The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1898-02-28
GETTING IN SHAPE FOR WAR.
HURRY PREPARATIONS IN ARMY
AND NAVAL CIRCLES.
The Field Strength of All Arms by
Land and Sea Has Been Fig
ured Out.
Bv Jos: Oil,


Washinston February 2.-(Special)-Wil Ill
We be prepared for war if must come?
In view of the crisis which faces the gov
eminent. the question is both timely and
natural
1t is very evident that for the past ten
days or more every effort has been made
Ivy both the army and navy departments
TO bring to a higher state of efficiency
every resource at their command. Or
course. for reasons of policy, there Rave
been many denials of the reported activity
at the navy yards. on the Notifications
and at the army posts, but there is no
question Of the fact that there has been
and is this activity in all branches OF
the service. The terrible Maine incident
for which. as Senator Mason puts ii. TINS
administration is. in a sense at least. re-
spousihle. mas aroused President Mckinley
from the hypnotic sleep in which DeIome
had put him. and he now begins to realize
something of the gravity Of the situation
confronting this country. AMI one result
of this awakening is the activity manifest
ed on all sides in preparing for offcnse
and defense i'll case of declaration oil
war.
The pessimists who, in their consdera-
ton OF tho possibilities which may grow
out OF the present friction. have been en-
phasizing the helplesSncss of certain of
our harbor dcfenSes, have given out the
Idea that, for time at least, we would
he al a disadvantages in ease of war
with Spain. On the other side Their" have
been many optimsts who could see only
Tie bright side of the outlook--picturinG III
their minds eye easy victories for the
American arms. both ON land sea. In
view OF these estimates of the conditions,
VIDE apart as they arc II may be Interest,"
ing TO know just what the actual re-
sources of this country-the actual ayaiIa-
bic reconnaissance.
SPANS Navy and Our Own.
ON paper. the American navy is about
equal 10 the navy OF Spain. The destruc-
ton of the Maine takes away from the
list one of our formidable socond-cIass bat
tIeships a ship which was counted on
giving an excellent account of herself
whenever the time might come. This
gives Spain just that much of an advan-
tage which she dd not possess before.
The officials at the nav! department who
understand all about the relative value of
first aud second third and fourth-class
vessels OF the different kinds. of the tor
pedO boats and other accessories OF the
navy, estimate that the destruction of the
Maine destroyed the balance of power be
tween the two countries which up to thai
time showed approximately equal naval
strength. The figures are not ut hand to
show this in detai. but there is no doubt
OF the correctness of the estimate.
The Ships of Our Navy.
The official list of the ships Of the navy
shows that we have The following ships Of
the first rate:
First-oia ba.tlcehjrs-The Iowa. Indi-
ana, Massachusetts and oregon. in add
Ton to these there ar, under construction
1--WE iirst. ulHSs hattI,&hps. ;Wo of which
tie K"ar&irge and the Kentucky VIII he
launched within few months at farthes!.
The Others will not be finished until the
last part Of the YEAR ana it may take
longer.
Armorcd .ruisers-Thc Brooklyn ana the
New York.
Protected cruscrs-The Columbia, Olym-
pia and Minneapolis.
Sccond-class battleship-The Texas.
Doublc-turreted montor-The Puritan.
The ships Of the second rate are:
philadrlpbia, Newark. San Francisco.
Charleston, Cincinnati. Raleigh. Atlanta
Parbette turret monitor-The Monterey.
Double turrnt Miantonomah,
Amphrtritc. Monadnock. Terror These last
four are iron hulis, while al the others are
The ships of the third rate are;
Cruisers-The Hartford. Adams. Alliance,
Essex, Enterprise. Alert and Ranger.
iTarnor defense ram-The Ka;ahdn.
Unprotected cruisers-Detroit, Montgom
cry, Marblehead, Marion and Mohcan
Singlc-turret monitors-Ajax. Sanonicus
Maspac. Manhattan, Wyandotte, Conan
che Catskn Jason. Lohigh Montauk. Ma
hant. Nantucket and PasS1ic.
GUnboatS- bennington. concord, 0rE-
town. Nashville Wilmington. Helena, Mon
o"ary Castiuc. Machlas. Annapolis, Nicks-
burg. Wheelne Marietta and Newport.
Dispa ten hoat-Tho Dolphin
The fourth-rate ships are:
Cruis~rs-Yantic and Michigan.
Guuboats--Pmta, Bancroft ana Petrol.
Dynamite e-uu Ncss"I-N cSuViuS.
Torpedo boats bear names, but are off,
cfally known hv numbers. running up to