The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-03

The efficiency of the later designs and
ornaments of WarShipS is under test
in the conflict initiated in the harbor
of Manila on Sunday last. The work
of reconStructing the United States
navy was begun during the admins
tration of President Arthur, in 1881 to
1885, under the direction of William E.
Chandler, then secretary of the navy
and now United States senator from
New Hampshire. But the real work
deVolVed upon the Hon. William c.
Whitney, secretary of the navy during
the first administration of Mr.. Cleve-
land, 1885 to 1889. Within the past de-
cade therefore. under changing admin
istrations. both with respect to eXecu-
tive heads and parties in control of the
legislative branch of the government,
the Improvement has been constantly
going forward. The period has been
one of transition, too, in the matter Of
naval architecture, and the develop
ment of improved armament. Large
sums of money have meanwhile been
expended. Our own builders of ships
and manufacturers of guns have avail
ed themselves of the latest inventions
and designs supplied by native and for
eign talent, until, much to the surprise
of our own people, and without know
ing how it all came to pass, the navy
of the United States is today the chief
defender Of the country against a mar
tial nation of the old world, and one
OF the greatest naval victories of the
century is reported in our favor from
the earth's equator, and in an opposite
hemisphere from our own.
1t is unfortunate, perhaps, that this
recent contest could not have taken
place at some point where the eyes of
scientific men, who have by their In
genuity done so much to revolutioniZe
the methods of fighting on the sea,
might have witnessed the action. Bat
when the detailed story comes to be
tod in the respective reports of the
combatants, the merits of the improve
ments may more properly and accu-
rately pass under judgment. The bat
tie of the Yalu, that famous struggle
In the Yellow sea between China and
Japan, in 1894 was the latest contest in
which the merits of the improved sys-
TENS came under judgment; but that
was not satisfactory altogether, be-
cause the vessels We're manned and the
guns handled by officers not identified
In an historical or ancestral way with
trTumphS in advanced methods of war;
fare, either on land or on sea, or with
pride of fighting lineage. The battle
between the PeruVians and Chilians in
1879 was so remote as not to be count
eq IN association with the improved
ideas. But the representative fleets of
TWO nations possessed of navies whose
comparative strength has been meas
ured one against the other have met,
and fought a great battle; and the
contribution to scientific knowledge is
Ikely TO be considerable as the result
of the conflict.
Battle of the YaIu.
The battle al Manila will recall to
the mind of every one the remarkable
contest between the Japanese and Chi
nese fleets in the Yellow sea in 1894
The battle of the Yalu, as it will al
ways be known in history, was the
first instance which admitted of the
practical testing of the qualities of the
latest inventions and constructions as
ISOLATED with ornaments for modern
naval warfare. But it must also be
borne in mind that the contest was