The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1895-12-29
Admiral Jouett Describes What Is
Needed to Provide a
WARM WELCOME FOR ENEMIES
Vessels Like the Puritan Would DO tho
Work Admirably She ian whip
Anything Now AT oat.

which makes "Fighting Jim Jouet" an
inspiration TO the younger officers In tha
service and sets the tongues of the old
tars wagging with tales of daring and
heroism. II would be slmost idle to re-
reat the story OF his brave life, because
that is indellbly written upon the bright
est and bloodiest pages OF the Nations
history
Admiral Jouett. hearty and jocund. and
bearing his years as though his body was
as young as his heart. was met by a re
porter this morning. and the talk naturally
turned on the subject of our coast de-
| feEses.
1--WE are virtually unprotected along our
coast lines now" said the admiral with
IL serious expression. Our coast cities are
al the mercy of any foreign fleet which
may visit them with hostile intent. The
| conditions should not be allowed to con-
! tinue any longer than II will take common
sense, which Is another name In this in
stance for the instinct Of self-preserYat!on,
ana money 70 remove them. General
Miles" continued the admiral, recon
n ended In his last report the erection OF
lire of fortfcatons along the coast.
| They would cost ssO,OO0,000 or 800 lOo. TIN.
and would undoubtedly be very good
things. but It is difficult TO see where they
would be effcacious when modern fight
ing ships can lie off twelve, thirteen or
fourteen miles from shore and set our
cities on fire, while it would be impossible
70 see those ships when -hey were more
thar eight miles out from shore.
I'VE have the means at hand to protect
ourselves from foreign attack In abund-
ancc without indulging in experiment.
What we want for the safety of our coast
and It's thriving and popuous cities are
forts to be sure, but not stationary forts.
Floating forts are the necessary adjuncts
to our system Of protection against loss
or Invasion from without
Yes we have them now" he went on,
in reply TO the reporters question. The
Puritan IS the most powerful fighting ma
chino afiOat She Is simply inVlllnerahle
TO attack and irresistible IN assault. That
is the type of vessel we need--the monitor
class modified - meet requirements.
Look at the Monterey" continued Ad-
miral Jouett. with ring Of enthusiasm
IN his tone The reports of the navy de-
partment from CAPTAIN Kempff are rev
elations TO the student Of naval warfare
In one Of those reports he declares that
while at sea In the Monterey he expe-
rienced two gales MS strong and violent
as any he had ever known.
"In pitching tossing sea on both &C.
casious he ordered the men to quarters
and fought the batteries without difficult
ty. wnen. he declared, It would have been
impossible to have fought the battery OF
an ordinary man OF war. Another point
IN one OF the rel orts from Captain Kernpff
| Is remarkable In another important par
! tlcIlar. The average ship of war is pre-
vented frequently from rendering neces-
sary service by reason Of her ir manse
draught. when the Monterey was at the
mouth Of the Columbia river she found
! there a merchant vessel that couldn't get
over the bar The Monterey. however,
went in and slipped over 1t without diff
! f.culty
sfTNhErn sEonld ha cat A.
| niral Jouett. with all these splendid OBJ
| lect Lessons at hand, for the government
| TO hesitate an instant IN selecting the
| most efticarious mode OF protecting our
| sea coast cities"
Again referring to the extraordinary
| fighting machine which we have in the
! Puritan, Admiral Jouett said:
! Il consider her capable Of whipping any
| bat .leship af1At for these reasons first
| she carries very heavy battery, whic'
she can fight In any srnway; second. shf
! has a twin screw and Is easily maneuvc @
and third, she has but 30 iucdes fire.
board. which can't be seen two miles ant
/ which presents only n very remote oppor
tunity for getting stucl, Ia a bat-le. 4
/ bH .tlcship, on the contrary has from z
/ 10 50 feet free board from the water lin
/ up that presents good targ7t At dis
lance from which the Puritan's deck
| can't be seen.
"rhIs class OF vessels" continued Ad
miral Jouett, draw but II feet of watei
against over 80 feet nv a bat,leship Tht
| Puritan can geek harhCrs aud inlrts of 9
secluded sort and run out at will anr
strike the enemy. Her decks viii admit o
! the finest possible torpedo pia forns. anc
! the cost of such n magnlh2eut hghtiqi
machine as this IL .th>ut a million and
quarter against four millions and over ro
/ n haitleship And. too. a monitor like tn,
/ puritan can be built in half the time
! hattlesh.p can.
II should consider our Northern .coas
perfectly secure" added the admiral. 81
sd
| these home-defense vessels
at should not be our policy to build ex
pensive battleships," he went on, earnest
ly when such ship as the Puritan car
do all that a battleshp can do and more
Tho monitors have been reported as un
steady gun platforms, but Captain Bunce
who took the Monadnock around the Horn
TO California many years ago, reporte,
that she was absolutely steady and SAT
at sea. Tho recent report of Capital
kempm, of the Monterey. taken In con
nectiou with Captain Bunce's conclusions
completely disproyes the tn DRY that mont
tors are unsteady gun platforms
What We must depend on II; the futm
uro powerful home and harbor dcfens
vessels of light draught that can go gu
IN any weather, hight OF day. ana driv
or . squadron Of battles hips when ca
~ the way, be seen az night al quite
distance Rnt present admirable tUrscl
for heavy guns such as the bols | spea
OF should carry. The most vunerdbl
EAR, of a commercial nation is her ,on
nGce. AZ the powerful home dcfuns
vessels are Leeded 10 make us secure i
hOmr so they should be supplements
with twenty more OF such commerce do
sire yers MS the Columbia and Minueapt
lis, which. though capable OF hgntinK
successful hattie. should he employs
| SVlCiy to prey upon tho shipping OF IN
country With whom we may be at va
| aud under 10 consideration be permitl.A
TO GRht battle unless forced Into It,"
Dbe tables that accompany the repoI
Of Chief Constructor Hishborn uoniai
, some interesting statistics of the SCI
, NCfable fleet. new and old, as II stand
, az thls time.
Wt have, built and building, eight ba'
tloships. These are the Indiana lew.
MoiDc, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas an
the Kearsarge and her maze III
last two viii be the largest II
= So tons, although the Iowa Is clos
upon them with II 400 tons. fht three
, the Indiana Class are of l0,2SS tons eacl
the Maine of t6s2 and the Texas of 63l
The Speed record IN held by the Mlin
: with l7i5 knots, although this. 1t Is tru
was en- mean draught OF TWO and a ha
! feet less than the normal ana displac,
I mem OF only too tons, The highest horl
poNtr goes 10 the Iowa-ii. 0O1-and 81
! also has the largest normal coal suppl
and bunker capacity the former being b
I | IA nj D.. la h.. 10 IL