Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-19
THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JUNE 49, 1ee7-24 PAGES
siderable flghting force, carrying as many

decks. and having within them a complete
machine shop for the repair, refitttng and
the supply of the f1otilla they guard.
As has been said. SHE is at one and the
same time cruiser. q fighting ship, q re-
pair shop, a torpedo depot and floating
dock yard" At a cruising speed of ten
knots. she can range for a distance of 1O,-
90 miles and bring Ter burden of torpedo
beats and mines to bear upon well-nigh
any harbor. As q cruiser. her powerful
battery would enable her to hold her own
against no mean antagonist.
Even In a seaway, immense hydraulic
cranes will turn their long arms outboard
and lift the wounded boats from the wa
ter and place them snugly on the broad DO
sc m OF the upper deck. Down in the bowels
of the great craft, furnaces, forges ma
chine shops, smithies and every other con-
ceivable means of repair are placed. while
stores OF torpedoes, tons of gun cotton, and
mining and countersmining outfits will
make good the expenditures of action or
siege.
These vessels are marvels OF ingenuity
and mechanical advancement, and the
growth of our own fleet of torpedo craft
will lead to the construction of something
OF the sort for our fiotilla.
Service In War Time.
Life on board Of torpedo boats or their
destroyers will be anything but an easy
one in time Of trouble. There will be but
little time for rest, and less for nourish-
tivity will be filled with a wearing, watch
fu! alertncss, to which the vibration of the
craft will be a taxing aggravation. Death
stares them In the face in almost every
direction. Death by destruction, death by
fCunderfng, death by the explosion of the
boilers or injured pipes. death by collision,
or death by the premature bursting Of their
own petards.
After dark and in times of hostilities. the
torpedo boat will be stunned like a rabid
dog by friend and foe alike The reason
1or this Is two-foid. First. that her friendly
sishais OF approach may not warn the
enemy OF the presence of larger craft and
the same signals be simulated by the Zoe.
ana second, IN the absence of such signals,
mat her. friends may not fire upon her nv
mistaAe. The anxious alertness of ships
company at such time is too tickle to be
depenued upon for safe discrimination and
trying enough without the added worry of
Distinguishing these small boats The re-
sun WIN De, every approaching boat will
De nred upon at once, and friend and foe
or passing shadow treated with the sauna
destructive welcome
-, The real protection Of the torpedo craft
nes IN her speed and her power of limiting
mat period-either attacking or fleeine-in
winch she may be under fire. To that end.
she must creep upon her foe, and dash
ierWard only when hesitation would mean
Der certain ruin
TN dark night, her phosphorescent how
wave, or the Will-of-the-wisp flicker of her
smoke stacks, may betray her long before
sne reaches her fighting distance: and a
torpedo beat expected Is counted in avail
making as boat DESTROYED
The conduct of an attack Is a fearful tax
upon ones nerves. Every one knows that
the odds are dangerously against success
one wcii-directed shot being enough to send
the tiny craft into oblivion but the glory Of
mat success spurs them on, and in the
race OF those silent, but loaded batteries
she creeps toward her quarry
The sense of impending death is awful;
Inc cold night air searches to the marrow
and the dark waters rush by with forbid
ding chill. The boat thIoos with a taxing
shudder. and the heart beats with a convul-
sive fullness up in ones throat Down be-
low. the engineers and iiremen find a helm
ful distraction IN their active duties and
the service of the engines AMI boilers; but
on deck, beside the loaded torpedo-tubcs
and in the coming tower, the feeling Of
suspense Is terrible.
When the Blow is Struck.
Once within the fighting range Of 800
yards. and forward dashes the boat. to
swerve a moment later and 10 deliver the
burden Of one Of the loaded tubes The
noise of that discharge and the flash are
noted. to be answered a moment later by
responsive sheets of flame that seem to
burst from every part Of the great craft at
tackled. In less time than it takes to tell,
the torpedo has struck Its mark, and a
towering mass Of luminous water rises a
monument TO that success, but to fall
moment later with ponderous force upon
the doomed snip; or, If it has failed or the
enemys guns have reached their mark
perhaps great rents In the torpedo boats
stacks or the debris of her Uttered deck
may tell how true has been the foeman's
aim, or only ripping swirl be left to tell
where the tiny craft had lately been.
Men there are In plenty cool and cour-
agcOus enough to face such fearful odds:
and upon them will depend the commission
of those deeds that call Tor total forget
fuIness of self and death in the all-absorb-
ing glory Of flags defense
Compared with the trig white bodies of
our other vessels, the dingy, sea-green
hulls. the absence of bright work, the free
and-easy dress OF the seamer, and the
somber mission of the boats all tend to
make them anything but creations of
beauty. They seem to TEEN with sugges-
ton Of official piracy: and even in times of
harmony, when the mighty battle ship is
naught but a simple guardian of the peace,
a torpedo boat, puny though she may be,
carries with her a menace, like the warning
of a loaded weapon or the threat of barred
blade. On her deck one stands really
above a loaded mine. for, besides the tor
pedoes about him, below lie the magazines
and the boilers throbbing with their dam
gerous charges. Such, indeed, Is the spirit
of danger that fills her frap but surcharg-
ed frame: and who can fail to marvel not
only at the tax upon those that man such
craft. but the stress upon those to whom
they are opposed.