The morning call., 1892-06-12
CALL QUERY COLUMN.
Strength Of Italy's Military and
Naval Forces.
Loss Of the Ship Mogul- Homestead Ttx-Bslls
on shipboard- Last Of the Challenge.
Lilith the speoter.

WARsu1Ps OF ITALY,. S., City. The
latest oficial data as to the strength of the
navy Of Italy gave it 269 vessels of all kinds
70 iron. III steel and a wooden, with
tonnage of 24O714 aud 357, ,248 horsepower
715 pnns. GA breech-loaders and Il muzze-
leaders, manned by 1924. In 1891 there
we're vice and II rear admirals. 175 cap
tajps. $50 lieutenants, a marine guards, De
sides 966 engineers and machinists. l6l Oh
the medical and sos Of the commlssaIlat
stats. ne Of the equipment bureau ana
10 6o4 men. with CSC officers and 4o,0O3 men
on unlimited leave or in reserve, giving a
total of 7O.323 for ali ranks in the navy. OI
Vrarsbips there were Il Of the trst class
with 1874 breecb-l0adeTs, IA OF the sec
ond with 106 breech and . muzzle load
ers. and y Of the third with l00
breecn and muzzle leaders 16 trans
norris Of three classes With 49 breeeh
ana4 nuzzle leaders, 80 local vessels, steel
fopedo cruisers with 90 bTeech-lOadeTs, Ol
steel ocean torpedo vessels with i Dreech-
leaders. ss steel torpedo vessels OF the hrst
class sud q of the second, - 1871 mere
were building frst-class iTonciad oI lo'o90 o'oJ
tons 5 deCk-pTOtected cruisers OF 44,s1o
TONS and torpedo cruisers OF me thllQ
class. Total tonnage building, $500, Win
- s6h horse.pOwer. of fTst-claSs Sed-gOlng
armor-clads. Three barbette ships - tle
R5 UmbeTto, Stella and SaTdegnua-WeIe
incomplete, D complete, also turret shlps
and I broadside ships, besides the tuITeI
ram AffOndatOre, the barbettes Oelng over
IS 600 metric tons, the turTetS Il, COO ana the
brOadsides 4O00. OF the second class lheIe
were 3 broadSides, II deck-protected eruls-
ers incomplete and as many torpedo
Vb, 1,r n
class will be the Marco Polo OF 446O TONS,
but the greater number ranging from -OJO
IN 5000 tons. The Italia, DuilIo and Laura
of the first class have each Upton gun
and the Re UmbeTtO Will have oo-t0h guns
The DuIlio and Dandalo, iron and steel, are
of fhe central citadel type, of which the In
flexible is the most powerful example IN tue
English navy, but are superior IN aTInd-
ment and speed, l5.5 knots IeT houE. lug
Italia aud LepautO are 400 leet long, a
broad. and have a mean draught Of water OI
80 feet
ITALY's Amy. $, City. The basis
of the military organization OF Italy Is
formed oD universal liability TO arms a
certain portion Of all the young men who
have completed their twentieth year IS
levied annually to the number Of about
100000. Of whom s., 000 are drafted into the
standing army and The others entered in
two classes. BY legislation Of June, 1891
the term of compulsory service VIII be
heightened some for some classes, and 10
secure the strength required 1oT me
war footing the annual normal contingent
Of the FIST category Is !; creased from
1900 to 80, eco, and commission IS coIlslu-
eTing some modification ~ the law OF re-
cruiting 10 reduce the number OF eNemp-
tions in the permanent army and the next
category The total period OF service under
el,, 10. rf l. fH0UuF NOT A.
ways during that period with the colors.
Tie arms of tie Italian army are divided
lnt0 the permanent army, the mobile
militia and the territorial militia. Inere are
y army corps, and according 10 me oUcial
statement of February, 1891, 14,5Uo oUceTS
and 261 ,505 troops Of the permanent army
were under arms, 1856 officers OF the four
classes of the army on unlimited leave
and 544, 456 men; OF the m0Due MI
litia. 1912 officers and AS, Goa men, and OF the
territorial militia $3.50 officers and 1,54l,yOo
men, giving a grand total OF 2so44,359. Be
sides there was the special African
corps, a force containing 241 officers (52
natIve) and 6I22 men (5795 natlYe).
SHIP MoGUI-W. Il. s.. City. o. Your
queries concerning the loss OF the ship
Mogul Of Boston, Mass, are answered by
the following, quoted from letter from the
former captain: in 1874, the MOgul while
Gn q NONdk6 1Iblu llhrl pun " Cbu 4 Au4-
cisco, and Wien in latitude II deg 53 miH.
south longitude 100 deg. Is min. west, was
found to be on fire from spontaneous com
bustion in the cargo Of coal Knowing that
we would be eventually compelled to leave
the ship, we commenced Immediately to pre-
pare for that event This was on August /,
and on August I. 1874, at P. Il,
deeming ii unsafe 10 remain over
another night on the ship we left her in
hafn in Hafifudo
20 min. south, longitude 1l5 deg. 80 min.
west, and made the best OF our way to the
MaTQuesas Islands, and on the 18th OF
August landed at Resolution Bay, in the
island Of Santa ChTistiana, The mate came
in one day later, and the second mate the
day after. Thus all the ships company OF
% persons were safely landed.
From Resolution Bay we were taken in a
small trading vessel TO Aukahiya, and from
there in a San Francisco trading schooner
went 10 Tahiti. From there proceeded in
the same vessel TO San Francisco. t21 VIII
liam Freeman was the masters name,
Thomas Smith that OF the first, and DeVer-
aux that Of the second mate.
HOMESTEAD TAx-H. II b, GOleta, Cal.
In reference to a recent answer under this
head, a correspondent from Oroville draws
attention to quotation from 'Copp's Land
Laws" relative to the taxation Of lands
embraced in homestead entries prior to the
issuance of patent therefor: 'The Su-
pTeme Court OF the United states II re-
cent case has thus stated the doctrine held
upon the general subject: While we
recognize the doctrine heretofore laid down
by this court that lands sold by the United
States may be taxed before they have parted
with tie legal title by issuing patent, il is
to be understood as applicable to cases
where the right to the patent is complete,
and the equitable title is fully vested ia the
party, without anything more 10 be paid or
any act to be done going to the foundation
of the right" 'In other words" as the cor
TespOndent puts it, when the party has
made his final proofs, and they have been
approved by the land officers. and the final
payment Of fees, etc, has been made 10 and
accepted by them, and they have Issued 10
him a final receipt therefor, the land then
becomes subject to taxation, though patent
may not be Issued for two or three years
afteTward."
BELLS on SHIPB0ARD-A. L. E, City.
The bell on shipboard is rung every half
hour, with the day commencing at neon,
so that with the division Of watches eight
bells does not signify o'clock only but rep
Tesents and A. NJ, - NJ, p 81 and u
o'clock midnight This system is in vogue
in the English navy as well as in the mer-
chant marine. The .. c. knows of no
fabled story that eight bells has never been
struck in the English navy since the day of
an intended overthrow of it, The only con-
nection Of eight bells and one Of the hours
stated with tie English navy that the Q. G..
knows of Is that at A. NJ. on August S.
1888, Sir Francis Drake engaged the Span
lsh armada in sight at Dunkirk and the bat
tie or chase resulted in the complete defeat
of the SDaniards.
OUTSIDE OF A PREcINCT''-H. II. K,
Goleta, Cal. An obliging correspondent
from OroYille also sends the following in
further answer TO a query: Section 1883 Of