The evening times., 1896-11-19
WATER SCOUTS.
The Little Torpedo Boats that Skir.
mish Under Water.
BY EMILY VANE.


At the NEWPORT naval station they have
good fun, the best of the season. the Of
ficer says, exploiting and experimenting
with the torpedo toat Gushing. under coni-
maDd Of Lieut.. Fletcher. or course, the
beat Is named after che young hero who
sank the rebel ram Albemarle during the
war. He did the great deed with sort OF
rough. imperfect torpedo boat, one OF the
first built.
The purpose of the torpedo boat is not
only to blow up bigger vessels with tor
pedoes; her duties have developed till that
is almost overshadowed by the part She
plays as a scout and skirmisher; SOME
body has said that In the navy the cruisers
are the cavalry, the battlcships the iu-
fantry, the monitors the artillery and the
little torpedoe boats are pickcts and spys.
or course then 1t is a great object with the
torpedo boats to see without being seen
tn act on the sly.
The torpedo boats are an American in
vention; they have been built different
sizes; but the tendency has been to eli
large them since the Stiletto, one OF the
first. was built The Stiletto carries only
one officer and ten men; the new boats
have a crew from thirty to forty all told
but these men have no room To spread
themselves about in. The space is mainly
taken up by the powerful boilers that
make these the fastest boats In the world.
Berths that fold up like those OF a sleep
ing car are put in every corner and turn
that offers little space. In action every
one stays below, and the very chimney
stacks are built short and tlat, so as to bt
as inconspicuou3 as possible; with all the
great fires that drive the powerful boilers
no spark comes from these stacks; that is
provided against. The shape YOU can guess
from the name OF the Stiletto-it is as
long and harrow as possible. and the
torpedo boat cannot only run faster than
any other-but she can turn a nd dodge in a
way all her own.
The Ericsson is one OF our newest tor
pedo boats, and on her trial trip she was
gorgeous in W hite and gold, even her
smokrstacks, If you please, We're gilded;
but all this splendor was only a holiday af-
fair, she Will never &c into action in any
such shining splendor. those soldmarkei
stacks would catch the CLEAN OF the search
light much too radiantly. No, 1t has been
decided that dun olive green Is the color
that is the hardest one in the dark, 81 "A
dun olive green is the color for the tor
pedo boats.
Another great point is that these boats
shall he as noiselcSs as possible. During
one of the recent eNpcrim ents- with the
Cushing, one IF the officers oil u cruiser
in the harbor said lie thought he could
ic:ir her, though the searChlight revealed
nothing in sight, but another officer replie..
emphaticaliy: Hear her: you are not
likely to hear her for she makes no more
hoise than a sewing machine"
Torpedo-catchers have been invented 10
fight the torpedo boats, and one in England
oD her trial trip made 33 miles an hour
We have no torpedo-catchcrs, but If war
came on us suddenly, doubtless many of
our fine steam yachts in private hands
would at once be bought for the service.
OF torpedo boats we have only a few
dozen, while England has hundreds. and
Germany, France, Italy and Russia have
each about 200, and even Japan has ] 20.