The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1893-05-13
SWIFT DESTROYERS.
FASCINATING FIGURES ON THE NEW
... EST WARSHIPS.

hOW Ouf new Navy Has Been Built Up.
The Detroit Is Pleasing surprise-Ar-
genttna's Crack Cruiser. the Nueve de
Julio, Eclipses All Records.
The recent growth Of the United States
navy is justly a matter Of pride and Joy
to all Of us, and since the recent oppor-
tunity for comparison with other nations
in New York harbor-our pleasure is
by no means lessened. AT the great naval
review the Argentine Republic rather as
tonished the rest Of mankind by appear
ing with q cruiser that can make 284
knots an hour and is therefore claimed
to be the fastest afoat. The United
States, however, held her own hand
somely in the general exhibit, but for
full appreciation of the comparisons to
follow few words of history must be
prefaced.
When the civil war was officially de-
clared at an end, the government had 469
vessels, of which 191 were originally
merchant vessels and were soon restored
to that service. Many others were sold
and reftted for the merchant service,
and so rapid was the decay as well as
the change in naval warfare that nearly
all the others were soon reduced to the
value Of old junk. In truth, the navy
was got rid Of only little less rapidly
than the army, and all at once the ceun-
try woke up to the fact that it was prac-
tically without a modern navy.
In 1881 naval advisory board was
created, which reported that for proper
defense in time of war this nation abso-
lutely needed 81 armored vessels, 10 un-
armored cruisers, s rams, s torpedo gun
boats and 20 torpedo boats. On March
8, 1888, the act was passed ordering three
cruisers and one dispatch boat. The
contract was awarded to John Roach &
Sons, and SO the reconstruction Of the
the Boston, Atlanta and Chicago, and
the greatest speed averaged by any Of
them was 151 knots.
Secretary Whitney then took control
in the Cleveland administration and was
confronted at the start with the fact
that a complete revolution had taken
place even while the Roach vessels were
being finished. Compound engines had
given place to twin screws, and twin
screws were fast giving place to triple
expansion engines. The first result was
the Newark, built by the Cramps at a
cost Of 81, ,245, 900, with triple expansion
engines which maintained 19t knots per
hour for four hours. Then came the
Baltimore, at a cost Of $1,325, 900, with
engines which outdid those of the New
ark by very slight fraction. And SO
the improvement went on till the San
Francisco was put afloat with a horse
power of 10,400 and speed Of 20.17
knots. And now we are promised three
more at an early date which will main
tain speed of 81 knots for some hours,
and after that still further advances.
In the meantime, here is the Nueve de
Julio, which can go at the rate of 234
knots per hour and slipped across the
Atlantic so quietly that her arrival at
New York was complete surprise.
Though an Argentine ship, she is Eng
lish built and came fresh from the fa-
nous yards Of Sir William Armstrong,
| Mitchell & Co., Newcastle. Her name
means 9th Of July, which is independ-
ence day to the Argentines. She went
first to the Azores, and her trip thence
to New York eclipsed, for a continuous
run, the best showing Of the fastest At
lantic liners. No other cruiser in the
world can compare with her on long
run, but Italy and Spain have gunboats
which can outdo her for short distance.
Sheis a large steel unprotected cruiser,
driven by triple expansion engines which
revolve twin screws. The speed guaran-
teed by her builders was 22.7 knots. She
has $500 tons displacement, a horse
power Of 14,500 and carries 10 long and
"a quick firing guns. At first view it
seems incredible that such bulk on SO
yielding surface as that of salt water
could go at almost the average speed of
passenger train, but what is seen must
be believed.
About the time Of the Nueve de Julio's
arrival the new United States cruiser
Detroit made her trial trip in front Of
New London Conn, and was at once
pronounced the fastest in the world of
her class. Her contractors, the Colum-
bian Iron Works and Drydock company
of Baltimore, had guaranteed II knots
per hour, and she made nearly 10, SO
they will receive q premium Of about
100000, the largest ever paid by any
government on the completion of vessel.
A. AhE|h N.