notorious
Iivadia. Sho was 10 be the largest and
most magnificent as well as the most
original yacht in the world. Unlike all
other vessels Of the kind, she was to DO
CONSTRUCTED with beam equal 70 two
thirds Of her length, so that she might
not roll, and the imperial family might
be spared the horrors Of seasicxness.
She was 10 be supplied with three screws
70 that she might DO handy as well as
fast And upon her spacious deck was
20 DO built a voritable palace. The plans
were carried out, and the Livadia was
launched at Govan in 1880.
ExTRAvAGANr GLARS.
o. Probably no one knows what she
COST but it is certain that from first 10
last considerably more than G500, 900 wa
extended or Der. Yet her imperial own
ar would have Nothing to say TO her. As
a Yacht she was S-colossal failure, and
TODAY she is onlyuseful! as a kind float
ING barracks in the Black Sea. The pres
ent car is. nevertheless, cA2ending o
further 100000 over new vessel
which is 10 be called the Polar VI"
Zvezda. and which, should she be a sue
cess. will havcall the magniiicence, near
" all the size and more than the speed
and hardness Of the discredited Noah's
ark in which his majesty once hoped TO
take his pleasure.
The cars extravaganza does not IN
lure us. Neither does the yachting ex-
travaganco Of the young German emper-
or who, although he possesses in the
Hohenzollern one Of the prettest and
most comfortable craftof the kind afloat,
has Just applied 10 his faithful subjects
for grant Of money equal to e220,OO
in order that he may build himself anew
yacht. These examples are interesting
10 the British taxpayer only because
they illustrate what appears to be very
general tendency on the part Of the Eu'
ropcan royalties. It is not until the tax
payer comes TO consider the royal yacht
question as it affects him personally that
he experiences any very discomfortine
shock.
Her majesty at present enjoys the use
Of -four yachts and tenders. The yachts
are tho Victoria and Albert and the Os-
borne and the tenders, which for all prac-
teal purposes are yachts also, and the
Alberta and the Elm. The Oldest Of the
four is the little yacht Elm, which was
builta Chatham in 1S49. and which is Of
only ninty-three tons displacement. She
originally cost eG,lGs, or about e66 Is
ton The Enchantrcss, the present ad-
miralty yacht, is a beautifully fitted
craft of 600 tons displacement, yet her
o.s-i.ot ooct ,roa -athar lose than car
ton. 1t is clear, therefore, that, at the
outset, the Elm was an expensive bar
gain. She has now been in existence
forty years, and, during that period, with
out reckoning the wages Of the crew and
the price Of her consumable stores, she
has cost an additional sum Of over e4O,-
600, OF, on the average, more than 81 ,OOO
year, her total cost up to date being
about G47,0OO. II is as if an ordinary
citizen had bought a house for $4,000
forty years ago and had since spent f4l,-
OOO not in adding 70 it, but simply keep
ing il in repair The little Eliin at this
moment has cost the country over $500
for every ton of her displacement
COMPARING ENGLISH VESSELS.
Next Of the four in point Of age is the
Victoria and Albert, the largest of the
royal yachts. She is Of 2,470 tons dis
placement and was built at Pembroke in
1865. Her original cost, inclusive Of in
cidental dockyard charges, was el76,S2O,
or over e7i a ton. She, too, was expen-
sive at the outset. In the thirty-four
years which have since elapsed-setting
aside as before the wages Of her crew
and the price Of her consumable stores
she has cost, including incidentals, an
additional sum Of more than e3o7 900,
or on the average nearly $4,000 year
her total cost up 10 date being, rough
" speaking, e565,OO0. AS she lies in
Portsmouth harbor today she has cost
the country about e225 for every ton OF
her displacement. Third in seniority is
the Alberta, which was bu4t in 1868 at
Pembroke, and which is Of $40 tons dis
placement. We regret that we have not
succeeded in finding out the exact
cost Of this vessel. We are informed
that il isabout 10000.
We believe it to be more; but, accept
ing the estimate, we pass on 70 the
fourth and newest Of the royal yachts,
the Osborne. She was built at Penn
broke in 1870 and is Of 1850 tons dis
placement Including incidental charges,
her original cost was close upon flS4,-
900, or about e72 IS. ton. In the nine
teen years that have since expired she
has cost, including incidentals, but eX-
GLIDING wages and price Of perishable
stores, over ei5O,O00, or nearly $4,000 a
year. There has, therefore, been sunk
IN her a sum Of about Gl53 for every ton
OF her displacement, or some G2S5, 900 in
all, and the expenditure that has been
incurred on the fabric and furniture OF
the four royal yachts is not less than
$3.50. 900. We have good grounds for
supposing that it is very considerably
over 81 900, 900. The average expendi-
ture per ton Of displacement has been
moro than E2OO on a total tonnage Of
4,0s3, and the average ago OF the four
vessels is about 20 years.
That a great part Of this large sum OF
cocO 600 has bocn wasted becomes tOcra-