Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-02
BIGGER ARMIES AND NAVlES.
Eur"pe's General Increase in the Forces
of War.

of War.
/ Although the peoples of Europe mar.
mur more and more in oppoSition the
+ burdens of militarism are growing
Leading statesmen of several of the
great nations have lately expressed
opinions and given semi-ofiical intiml.
ton that the limit has been reached
but there is no cessation in the activity
ana magnitude of preparation. The
French military budget, the FrcncE
marine budget and the Austrian mill.
tary budget for 1891 were commune
Gated TO the legislative bodies of the
respective countries two weeks ago
In each case provision for increased
armament was asked.
The budget of the French War Min
iStry demands credits amounting to
636.lol $50 francs. 1t provides for
2S,:i.lJ officers. which is 215 more than
i'll the present year; for 526,O4S men
or S,3ol more than this year, and for
I l4l,059 horses, 534 more than in 1S93
The French marine budget for 1891
amounts to 261 100000 francs. OF this
amount SOOOO,OOO francs are to be de-
voted to the construction of new YES
SclS. There will be put on the stocks
this year. according to the programme
I presented in the budget three 12.OOO
/ iol llbuClitiS, Two uESl-claSS cruisers
eight Sccond-claSS cruisers, one torpedo
despatch boat, and twenty-four torpedo
boats. Provision is asked for the COM
plction during 1894 of other vessels
already in course of construction. rs
follows: Eleven ironclads, five armor
I bcltcd cruisers, one tirst-class cruiser
five Sccond-claSS cruisers. and two
third-class cruisers, in addition to tor
pedo, despatch, submarine, and other
smaller boats There will thus be- in
lS94, about Il hundred war vessels in
course of construction or equipment
for the French navy
Economy and retrenchment in mill
taly matters have been talked in Aus
tria lately, but the Austrian military
estimates for 1894 provide for "neces-
sary expansion of the army. The
number Of officers will be increased
additional horses will be purchased,
and the artillery will be ''reorganized"
on Il broad scale. Seven hundred and
thirteen additional officers will be
GaZetted to infantry regiments during
lS94. like increase of officers is pro
iccted for the rifle battalions. and Il
few will be added to the cavalry. az
tillcry and medical corps; but these
reforms will extend over several years
A brigade of artillery will be added,
making sixteen instead of fifteen, and
Il total of SiXtyfour regiments of field
! artillery Additions will also be made
to the fortress artillery. A telephone
corps is to be attached to each army
corps.
There has been an enormous increase
in the strength Of European navics
during the past year or so, and the
Austrian Naval Minister calls attention
to the fact that during last year Great
Britain added to her fleet more vessels
and Il greater tonnage than that of the
whole of the AustroHungarian navy
! put together. TWenty-one ships, repre-.
senting III, 200 tons displacement. was
England's addition to her navy in 1892
Russia approached most nearly to
Great Britain in adding to her feet
during that year. and most of the great
powers notably increased their naval
strength. The report of the Naval Min
lister says there was an almost fever
ish activity in building during 1892.
which strained the resources of many
State yards, as well as of numerous
private firms. If, as some wise men
argue, the armament of the nations is
the best guarantee of peace, the millcn-
MUM would seem to be at hand.
All the vessels launched last year by
the more important countries We're az
mored ships of the line, with protected
hullS and decks, with a displacement
between 10000 and 1900 tons, the
former being more general. The ar
NOR consisted mainly of steel or com
pound plates, and in few cases of
nickel steel. Nickel steel was also
used to some extent for naval guns
The most notable innovation in ma
chincry was the use of three screws in
some of the larger vessels The use of
petroleum has been abandoned on war
ships, on account mainly of the risk Of
fire. The big guns of 100 to 40 tons
continue to give way to those of lighter
calibrc, the new guns being, at the
most, not more than siXty-eight tons in
weight, with calibre of thirty-four
centimetreS, against forty-five cent?
metres in the big guns. Many experts
consider this reduction in calibre as
premature, in view of the recent i'm
provements in ships armor. There was
il great increase in the number of
quick-firing guns of medium calibre up
to sixteen centimetres. The general
use of smokeless powder, for guns of
all calibre. is considered by the COM
pliers of the Austrian report to be only
question of short time. The White
head and the SchwarZkopf torpedoes
are the only ones yet adopted for Of
fcnsive operations. The experiments
with submarine boats are noted as not
being very encouraging, and that form
of vessel is not considered to be Seri-
Gus factor in naval construction as yet.