The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-08-14

the thistle and renamed her the
Meteor sent him the picture next
day, for L believe it is etiquette to give
to crowned heads that which they ex
press an admiration for. And 1 wasn't
certain but that l should have to give
him the ship before we got away. He
wanted to see everything, and you
couldn't fool him little bit by making
hazardous answers to his questions. He
must see it for himself. Why, he
wanted to see how the steam-ppes
were ferruled on. He wanted to know
about the temperature of various parts
of the ship. For instance, he wished
to know the temperature of the dynamo
room. Down we had to go, deep under
the protective deck and into the room.
Fortunately, the temperature was as l
had stated to him; but the room is well
ventilated, as cool, in fact, almost, as it
is here where we now are. How do
you get it p he asked. Il can't get that
in my ships"
"How about the drill and discipline
of the German navy?"
THE GERMAN NAVY.
1T is exceptionally fine in both the
English and German navies; but the
results in the German navy are astonish-
ing, as had occasion to learn. | was
the only officer Of any navy aside from
an English admiral to witness German
fleet evolutions. A message reached
me that the emperor would be glad to
have me attend the evolutions if l could
be ready at six o'clock in the morning
l was ready and was put on board one
of the torpedo catchers. We followed
the feet of ten ships out into sea room,
and could not but admire the precis.
ion with which the squadron was ham
died. They advanced in line and the
distance between ships was absolutely
exact They were going about twelve
knots an hour, and at given signal
the torpedo boats and torpedo catchers
were signalled to pass ahead. Away
we went, right in between the ships,
the little boats abreast, and 80 close to-
gether as to make me ask myself if it
was worth my while to go out there to
be killed. Why, the boats were 30
close that it seemed they must crash
together. My boat was sent in at a
sidewise angle to the two ships we
sought 10 clear, and l thought of good
many things; but 1 soon had reason
to know that the man in charge knew
his boat thoroughly. And they know
their boats and their ships because they
are drilling constantly. Six hours in
the day, every day in the year, Sundays
not excepted, tells the story of German
naval efficiency obtained through drill.
That is the way to make navy and the
only way, and then they have homo
geneous fleet, four line of battle ships,
and 80 on, in equal numbers through
the various classes. Then they had
fifty torpedo boats tied up to the wharf
in line ready for action.
admiral Knorr is one of the best
men in the German navy, but the COM
ing man there is Prince Henry, the
younger brother, He is
born sailor, an enthusiastic yachtsman,
his own yacht, and he is
master machinist-as good an engineer,
in fact, as any have on board the
New York He knew everything in
the New York's' engine-room, save
pc ssibly some new devices. He has
twice declined promotion to an admit
ralcy, declaring that lie first wished to
become acquainted with the captains
duties, but this fall he will have to &C.
ccGG rt, as he is the ranking officer, He
is not large man. He is above me-
dunn size and of rather delicate phys
ique; but he is burned to bronze
from being constantly on the water,
and every movement betray the trained
athlete.
STANDS THE WEATHER WELL.
"The ship was as steady as a rock.
had made up my mind to see what
she was good for on this trip if oppor-
tunity presented. Here we have fine
vessel, but have never known whether
she would fulfill all the requirements,
one of the most important of which is
to be able to fight her guns at speed
and in a sea. l now know what she
can do. l have been in command of
the ship year, but had never been
able to test her in gale, in the simon
pure article as you get it in the North
Atlantic. 1t had been said that she
could not make fourteen knots in a
heavy sea; but l said to myself she
could, and proved that she could. No
waves came on board, although every
thing was wet with the spray, and once
wave struck us counter and portion
came over, lifting the skylight and let
ting six or seven gallons of water down
into this cabin. 1t was nothing;
swabbed up in few minutes. We
made that speed with two-thirds boiler
power, and l went far enough to satisfy
myself that with full boiler power the
New York could make twenty knots
in gale, and still keep fighting clear
of water. That is record do not be-
lieve any ship of any other navy can
show. You see, we are high out of the
water, and our gun deck is protected all
the time. Then there was little or no
motion at all, never enough to interfere
with accuracy of aim. The criticism
of foreigners against our ships has been
that they make good targets. Very
true, they do; but it should not be for.
gotten how many shells can pass through
a large ship without disabling her.
Then our men are protected by the
spar deck and in turrets, and by the fact
that they are widely separated over the
ship. Take the old-tme frigates, and
10 L i