The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-05-24
ORR aurs Nor uGnr KIND.

Washington. Aiay % Aaa result of the
mtnru'ora executed uy tho Spanish nc,s
uud"f ln' command uf Admiral Crryrri.
thr chl"f naval opueirur,on Will giys tho
Nrm"fui cruisers "a prumuyt place in tho
plans f'r offensive warfare This. p-r.
hupH Do thr bost lrapu taught up 90
ihi1 date by thc war with Spain such a
"a" opinion uf naval experts since Ad.
m.ml trNrr with hiH speedy noot az.
rvri tru days NFu 90 Martinique r.
marks thr downfall OF the theory rp
strongly ahwouyd hy captain e. \.
Hp'lruh. now boz command og tho Yale.
and formerly Professor uf tho navy war
college. mat thr lrmorrd cruiser had 900
place in mbdurn mtylrs. Captain tipudrlph
i7 upw probably cpu,l lur,l uf the value III
Arm"tud ,ruir'rr. rlid prominent naval
"illuvr iu i,w of ihr faoi that ua com.
mAnh.uE officer uf tho Yale hu had bc,u
scouting fpr th, ,nymys nroi since "a
f,N days before ita arrival at Martinique
ia" "rm"rsi cruiser is nothing more
nnlrrr in Wow uf che TACT that ls com
recognized this fact and is ghv only nation
ilptt wla quick tp take advantage of such
recognition. licr lv,gspu Was learned at
lalU wh'v hvf protected cruisers with
great rpr-l and rqupp~d win rapid.
nuuE gum, druNr from the srru, ~ battle
tho rhlnv." battle ships of slow spcyd
aud thick armor
1hat tb" Irs,ou WIS we'll learned is
shown by tho mo' ma, Jap,n lmmcdi-
atriy placed contracts wih thc Arm.
HtrpuEs Of England Tor tho construction
20 six btill,ships 90 great speed. In order
tu gvi the sp~ol d,-dryd Is knots. with
tho protection and armament preferred
hy no" mIkad"s government. 90 Was me-
,rratry ,u make The ships ol great dis.
placement TWu uf Them which Uro now
"u their way 20 Japan are uf 1890 tons
displacement, each
un their trials she NAshima and F,u
developed rpvois ot lN.5 aud 1872 knots
respectively Tho,, yyssr.s az, rally
,ho p,rfe tlon of thy armnrvi cruiser
yp, What would Wr not now civ, for
such y,,,rls under ,hr command uf Rear
Admiral Sampson. Two NJ them with the
Sew York and brooklyn would bee able
Gee destroy or drive away Admiral Ger.
building tho Iowa obtained type 90
'nmc rsp'v,s similar yo the armurcd
cruiser. bW her speed is only 10 knots and
uudrr present conditions Is probably but
l5 ur 90
Since hc war began We have pvyu usiug
N'e 'vlS for the purposes Tor which their
NP,r uuNu,tcl them For instance. the
Indiana and Massachusetts are coast de-
f,n-o battle ships. vet they have been
sent 10 sv.,, cruising Tor the enemy. when
they were rylly intended Tor defensive
purposes Then We have been employing
harrison defense monitors for blockadng
purposes and offensive warfare. the re-
suit being to cripple The mauvuyrrlug
qualities oi our fleet and handlcapplng
Rear Admiral Sampson early In his of.
rcnslvo und defensive preparations. our
ship building policy has been an wrong
Tho country has gone ON the theory that
a defensive navy vas an that waS nvvcs-
sary Tho present teaches that an oncn-
s.No navy Is absolutely required. The
necessity of target practice Is apparent
when We rhink OF the firing or the Span
Npls AT Manila. at Matangus and san
Juan upon the American sQuadrons. We
know before the war began the ucsira-
hility Of employing smokecss powder. but
unfortunately congress failed to make
the necessary appropriation when 1t was
recommended several years ago and the
department had to fall back ON brown
powder, II Is hoped now that congress
Will agrrV that docks are necessity at
this time, Although mono of the battle
ships are capable ot greater speed than
l6 knots under present conditions they
cannot steam more than y or 10 knots
Iao divers sent down to Key West from
Norfolk will be able to scrapo the pro-
pcllcrS cloap and thus increase the speed
of the ships, but they will not remove
the barnaolcs on the bottoms to any eX-
tent, for It is impossible to do good work
1tpI,r Nsitpr