The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-17
HERBERT AND THE TEXAS.
SECRETARY SAYS SHE Is A
GOOD SHIP.
The Idea That She Is Valueless Is
Erroneous and Should Never
Have Been Uttered.

Washington, Dec. 16.-The navy DEPART
ment issued an official statement TODAY
to demonstrate that the battleship Texas.
instead OF being in any degree a failure.
ranks with the finest warships in the
world, and is not surpassed by any Amer
lean naval vessel.
The occasion for this announcement is
Secretary Herbert's approval of a court
OF inquiry record. which found no one
responsible for the unfortunate founder
ing of the vessel recently at the New York
navy yard. Secretary Herbert's state
ment IS as follows:
In giving out the action of the de-
partment on the findings of the recent
court OF inquiry, as to the accident which
TesuItea IN the sinking OF the Texas at
me navy yard, New York, l have con-
Guided to depart from my usual custom
and make general statement about this
snip.
cident about which this court of INQUIRY
was held, could not have occurred at sea
that il happened because a part of an
injection pipe had been taken out for re-
pairs, and that the ship was promptly
raised without having suffered any ma
terial damage.
so many criticisms of this vessel have
been made that the public. or a part OF il
at least, may be disposed TO regard her
as valueless.
1t would, of course be very desira HE
could be turned over to the government
by contractors and by navy yards in alb
solutely perfect condition, but this has
never been done. either in our own or
any other navy.
"A modern war vessel is an aggregation
OF complicated machinery. and no expert
expects ship to be at its best until il
has been shaken down by q cruise OF
months and tried thoroughly in all its
parts.
1T is believed that we have made fewer
rnan nation and certainly loss
mistakes than most others in the build
Ing of modern navy; yet there were
two of our ships. the Texas and the
MachiaS. that had TO be cut in two and
heightened. There were three others. the
Detroit. the Montgomery and the Marble
head. in which * was found essential to
make far more fundamental changes than
have ever been found necessary in the
Texas. and yet the latter ship probably
becaIse the question of her availability
as naval war vessel was mOoted from
her very inception, has been subject to
an unusual amount of harsh criticism.
1T is sometimes stated that there are
naval officers who are stealthily and sur
reptitiously aiming through the press to
have the public condemn a vessel of the
United States navy. IF this were true.
there would be no condemnation too
strong and no punishment too severe for
such conduct
.'The Texas has been cruising as
part of the North Atlantic squadron for
the past four months, since her bottom
was stiffened at the Norfolk navy yard
Captain Glass. one of the most efficient
and reliable officers of the navy, who has
been IN command of her, declares that
she is the stiffest, most easily managed
and entirely seaworthy ship in the serv-
ice. Captain Robley d. Evans. COM
manding the Indiana. holds the same
opinion. He says that when the fleet on
the 18th of October, was on its way to
New York in a hurricane. in the worst
sea he had ever encountered. the Texas
showed the she was the most seaworthy
ship in the fleet The Indiana was Just
ahead of the Texas and just behind the
Maine which is the rival ship of the Texas |
she having been built upon the plans of
the latter altered in the department The
Texas rolled only five degrees, while both
the Maine and Indiana were rolling very
much more Captain Evans says the
Texas, all the time. had a perfect gun |
platform and he was in a fair position to |
Judge of the relative merits OF the diff |
ferent ships. Captain Evans says that |
the Texas in her seaworthly qualities was /
far superior to them all. Admiral Bunce !
zorro borates this statement.
This controversy about the Texas has