Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1894-06-28

lni> IL lHOAod41u ways the united
States viii be compensated for such
expenditure. In the first place
there Is the honor of IT, That is dis
ttnctly worth while. Then there Is the
Increase Of facilities of mail transpor-
tation That Is important But most
important of all is the utility Of Amer
ican passenger ships In case of war.
Both the New York and Paris were
built as auxiliary cruisers for the Brit
ish navy. When they became Ameri-
can ships IL was understood that in
case of war they should be turned over
TO the navy department on demand II
such an unhappy time were to come
they would prove very valuable On
short notice they could be transformed
ipto cruisers of great power and speed.
They are so constructed that guns
could be readily mounted. and while
they could not be armored so as to
meet in battle any of the foreign men
of-war, they are SO rapid that they
could readily escape from them and do
great damage TO unprotected com
merce. The ships which are now being
built for the American line by the
Cramps, Of Philadelphia, will be pro-
vided with these appliances and many
others. In case of war the American
line heet would be one of the most
valuable branches of the United States
navy"
do you think. then, that the United
States will ever be commercially SUI
preme on the sea-
7 see no reason to doubt IL. We
have made up our minds to it, and we
generally get what we make I'D our
minds to One of the things which
may lead TO II Is the use of the great
lakes as an international waterway.
OF course no man can tell whether or
not this will ever really be brought
about but II does not seem more i'm
probable that the Erie canal will be
enlarged into passaReway for ocean
going ships than il must have seemed
years ago that II would be built at all
l have not studied this subject. and
know very little about the engineer
ing difficulties which might be encoun-
tered. IL is possible that they would
be so great as TO make It impossible to
profitsbiy enlarge the channel, but
that does not seem likely. If the time
ever comes when ocean steamships
may enter New York harbor and sail
thence by the Hudson river, Erie canal
and the lakes to Chicago and other
great interior ports a revolution win
be worked in the commerce of the
country such as we have never before
even dreamed OF"
What do you think, Mr. Grfsoom.
would be Chicagos position then
among the cities of the world? Would
she snrpass New York2H
mo, do not believe that that will
ever be possible New York viii re
main the metropolis of America and
win probably become the greatest city
of the world. But Chicago would. of
course be greatly benefited, and other
lake cities, like Buffalo, Cleveland and
Detroit would grow to magnitude
and Importance as yet upthought of.
If such a great ship canal is a CONNER
cial possibility, IL win undoubtedly be
accomplished. and it will be the great
est of all Americas great achieve
ments
Has the .aximum of speed in ocean
vessels been reached?"
y y
means increased size. as matters stand
now, and the harbCrs of the world will
not permit an increase of size The
entrances to them are too shallow. For
instance, at low tide there is only
thirty feet Of water over the New
York harbor bar The biggest steam
ships now draw twenty eight of that
thirty feet That leaves at the out
side only two foot possibility Of In
crease OF size, and there Is no likeli-
hood that method VIII be devised for
cutting and keeping clear deeper
channel through a bar situated as IS
that If New York harbor
No greater power can be developed
in ships Of the present size until a new
fuel is devised At present six-fif-
teenths of an ocean passenger steam
ships tonnage consists Of coal and ma
chinery. All this enormous percent
age Is utilized TO its highest possibility
in ob+aining the speed of the present,
and with each extra knot the amount
of fuel and the weight of machinery
increases in more than geometrical
ratio. For instance, one famous ship
has maximum speed of 2l.6 knots an
hour. Another llns beaten her BY only
seventy-nine minutes on the voyage
across the Atlantic, but in order to at
tain this increase Of speed she has to
burn six hundred pounds of coal TO
the others three hundred pounds As
long as this is true IL will be of course
impossible TO build 0 ship whose in
creased speed viii be Of any CONNER
cial importRnee-that IS, matter of
dollars and cents in savin9 Of time To
passengers or shippers"
is there any pathway open now, so
far a. you know, toward IA new fuelP"
Nothing practical, think 1t has
been demonstrated that OH is an en-
tirely successful fuel, and, Of course,
il talfes up much less space ana weighs
less than coal. but there Is not enough
of IL The Pennsylvania railroad. for
instance. ma lie extensive aud elab-
crate experiments with it. and finally