The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-03-25
DEMON OF THE DEEP,
SOMETHING ABOUT THE TeRRl6ls
moNsTERAT PORT ROYAL.

MONS EK Al eOH hOI Al
ucr Guns Belch Five Tons Of Steel NJ
Single Blas,--Heaviest Armament OF ANY
Ship In the World.
PORT ROYAL. March 2O.-W nile
Spanish students are burning Auleit =
can flags, and Americas congress is
undecided as to whether the exercises
of courteous magnanlnlty OF irresls!1
BILE force would be best IN dealng WIZ WIZ
the effete descendants OF the once an
powerful Spaniards in securing a falr
fobt in Cuba. must not the bones OF
Lncas de Ayllon, resting somewhere
hereabouts, turn in their grave at the
SIGNIFICANCE Of the demonstration here
for the past day or two. And the shade
of that doughty Spaniard, the fore
runner of all Europeans to this coast,
must tremble with chagrin that tne
port which he first entered three ana
three quarter centuries ago IN search
of indians to use as slaves, shoulo DC.
come the scene of jolli6cation Tor me
people of this new nation who hold the
power of his old country IN SO !lst!e
dread. Out upon the bosom OF tnls
grand harbor lies grim lsVia.nan n:s nan
bearing aloft the colors OF thls new
country and before whose angry oreatil
the most powerful ships of SPAN. S
navy would shrink as men OF ola dlo
from the fire. breathing dragon OF my
tholoey. Within the range OF vision
is also the accomplishment OF enlgl'
neering skill backed by natures smiles
and a rich country's gold-or silver.
The largest dry dock in America IS on, on
Paris island, and the astronomers telt
us that on March % these two stars OF
naval architecture, the one on sea- ana
the other ashore, will be IN conJunc-
ton.
By the time the keel of a great war
shin is laid the magazines OF the coun-
try give accurate technical descriptions
of the ship as she will be when com,
pleted, with a representation OF her as
She will be some years later cleaVlng
the green waters of the Atlantic: SO
such description of the Indiana
would now be out of date. The snip
must be seen to be realized, ana II
would probably require several days
devoted to close inspection 70 enaole
one to fully comprehend her many
wonderful parts.
On approaching the Indiana | was
impressed by the smallness OF her ex'
posed surface to the guns OF an enemy.
T,vino low in the water and painted a
light brown stone color, she Is not
CONSPICUOUS at miles distance. Her
great steel military mast with hgntng
tops-or round armor.protected plat
forms in which are mounted machlne
guns 80 feet above the decks the
most conspicuous part of the ship at a
distance. This mast is, of course, mol
low. the communication with the
fighting tops being by ladders up the
interior. At the deck the interior OF
the mast is about Is feet in diameter,
tapering up. Its weight, with the
fighting tops, is 1000 tons.
On the Indiana are the largest guns
ever mounted on an American ship
and the most effective Of any cannon
in the world. She mounts four can
non that fire steel projectiles 3inches
in diameter and weighing l, 100 pounds
each. These guns protrude the'r long
black bodies ~ feet beyond the steel
turrets which protect them: These
turrets look like huge brown dishpanss
turned upside down over the guns and
with slits cut in them through which
the muzzle may peep out, as 1t were,
to sight an enemy. But they are pans
made of the hardest steel known TO
man and IL inches thick. The me:
chanism is so perfect that the gun and
turret revolve to the pressing OF but
ton which sets electrical powers In
motion. The 13-inch guns are loaded
by hydraulic power; all the others on
the Ship are loaded by hand. Each
turret with its great guns weigh SUI
tons.
There are eight S-inch and four g.
inch rifles, each protected by turrets
similar in construction to those of the
13inch guns. Besides the machine
guns in the fighting tops, the ship also
mounts 20 3.pounder rapid fire Hotch'
kiss rifles. She is also supplied with
six torpedo tubes for projecting into
the sea the terrible Whitehead torpe'
do, loaded with 500 pounds of gun
cotton, and supplied with a storage
battery, propeller aud steering appsra'
tus. They can be so adjusted as to
run at any desired depth under water
and in any direction for 800 yards.
Steamiug up between two ships OF
an enemy and delivering simultane
ously single fire from all her guns
this demon of the deep will hurl forth
1000 pounds of steel and with force
that makes pale into insignifcance the
most terrible stroke of a thunderbolt
ever recorded. No other ship in the
world can cause such destruction at 6
single blast, and no other ship is sc
securely protected by such tremen
dously thick steel armor from the as
saults of an enemy.
Down in the interior there are won
ders to behold. The many uses tt
which electricity is applied is astonish
ing. A big room, full OF dynamos ot
the most improved description, woult
be an hours paradise for an electric
ian. During battle these dynamo
furnish auxiliary power in many ways
All of the ammunition is brough
from the depths below and supplied t.
the firing squad at each gun, the tur
rets are revolved and all the mino
machinery kept in motion by electric
ity.