Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-03-01
THE SHIPS OF UNCLE SAM.
TWIN SISTERS TO THE YORKTOWN
 NEARLY READY TO LAUNCH.

They Arc the Concord and the Benniug-
 ton, and Here Will Be Found Elab-
 crate and Interesting Description of This
 Particular Type of Cruiser.
 The Yorktown has proved herself so speedy, and to possess such fine weather ly qualities, that it is very satisfactory to know that her twin sisters are so nearly like her in every important par ticular The Bennington and Concord are partially protected cruisers, with three masts, carrying fore and aft sail only, and they have the game dimensions and displacement of their elder sister. The contract for building them was ex- ecuted on the 10th of November, two years ago, with Messrs N. F. Palmer & Co.,, Chester, Pa., who were to have completed them within eighteen months, the contract price, exclusive of anna ment, being $40Q, ,000 for each vessel.
 In this particular they differ from the Yorktown, the cost of which was some 335, GOO less, and the time allowed for her completion but twelve months. The horse power guaranteed to be made is 3,400, bonus of S100 to he paid for each horse power developed above ts contract figures on trial; but if those figures are not reached forfeit of $l00 per horse power will be exacted. The engines, which are of the horizontal triple expan- l sion type, are to drive twin screws, and are being built at the Quintard Iron works, in New York. It was not ex- pected when the vessels were designed that the amount of premiums would ex. ceed Sj,000, which would represent but fifty horse power above what the contract calls for.
 Although tho. time for completing these vessels was originally to expire last May, and has been extended. the con tractors are now paying forfeit for being behindhand with their work, and unless the horse power developed is greatly in excess of what is anticipated, the pre- miums will hardly compensate for the cost of the delay. The very apt name of "the eyes of the fleet' was, in the days of the old time sailing vessels, bestowed on the frigates, whish were kept well in advance of the line of battle ships to observe the movements and conlbina- tions of the enemy's sguadrons and re port them as quickly as possible to the commander-in-chief, i'll order that he could so dispose of his own vessels as to catch the enemy at the greatest disad- vantage.
 Such title would by no means be a misnomer to vessels of the sizo of the Concord and Bennington--witht this ex- ception, ill our own particular caso, we have not succeeded in thus far getting the fleet of battle ships-as their speed in an emergency and their ability to cover about 6,000 miles under economi- cal steaming conditions render them ex- tremely valuable for scouting purposes Their other duties are to SCOUT the seas, fight vessels of their own class, destroy commerce, and, in fact, be to the navy what cavalry very often is to an army. These cruisers cannot beat off un enemy's fleet of ironclads sent to destroy our sea port towns, nor could they hope to sue cessfully engage in battle with coast defense vessels.
 As may readily be seen, their powers both as to offense and defense are lim ited, and no nation could depend solely on this type In our navy, however, thi. class of vessel will always be more nu- merous than the ironclads. It is no easy matter to keep track of an enemy and his commerce while at sea, and many : fleet footed vessels arc required