The herald., 1897-01-24

Itself. The other deals with the fact that
after the first week in February the
fleet will be some hundreds of miles
nearer the scene of the conflict now rag
ing in Cuba. This latter may mean moth
Ing, and it may portend stirring events.
Spain will certainly not view the change
With equanimity, particularly as upon
the very heels of it will come a change
in the administration and, perhaps, d
change in the executive policy toward
the Cuban problem
The prime feature Of Importance in the
program OF evolutions will be a blockade
oe Charleston harhor. Some naval Off
GERS are inclined to believe that this is
a precautionary measure to school the
ships in tactics of that kind, so that,
should the future call for a naval invest
ment of Havana harbor, the work will
be performed thoroughly and efficient
ly.
SWIFT BLOCKADE RUNNERS
To make the practice blockade realis-
tic, three vessels will be employed as
blockade runners. The dynamite crJiis-
er Vesuvius, with speed record OF Il 4
knots will be employed in the latter ca
pacity, and possibly the torpedo boats
Gushing and Ericsson. The Gushing has
speed record of 225 knots and the
Ericsson record Of "A knots. The lat
ter will be the swiftest flyer in the fleet,
d.u 10 HUlu her III tIiC HdIppI Nuulu re-
quire a blockade of the most string ant
kind.
Aside from the spectacular and pos
sibly the historic features of the assem-
bling of this fleet, ii is matter of bound :
less pride to all those who have assisted
in the rehabilitation of the American
navy to see such d squadron in process
of formation-a squadron equal in fight
ing capacity to any fleet of Great Britain
or other great naval mower
There will be twenty vessels in the
fleet leading off with the four goat
battleships, Maine. Indiana, Massagu
setts and Texas; the two arrored cruis-
ers, New York and Brooklyn; the ram
katahdin, the double turret monitors.
Puritan and Amphitrite; the protected
cruisers, Columbia, Newark. Raleigh,
Mont gomery and Marblehead; the gun
boat Castine. the torpedo boats, Gushing
and Ericsson; the dispatch vessel Dol
phin, the dynamite cruiser NesuVius, and
the transport Fern.
The combined batteries of these war
ships possess an offensive strength of
tremendous magnitude, even without
considering the secondary batteries. The
Indiana carries four 13-inch, eight S-inch
and four 6-inch breech loading rifles :;
the Massachusetts is similarly armed ,
the Maine carries four 10-inch and six
6-inch rifles, and the Texas carries two
Finch and six 6-inch rifles. In the ar
mored cruisers the Brooklyn carries eight
S-inch rifles and twelve 5-inch rapid fire
guns, while the New York carries six
S-inch rifles and twelve 4-inch rapid fire
guns.
The ram kahtadin does not depend
upon guns to make trouble, and her ar
mament is very small, consisting only
OF four 6-pound rapid fire guns The
monitors are heavily armed, the Puritan
carrying four 12-inch rifles and two g.
inch rapid fire guns, and the Amphitrite
carrying four 10-inch rifles and two
4-inch rapid fire guns
AS the protected cruisers were design
ed more for commerce destroyers than
nghtlng machines, their main batteries
are necessarily light. The Columbia
carries one S-inch rifle and two 6-inch
ana eight 4-inch guns. The Newark
carries twelve 6-inch rifles, the Raleigh
ten 5-1nch guns and one 6-inch gun the
Marblehead nine 5-inch guns, the Mon
terey nine 5-inch guns and the Castine
eight 4-inch guns. The dynamite cruiser
Vesuvlus carries three 15-inch dynamite
guns, while the batteries of the DOLPHIN
and the torpedo boats are compare tivelv
small, being confined to rapd fire guns
and torpedo tubes.
1t has been figured that it costs the
government S1700 day to keep a good
sized warship in commission, but the ex
pense during the Charleston evolutions
Will be greatly in excess of that sum
owing to the immense cost attached to
the firing of the big guns, and there will
be deal of powder burned during the
week.
The aggregate cost Of the fleet will be
45,0e0spr $4,000 a day, and the total ex-
pense to the nation for the maneuvers