The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-03-22
WEAKNESS OF SPAIN.
Her Treasury Il Poor and Her
Navy insufficient
wAas~'ss OUT o. BATE.


- Oues-Ths ouUsssse1av -
Our NGAeng VESTS.
Nov Yofa Son.
The pe4noanal reasons Why II = thooght
the spanish government win think twice
before rushing into war with the Unsfed
States are the poverty Of her treasury
and tho fnsumcisncy Of the spanish meet.
The Spanish people. however. from All &C
counts appear 70 b IN state % 1enss
ignorance rogardfng the power OF the Unit
"a States on land ana sea, a. well ~ the
Immense resources ~ the disposal Of the
American government. Even the upper
glasses Of the Spanish people. noted the
world over for their pride and self-s'n-
6ctsncy. have altogether failed 70 realize
the power OF this republic and the dec1ged
condition Of their own kingdom
Military authorities cay that The ngnt-
inx. In case Of . var between the United
States and Spain. would b confined to the
ssa, after the seisure Of Cuba by American
forces. The campaign In Cuba would nat
uaily be Q brief one. and II u not improba-
bic that the island might be occupied ~
the United States troops without dfing
. shot or striking . blow.
A41NIn4 O2l VI 0(CV0kfS W. tsSssvv
strength Of the two nations on land. and
comparing merely the fighting efficiency
of tho navies Of Spain and the United
States. Il viii be seen that Spain has few
armored ships. and that most Of her Wat
yssssls are Gunbcats which would cut no
figure In q naval war under modern condt-
tons.
Spain has, Of course q number q voe-
sails that are obsolete, such - olosSoDoou-
ed wooden ships, ana other Draft pressed
into service for guarding her colonial pos
sessions These. while swelling ths NUM-
Der Of war vessels nying tie Spanish
l3aG. should be left out Of the cempe1son
for the reason that they would b useisss
for nghting purposes-
The fighting strength q the Spanish
navy lies In the following vesseas:
Armored-pelayo. InfAnta Nar1a TsS-
and Numancia
Unarmored-Alfonse XIII. Lspaate.
Heina Christina, Alfonso XII. Reina Her-
cedes, veiasco, Cristohal. Colon, Don An
tonic Ulioa, Don Juan De Austria, lnfanta
Isabel, Isabel IL. Ensenada. Isia de Cuoa,
Isla do Lu1on, Fflipinas. Nueva EspAna.
Galicia, Marques de Moline. Martin Alon-
10 Pinzon, Rapido. Tsmerario. Vincents
Yanex Pinxon and Destruetor.
The Pelayo Is the only weasel OF the lot
that can be considered an up-to-dafs bat
tleship.
Her dispiacement-s.soc tons--is only
about |. 200 tons less than that Of the Unit
ed States battleships Of the Indiana clasa
but she fails to approach the latter vessels
in effectiveness.
She would have very little show IN .
night with the Indiana A comparison. Of
-. Ill In, . nj uhnxz
the superiority In both points OF the Amer
lean ship. The Indiana IL 3ls feet long.
with q beam Of ssh feet. draught Of "a feet.
a speed Of Is knots, an Armor belt OF IL
inches In thickness. and her battery 10 pro-
tscted by armor II inches thick. The Pc
iayo II 80 feet long. with n beam Of 66 feet,
and a drauEht Of s feet. Her speed Ii also
estimated by the Spanish authorities at Is
knots. Her armor belt is TN inches thick.
and her battery In protected by armor 1914
inches thick. 1t has been demonstrated,
however. that the American armor IL great
iy superior in efficiency to that used in the
Spanish warships. The Indiana's armor Is
what In known as Harveyixed steel. while
the Pelayos armor Is compound, having q
hard face and soft back. which has been
shown TO be untrustworthy by official
trials In this country. and has been aban-
doned as a protection for modern ships.
The Pelayo Is altogether outclassed In
guns by the Indiana. At one discharge the
Indiana's guns throw protectiles weighing
6.s24 pounds. while the Pelayo's battery
can throw only 4.5e1 pounds. The main
battery OF the Indiana consists of four
i3-inch. eight s-inch and four e-inch guns.
and her secondary battery consists OF
twenty s-pounder. quick-nring cannon
The Peiayo's main battery includes two
i2h-inch guns. two 1i-inch guns, one s-inch
gun and twelve t's-inch guns. Her Sec
ondary battery consists Of four i-pounders
and six e-pounders.
The Spanish navy has three armored
cruisers. the fnfanta Maria Teresa. the
Aimirante oquendo and the vIzcaya. sister
ships Of 1000 tons displacement. Their
length Is $40 feet, beam ss feet. and draurn.
2iis feet. Their best speed when new was
twenty knots an hour. Their batteries
consist or two 1f-inch guns ten 5is-irch
guns. eight s-pounders and eight i-pound-
ers each. They have armor belts l. inches
In thickness. and srmored turrets protect
ed by io,t inches of steel.
The four Spanish vessels named are prsc-
ticsi'y all the modern warsh.ps owned ny
spain. Against them the United States
could send enough cruisers and hattleships
20 practically blow them out Of the water
or the obsolete type Of war vessels Spain
has the Sumancia and the vitoria- old
hsoadside battiashfps. plated with wrought
iron and slow in speed. Neither would re
match for ono OF Uncle Sans monitor
coas; defenders.
The Numancia's length is SIS feet: beam.
" feet; drsuKht. . feet. displacement.
f,sH tons: speed. knots: Battery, eight 10
Inch and seven s-inch rnuzxie loading Arm
strong rifes and one 7.s7-ineh breech load
lar rife.
The vitoris's length Is SIS feet. beam. "a
feet. draughs. 3 feet; displacement. 1870
tons. speed. II knots; Battery, eight s-lnch
and three S-luch nuzxle loading Armstrong
rifles and one s.s7-inch hreech loading rife.
Spain has only two vessels OF any I'M
ror;ance IN the unarnioret cruiser class
These are the Alfonso NIL and the Le-
psrto. sister ships OF 1900 tons displaca-
men; zach. Their dimensions srss Length.
siSa feet: beam. sou feet: araurht. -
feet. They are cr~ii;ed with speed OF
y knots. Each has battery consisting ct
four TsS-snch hresch loading rifles. six 4 ~
iach breech loading rifles. SIX s-poun d~rs
and six i-pouaders.
Tire cruisers Reina Christina and Al
fonso MI. were converted Into traaspor..
las; year. The Resna Chrlsiiaa's length
Is sSs feet. Her displacement Is $50 tons,
Her speed a ITis knots. and she has a hat
terry that includes siy eA-inch hr~~ch load
ma rites two s-nopniers, three s-paunaers
an1 eight s-pouaisrs. OF similar Sp~~i
ard with similar batteries are the sister
ships Alfonso XII. ana Reina Mercedes
The Spanish cruiser Nc.asre has a ton
rSSp % TIA. speed cs iss knots and =
battery % three s-tach Armstrong stl-s
ant two -s-lnch hreech loading rf~es
SPAIN hAs six garhasss NJ l.i3 tarS cab
three surn0A.s ~ i.aea toas and nine to--
rssia ranseats ranging in ilsp'aec~aea.
from Is tons 20 - tons
In addition 90 these are hair ser~r
small eanNo2ts hatit for service along IN.