The San Francisco call., 1898-08-08
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAMES.

Four vessels will be added to the Ger man navy during the present year. The Gazelle. a cruiser of 2650 tons and 191s knots speed, Is ready for launching at Krupps yard. Kiel; Vineta. cruiser of 565O tons and 20 knots, will be launched at Stettin during the present month, and in December a gunboat of S94 tons Is to be launched at Elbing. The battle-ship Kaiser Friederich III will be completed early in October.
 The British torpedo boat destroyer Angler has passed through twelve hours consumption trial. The boat was drawing feet 1 inch forward and feet 711 inches aft. or 10 inches less than nor nal load draught, and with 1s4 pounds of steam developed AGO horsepower with 160 revolutions, making a speed of 1915 knots, and consumed TO- 192 pounds of coal dur ing the twelve hours run. The enormous increase In power required to make high speeds may be realized from the fact that while 1t took only 490 horsepower to push the boat along at 13. 15 knots. she will re- quire 540O horsepower to go 30 knots.
 Portugal is rapidly acquiring a navy of cruisers. The San Rafael Is the latest addition. having been launched at Havre July from the same yards where a sis ter ship, the San Gabriel was launched May [. The two ships are sheathed and of 1900 tons, with a speed of 15 knots. The armament are all French guns of the Canet type, and consists of two 59-inch, four 4.7-inch. eight 3-pounders and two machine guns. Portugal IS having SIX cruisers built of which two of 1921 tons collectively at Lisbon, two of 410O tons each at Elswick, and two of 1900 tons each at Havre, in addition to which another cruiser of 400 tons Is proposed to be built at Elswick before the end of the present year.
 NJ. Lockroy Is again the Minister of Marine of France, this being his second term. As Is customary in that country, radical changes follow with the change of Ministry, and 1t Is to this fact that the French navy Is always in an experimental stage. MT. Lockroy has fixed notions about the ships of war and believes speed to be the chief element of success in battle. Admiral Fournier holds that the entire fleet could be advantageously replaced by a hundred lightly armored but swift cruisers. The diversity of opin- ion by naval officers on the fundamental requirements of ships is simply bewilder- ing, and so-called lessons drawn from battles are construed to meet with the views of individual officers.
 The Argentine armored cruiser San Martino having completed her trials at
  ready for delivery. On a two hours forced draught trial the engines worked up to 12,4S6 horsepower, giving a speed of 1868 knots. slightly short of the contract speed of 20 knots. The ship was down to 29 feet Az inches. or 71a inches less than the normal mean draught The San Mar tino's battery consists of four S-inch breech-loaders in turrcts only 4 inches thick; ten 6-inch quick-firers; six 47-inch; twelve 6-pounders, and ten Maxim 1H- pounders. The armor extends all around the ship, six feet below the water line and three feet above, and Is barely six inches thick. The protective deck is only 1.46 inches thick and the upper gun deck 1.5S inches. The armor Is Harveyized and was made in France. She Is almost an ex- act counterpart of the late Spanish cruis- CT Cristobal Colon, and for the lack of high speed and insufficient gun protec- ton is not desirable specimen of the armored cruiser type to be followed by other navies.
 A signalman on board the Ganges at Dew onport backyard was court-martialed last month for having stolen signal book and afterward deserted. He subsequently, surrendered. and when called upon to