Arizona republican., 1898-06-04

heavy. Moreover. the Puritan is a small
target. compared with a battleship."
In the last number of the Army and
Navy Journal an officer whose judg-
ment is entitled to the greatest weight
says:
s'At last I have been able to make I'D
my mind on the monitor question, and
think it is the mind of every one in this
squadron, and that is, they have but one
use, viz. for port defence. They are an
unmitigated fraud for general war pur-
poses. I give this opinion as one found
ed on considerable observation
1.-THE great difficulty as a fighting ma
chine with the monitor is that as it is
in constant and quick adaptation to the
surface of the sea every movement is
repeated. and the vessel is thus natural
ly made a most unstable gun platform,
a fact which 1 know is totally at va
rance with the ideas of those who favor
them; but we have seen too much of
them to know otherwise, and it is, be-
sides. in accord with all theory. The
Terror. for instance. makes twenty-one
oscillations, while the New York makes
eight There could have been no better
Illustration. however, of this instability
than the other doy at Matanzas, when
the Puritan was firing at a fort 7.0N
yards away, in a moderate sea- one of
her Pinch shells struck not more than
1000 yards from the ship. The person
who fired the gun is not to be blamed /;
nary man to meet.
besides this fact of being such a very
poor gun platform, there is the inhabit-
ability, which makes life aboardof them
at sea simply hell; they are hot beyond
expression Zone man died day before
yesterday in the turret of the Amphit-
rite): they are hot, and while at sea,
even In the dead calm, there is no place
for the crew to go except on the super
structure, and this is a very serious thing
to be considered
1.-THE battleship is everything which the
monitor is not, excepting that she of
fers a larger mark; but this is nothing.
because the upper works which make
without injury to the actual floating
power of the ship or to her heavy guns;
but these same upper works have the adj
vantage Of giving the battleship the
power of carrying not only heavy or
dnance. but very powerful secondary
battery. which the monitor is incapa-
BILE of carrying, as there is no place for
it: .v,on AVA .... $4,000
Puritan, which is our best monitor, and
most comfortable, with the Iowa, it is
to be recognized that really no compar-
iSon can be made. The Iowa is a great
almost immovable rock, carrying a bat
terry not only much greater in nominal
power. but vastly greater In actual.
II do not think that we should have
voted to build any more of the monitor
type: what we have should be relegated
for harbor defence wholly, for which
they are very we'll fitted; but as instru-
ments for general warfare, they are not
to be named with the baftleship for a
moment.
eff you had been at a conference of
commanding officers day or SO ago and
heard the incidental expressions regard
ing the uselessness of monitors. I think
that you would have thought thought
on this subject. The expressions were
merely Incidental and came out of full
ness of the heart. 1t was the point of
view of men who want success in action
and are responsible for that SUCCESS
Another officer who is now serving on
one of the monitors and who has re-
peatedly said that in his opinion such
boats would be an excellent investment
for this country, said a few days ago:
lowing to the need for great many
fighting ships to conduct our blockade
of Cuba and our aggressive operations
against the Spanish fleet we are compel
led to call upon the monitors for a ser
vice for which they are not designed.
None of the monitors has coal cap
acity for more than 81 or seven days
cruising, and it is dangerous opera
ton to attempt to coal these boats at
sea-'-It is necessary to open up the
deck and obviously, from their low free
board, this may only be done in safety
under the lee of the collier and in smooth
water. However, I believe the monitor
is the best kind of fort that can be
constructed for coast defence"