New-York tribune., 1896-09-27

electrically operated steam whistles electric motors
for various purposes helm indicator transmittcr |
cncina tcleGraphy. and the range and position |
finder AS for the electric fght. ne declares II to
be a "sne qua in modern warships." and says
that the principles previously laid down have been
proved correct in practice and the present develop
mcnt is along the lines Of an increasing supply of
lights and the gradual Improvements Of details of
wiring and insulation. The number Of officers and
men acquainted with electrical things has naturally
increased and this has broughr about better
functoning Of the apparatus used necessary
result Scarchights OF automatic feed controll-
bic from a distant point. have proved practicable:
but considerable diversity Of opinion II seems. still
exists as to whether not they should be high
above the water low down and the advocates of
the high positions gaining ground. Electrically
operated steam whistles have recently been tried
in both warships and merchant ships with proms-
ing results" he goes "Thcy do no. interfere
with the ordinary method Of sounding the whistles,
so that their seems to confer distinct adj
vantage with no offscttine disadvantages. The use
Of electric motors Is clearly the increase cspe-
cialy for ventilating the training Of turrets and
the hosting OF ammunition Perhaps the advan-
tages Of electric power over steam are more oh
vious in the matter OF ventilation than in any other
field the principal gain being in the fact that the
necessity Is avoided tor thf trcmendouns ar huctS
living spaces. and the substitution of a number OF
1, is wanted instead Of the large steam blowers
for which room Is 50 hard to find. The military
advantage of the small electric ventilator is
that may easily be overlooked; but it is we'll
known fact that in many ships the steam blowers
have had 10 be placed above the waterline and re-
main absolutely unprotected. This means that i'm
the early part Of an action the blower supplying
one more of the magazines may. and probably
will he put out OF operation by very insignificant
cause. making 1t absolutely impossible for the mon
to remain in the magazines For training guns. the
practice Of employing motors is becoming limited
TO turrets the mechanism being arranged I'm such
a way that hand power can be used In case of ac-
cdcnt .
''In the new warship Brooklyn. two OF tho tur-
rots are 10 be turned by electricity and by
steam the idea being to have absolutely fair
competitive test under service conditions at sea.
Steering by electric motors has been accomplished
in several vessels the most recent apparatus being
I'm some of the 'whalebacks' on the great lakes IN
the Brooklyn the experiment will be made Of steer
ing by electricity. by means OF what H. called
tele motor. There is doubt. perhaps. about
the advisabllity OF using electricity for steering
than for any other of the uses to which auxiliary
engines are put In ships. because nobody wishes
i"teIv reahIe and because steam eering machin-
cry is good that little is left to be desired
Lieutenant Fiske says that when one reflects that
a vessel rolls from side to side in about eight
onds on an average. even under very good circum-
stances she rolls more than one degree per second.
and that with the modern guns an error or ten
minutes OF arc In elevation OF a gun above the
of about 100 yards the distance the procctile will
go and that In the case OF ii ship $500 Yards dis
the projecte about twenty-five feet above or be-
low the point aimed at. I'VE see that 1t Is neces-
sarV to the gun" continues the officer In such
a way that less than ten-sxteihs tone-sixth
OF "A secondJ OF time will elapse between the time
that the gun captain makes up his mind TO fire the
gun and The time that II Is actually fired. The adj
vantage OF electrical firing over percussion and
friction firing therefore twofold. In other
words the time clapsing between the Instant when
the gun captain makes up his mind to fire and the
instant when the gun Is actually fired Is very much
shortened. Second the gun captain Is able to keep
his the line OF sight until the gun Is actually
fired because. since his fingers alone have to act.
his head Is not jerked TO one side as IL Il by the
physical effort Of pulling lock string.
''rhe range-finder has been tested for somewhat
more than five years, and has been finally adopted
by the Navy Department. IL has naturally under
gone some changes during the process OF evolution
10 perfect the instrument. The most important use
OF this instrument would be when the opposing
fleets disposed In columns approximately parallel.
would be manoeuvrng 10 gain a tactical advantage.
and using their broadsde fire. to secure the maxi
mum efficiency from their guns"