Birmingham state herald., 1896-11-08

| thence forward the main deck runs with out break to the bow. Again we see G. | inch guns, this time two, one on either side, and, like their fellows to the rear, | peering outboard through six inches of toughened steel. On this deck, too, rests the powerful steam windlass, which will raise the ponderous anchors as though they were feathers, and here also, con- siderable portion of the crew will be com fortably quartered.
 From this deck we enter the barbette or circular support for the great guns and turret above. Through solid walls of Harveyized steel fifteen inches thick, we pass in and up till we stand within the balanced, elliptical turret, of like mate rial and thickness save in front, where the guns peer out through slanting de- fective face two inches thicker. Within this sheltered space the guns are loaded and pointed, the turret turned from side to side through an arc of 270 degrees, and up through the armored passage come the shot and shell to feed these murder ous monsters.
 These guns, forty feet long and four feet through it their thickest part, ire a shell of tempered steel of HOO pounds, impelled by $50 pounds of powder; and the projectile leaves the muzzle with a velocity of g. 100 feet a second and power
 enough to penetrate twenty-three inches of steel fifteen hundred yards distant
 So powerful is the scorching blast or
 these ponderous weapons that the decks,
 for many feet within the radius Of that
 fire are covered with heavy plates of
 steel. Up few steps, between the guns,
 and we stand upon small platform
 Here, astride small saddle, within easy
 reach of electric buttons and several
 his head protected by the heavy sighting
 hood, the divisional officer will control
 this battery and bring it to bear upon the
 foe. If ones mind can compass such
 power let him know that the muzzle en-
 nf Of tbagn nipCpq is R 627 tOnS
 force equal to raising the whole ship
 three feet in one minute, and that With
 this impetus the shot has possible range
 of twelve miles and more. To come be-
 tween a mass like that and its journeys
 end means to take blow, the magnitude
 of which the consequences only can make
 appreciable to the mind. Picture the de-
 structiveness of four such guns trained
 upon a single point!
 On the berth deck two flights below,
 will be housed the major part of the offi-
 cers and crew, and way aft will be sta--
 toned some of the 6-pounder guns; and
 on this deck, too, will the sick be tended,
 the food cooked, ice made and the living routine of the ship conducted. From abreast the after barbette for ward to the stem, the water-line region will be shielded from gun fire and torpedo attack by a belt of Harveyized armor seven and a half feet wide. four of which will be below the normal draft line. From the after barbette to the forward bar bette, this belt will have a maximum thickness of sixteen and salf inches; tapering to nine and half at the edge be- low the water; and from the forward l barbette on to the bow this armor will gradually diminish to four inches. At each end of the thickest part of this belt, l. e., abreast the barbettes, there will be an athwartship bulkhead twelve inches thick to oppose an enemy's raking fire On top of the four heavy walls thus formed will rest flat protective deck two and three quarter inches thick, and within this strong steel box. below the water, and beneath many feet Of coal are | the two sets of triple expansion engines, | one on each shaft, in separate compart- | ments. having cylinders of 33.5, 51 and 7S inches in diameter and common stroke | of AS inches while eight large boilers, | having a total grate surface of 6S5 square | feet and heating surface of quarter | of an acre, in four different compart- | ments, will supply, at working pressure | of 1S0 pounds, the steam needful to re- | volve the two 16-foot screws 120 times | minute when making the maximum re- 1 ouired speed of sixteen knots.
 Forward and aft of this armored space, | the protective deck will slope to below | the water line at the extremities-being | three inches thick forward and five inches | thick aft; and, forward, forming the | backbone for the muderous ram.
 1 A complete belt of corn-pith cellulose, | a substance swelling rapidly when wet
 and capable of plugging automatically l shot holes admitting water will be | worked from stem to stern, .augmenting
 the protection granted by many feet of | coal and the six-inch steel along the ar | mored sides above the heavy belt.
 | Besides the numerous water-tight conn | partments into which the craft Is cut for
 safetys sake. a double bottom, reaching | from the keel up to the lower edge of ths vater-line armor, horeycombed by min
 ute subdivisions, will help to localize | damage of every sort
 Large fans win induce the need'ul | forced draft. and rrmps of great capacity will circulate water, feed the boilers | clear the biircs and flooded con.part- 1 ments, and be ready for use against sires
 The least possible amount of wood will