Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-05-15
A Big Naval Review.


lS92-WHAT WE SHALL HAVE TO SHOW.
1t Is not unlikely. says q Washington
correspondent of the Sun, that. whether
Congress takes any specific action on
the subject OF not. great naval review
will be held in New York harbor in
October. 1892, by order of the Navy De-
partment. In the first place, that year
will see the completion Of nearly all the
vessels that have been under cOnstrUc-
ton since our new steel fleet was under
taken, and the desire to have parade
and maneugers with such Of them as
can be got together and spared from
station duty will be like that which
stimulates the annual review OF the
British navy at Spithead. Besides. the
action of the old world may lead to a
naval demonstration. We are apt to
forget that Spain and Italy, at least.
take a lively interest in the Columbus
celebration, and do not propose to be
told that it is none of their festival.
And the year they take an interest in is
1892. Moreover, the great fact which
occurs to them TO commemorate is that
Columbus made a famous voyage.
Castelar's project is to have a fleet of
vessels representing the nations of the
old world that took part in the discovery
and colonization of the new. make the
voyage in company from Palos to San
Salvador. Perhaps this idea may be
developed in time to fitting up one of
the vessels to represent the Santa Maria,
the Pinta, or the Nina. AT all events
it is not improbable that some sort of
embassy may be sent in the autumn of
1892 from the old world, and if IT should
have naval escort it would have to be
received with naval honOrs. Out of
that need alone would come naval
preparations. and the British and French
vessels on their station upon this side
of the Atlantic would undoubtedly Jon
in, so that even with the best will in the
world to have it otherwise we should be
forced to something besides an inland
fresh water celebration of the great
voyage of Columbus.
We need not be ashamed, also. of the
show we can make. There will be in
1892, to begin with, the present squad
ron of evolution. headed by the flagship
Chicago, of 1880 tons displacement,
one Of the most powerfully armed ships
Of her size in the world The Atlanta
and Boston, of 3, 1S9 tons. are also very
heavily armed cruisers The Yorktown,
of ZOO tons, will long before then have
been Joined by her sister ships, the
Concord and the Bennington. The
little Dolphin, l, 4S5 tons, the pioneer of
our new fleet. will figure in her primary
functions of a dispatch vessel. and the
nj M
mission, joined by the new practice
vessel of the naval academy, which is
soon to be built. The Baltimore of
4, 400 tons one of the fastest vessels of
her class to found and of good arma-
ment, though not as powerful as the
Chicago's. will be on hand, and the
Charleston, of 3. $50. is another vessel to
be proud Of Faster even than the
Baltimore, perhaps, will be the Phila-
delphia, of 4.3C0 tons, now nearly ready
for trial, while the San Francisco and
Newark, of 1858 tons. are not likely to
be far behind in this respect.
We shall also have complete by that
time our seven new vessels built for
batteries Of rapid-fire guns, two Of 5000
tons. three of 1000 tons and two OF
l.00O tons each. we shall have our
novelty, the fast Vesuvius, and our
pioneer torpedo boat, the Cushing, pos
sibly with half dozen more to keep her
company. We cannot expect to have
either the 5.500-ton protected cruiser or
the 8,100-ton armored ship for which
bids have Just been asked, as the time
allowed to complete the former is two
and a half years, and to complete the
latter three years. But our armored
vessel Maine, of 6,648 tons, might be
finished, even if we are not to count on
the battle ship Texas, of 6,3l4. OF the
coast defense vessels it would not be
impossible to have the Puritan and one
or more of the 1915 ton double turret
monitors completed. without counting
on the Monterey