The sun., 1896-08-24
|INDIANAS MIGHTY GUNS.
,HEr MADE THINGS JUMP WREN
FIRED AT SEA.

into the Air By che Concussion of M
zach Rihe-FirinE Bie Game IL no Fun.
Raven war vessels OF the White Squadron, not
.nl,. an Immaculate az they were when they
,.ued out of this port on Aug. 1. dropped an
,hor vest terday morning OF Tompklnsvilo and
aApletou. The patriots who. on muesy days.
tr.oucnt tho breexy shores of Staten Island
,,ver have seen nobler assem- blage OF Yankee
A.,,ie ships and cruisers tugGing at their cables
40 the upper bay.
There was one ironciad. the double turret
monitor Amphitrite. Mt anchor when the white
,bips came in. She became Immediately . part
Of the squadron. which arrayed itself In double
column, bearing north and south. Close to the
staten Island shore were the cruiser Cincinnati.
The Amphitrlte, and the cruisers Raleigh and
Newark. on shore from this quartet were tho
.thtvly cruiser Columbia, tho battle ship
Indiana. natchless in her class; the flagship
. New York, and the battle ship Massachusetts,
which has pever before been In these waters.
Every gilt-laced officer and sturdy bluejackct
WAS weary from the almost uninterrupted labor
4 Of twenty two days, and the fesh of every one
was sore and red from the nitro in the immense
quantities OF powder exploded on the cruise,
unparalleled In its results by any other ever
| undertaken by the new navy.
Rear Admiral Bunoe and Capt Schley OF tho
4 flagship New York were jubllant. Their uni
form. and those of all the other officers were
nearly spoiled by the silicate-like precipitation
from the vast quantities Of powder shot from
every battery. and the decks Of the ships were
Scared by big powder grains.
Barring injuries TO hulls and men. the SQUAD
ron looked much as It might look after enEaR-
ing real enemies adoat. Everything will DO
put in shipshspe and Bristol fashion. This
week, and when Ii Hung Chang comes mp the
har ill nnt on1v NkN vrAa al
that came in yesterday. but also the second-class
battle ships Texas and Maine, the ram katah.
fn fss %es Viii sas
first fleet of steel war ships ever gathered here
% ron:. and a squadron consists Of less than
twelve line-of battle ships. 1t 10 probable that
HS9f Chang On hi o
come. N "a tne swift Yankee msrehan.man.
The squadron. after II steamed down tho coast
on Aug. /, spent nine days in naval tactics and
Signalling with Tags and whistles. and at night
irhts The ships put into Hampton Roads aud
coaltd. and on Aug. is sailed for this port.
Ou the way up they INDUCED In squadron
evolnticns and target practice on . scale never
before attempted by our ships The capabilities
ouea taf si'i 10 hrse @ % dsy. hard % drnS There
wa. not one hitch IN tho ran1uyrins. Rear
Admiral Luce saJs OF squadron evoiutiona:
,ipi.d practice viii eSer spasie ofesrs to saedIe
their slips so SIX iIfully as to Insure the invaria-
Hrsr Admiral Bunce endorses this sentiment.
he officers Of the white squadron never had
line, coIunu. eohelon. and double echelon.
,enerves OF ofiicsss AID men. their command
i've ey % the ship. shss
!"ttery practice. the like OF which on 30 large
ascale had never been attempted before.
Never were so many thousands of pounds of
.S. afs fSdsns sna
tsits Is described By her officers and men 80
terrific; nm
/ beu: from the cable. was blown from the port
How and thirty feet into the air BY the mighty
inca gun. hred ahead at q triangular canvas
target set in the sea. The anchor as It struck
cling battle ship. spiashed spray on her deck.
Ths projectiie from the gun missed the target
This target practice was the feature Of the
cruise up the coast. II demonstrated that the
men g. n. guns and their oommsnders are
aboa, twenty five feet nigh and ffteen feet wide
running I. about eleven W knots. The New | York led
Jszed away away with her forward battery. Follow
Ing !, un with a cannonade from her waist, and
Some Of the projeetiies from the big and little
rhrs pierced the wings of the canvas target.
Any one OF them would have hit the hull Of an
The lndiana followed the New York, and tho
Sra seemed TO iremble with the vibration when
her main battery let its ponderous missiles
loose. Every gun on the port side barked or
Iosred Ns o5 ihundered at the target. It was
vessels.
The awful concnssion made the mon at tho
greAt rifles temporarily deaf; the nitre from the
powder blisicred their faces. and powder grains
deM IrecAing them with noies more than half
al mel deep.
The 1000. pound anchor few from the how MS
n ia "a al hlV VtaA rf.f HRAf
gun. Capt. Bob Evans was too busy to stop to
Investigate the loss of the anchor: besides. the
cruiser Raleigh was EteaIning at an eleven-knot
riEht on shooting OF more Hunpowder and steel
Ever ygs:e was as cleared les for for action betore shc
passed the tarset. Thst was the signal thai
Hniierri 'HIt!;!r from the flagship Just be-
ioFe tte 'c'rn Willie lighters formed in column
t1sho't Al TIE canvas target.
lhe5 "ere in the same condition they would
%m " engaged In actual battle. Most OF the
that il i lad been even a aoo.foot ship there
Gfs. on Ss nSana 81 and
ffhnsetts have been fired before but not In con-
The battle ships These % riaes s." are % the biggest
usen oy Uncle SANS warriors. anoat or ashore.
The RalsisG, %hicn' followed the Indiana.
nolas the record for gunnery not only in our
S"TJ o%n navy, but among az the war ships Of tho
Ing the target almost at the first flre, and the
shplps a'iern Of her fred at wreck.
PVT out new target, which she did. -Four
ulnes Tie ships OF the squadron passed the tar.
Get nnd four times they belched tons OF steel
Ihat made the sea around the bobbing triangle
coast,
,,Ihe Raleigh won tho honors Several times
t,he sgnal Well done, Raleigh" was displayed
rom thc flagship. Naturally Capt. Miller and
hieut"hant- Commander William j. Barnotte.
" executive officer OF tho Raleigh, were elated.
from thc hai"igh's main battery 207 shots were
nred within eight minutes.
There WAS tactical mhnsuyrinR on Wednes-
aay' Next lay the signal OF " man overheard"
was ,el o" me flagship. From every Bhip OF the
. T.aurnh NE buoy. representing man, was
Wro"n alto the sea.
Eng.Les were slowed down and finally stopped.
ana iileboals were manned In q hurry, swung
out from the dayits, and Lowered. Tho alert
mates again.
Their ilteboat was the first TO take tina water
a sna lhey had the suppoaltitious man aboard be-
tSI,s Srs, any other boat: The cneinnati was the
snseqat Sns ,n was back and In the chooks,
SSsL the RaleIghs boat was ahead OF them. and
Ssdh Sah get the credit because the officer OF tho
week week iailed to signal secure" until two min
Stes after the boat was aboard:
p,en, Un ridsy the squadron ndulged In torpedo