Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-09-21

der. Shells md TOrpedOes ar.
COstiy-A Large Number Can II,
Used In a Short Time.
There is never a United States war
ship launched but that the newspaper.
publish very complete statistics of hel
construction, engines and armament
and OF her total cost to the govern
ment. Hence few Americans know
something of the cost of building ant
arming cruiser like the Cincinnati
coast-defense vessel like the Mon
terey, or great battleship like the
Indiana or Iowa. But the expenses
of a man-of-war really begin only
when she is put in commission, and
they amount to such a large sum
that it is wonder how the poor ma.
tions, like Portugal and Brazil and
Denmark, can bear the expense oil
even a small navy, says the New York
Herald.
Let US take, for instance, the figures
for the latest United States ship put
in commission the Cincinnati. She
is 5000 ton protected cruiser. carry.
ing a complement of q officers and
293 men. Her battery consists of one
6-inch rifle on the forecastle deck
eight 5-inch rapid-fire guns on the
main deck, and two S inch rapid-fire
guns on the poop deck. The sec.
ondary battery is made up of eight
rapid-fire Hotchkiss 6pounders and
four rapid-fire Hotchkiss 1-pounders.
She is driven by two vertical engines
separated from each other by fore.
and aft bulkhead; each of these, it is
will develop something more
than 5000 horsepower. The enor.
nous ratio of horse power to displace.
ment has never been exceeded in a
vessel OF her size, and it is probable
that on the trial trip she will exceed
by one, or even two knots the speed
OF l9 knots for which she was de-
signed.
EXPENSES IN TINE OF PEACE.
The daily expenses OF running this
ship in New York harbor may be
tabulated as follows:
Pay of officers ........... ......... Sl3s
ray of crew ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 24s
Coal at 81 ton ........... ..... S iS
Total NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ...... $iss
To this must be added an unc ertain
sum, representing the almost endless
articles, from alcohol to
which are used on board.
When cruising the daily consump-
ton of coal depends, of course, upon
the speed to be made. At twenty
knots the Cincinnati would burn
about 22O tons in twenty-four hours,
while at eleven knots, her usual cruis-
ing speed, only thirty-three tons
would be burned. The price of coal
varies from $3.50 to SIS q ton in
different ports, but the average burned
in a trip around the world would be
about So. We may, then, estimate
the daily coal bill at sea at about
$500. Add this to the above expenses
and we have a daily expenditure of
1888, leaving out the coal used at an
chor.
Now, imagine the following case
While the Cincinnati is lying in some
port of the West Indies her captain
receives a cipher cablegram from
Washington conveying the informa.
tion that war had been declared
against US by foreign naval power
and directing him to proceed at once
to New York with the ship under his
While steam is being got
ten up in the main boilers all hands
are called to clear ship for action, and
every preparation is made that would
precede the call to quarters for battle.
Two hours after the receipt of the
cablegram the Cincinnati leaves the
harbor and heads for the open sea,
where every ship sighted is an enemy
until proved to be q friend. A few
days out steamer is reported from
the masthead heading towards the
West Indies. 1t is, perhaps, the
fourth or fifth time that such report
has been made, and every time the
stranger has been met with loaded
guns, behind which stood men eager
to dispute the passage should he
prove to be an enemy.
One can imagine the suppressed ex-
element that would show itself in the
faces and attitudes of the officers and
men when he is discovered to be q
hostile man-of-war of about the same
class as the Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati has already begun to
feel the new impulse due to the
greatly increased supply OF coal
shoveled into her furnaces, and the
burning of the paint on the castings oI
the smokepipes soon shows the enor'
NOUS heat developed by the forced
draught, turned on when the bugle
sounded the call to "Cast loose ant
provided"
The ships are moving through thu
water with fast increasing speed ane
are rapidly approaching each other
From the great volume OF black smok'
pouring out from the smokepipes o
the stranger it is certain that he alst
is preparing for battle.
1t is not worth while to picture tn
details of this purely imaginary fgh
between two ships Of nearly equa
strength. Let us assume that tn
vessels passed within 400 or 500 yard
of one another, and that two torpe
does were fred from the starbOar'
tubes Of the Cincinnati. After tn