The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-23

better than an old round-shot fred from q
gun OF Nelson's day il 1t drops in the wa
ter and does not strike the enemv's huh
OF neck. In other words, superiority of
su-nhre is now, as In the days of old
the chief thing to look for No doubt Won
should, as we have said give your men
as good a gun 20 fire with as possible
out teach their officers and them to rely
not upon the ships armor, or the range
OF her guns, or the weight of the metal
discharged, or the speed of the engines
put upon the power If need be, to make
ter.
Look al the heroic fight made by the lit
tie Gloucester. (By the way, the peaple
OF the old city should send a greeting and
SILK nag to the little ship that has done
their name such credt) What gave the
Gloucester her victory and also allowed
her to escape was her gunhre The de
stroyers she disabled, let alone the Span
lsh cruisers could have sunk her easily
could they have hit her, but they failed
TO do so, partly because of their own es-
senuaily bad Workmanship and partly
also because a man who is peppering you
from revolver Is always hard to hit
Being shot a with great accuracy is ant
10 destroy ones aim. That our own sail
OTIS are very good marksmen already we
90 not doubt, nor do we doubt that their
practice would be better, rather than
worse in an actual engagement. StiIl. we
nope that the Santiago fight will make the
admiralty give still more announcement
to the practice Of gun-fre. CAPTAINS
should be made to feel that one of the
chlet things expected from them Is a
record OF successful shooting. while the
really able gunners should be marked ont
for special promotion and special priyi-
leges Good firing should, in fact be
treated as an essential There is one moro
thing to be remembered The performance
or the Gloucester shows that an imnro-
Vlsed fleet, thoroughly well armed and
manned by men who can shoot. may be
tar more formidable sea force than is
sometimes supposed. We do not wish II
to be supposed for a moment that we de-
sire to trust to this fact; still, 1t is worth
noting.
50 much for the special lessons of the
battle. There remains one general conclu-
sion which must be mentioned. The battle
SHOWS that the American navy Is a most
elncNnt hghtng machine. We did not
want 10 be told that here, for we knew n
already and realized of what stuff the
mons whelps We're made. They
dld not, however. know 1t on the continent.
though apparently, thaV knoW 1t now. For
ourselves, we have little doubt that The
American feet could face even that of
France without any great risk of disaster
Is ten times as strong as the American
ana ought 70 be able 10 eat 1t up at one
mouthful. In spite however Of that. we
believe that If 1t were needful-it viii NOT
De, as America will not be attacked by
france without our taking a hand in the
gaine-Sampson and Dewey and the Of
ncers they have the happiness to command
Ito use Nelson's phrase--would be able 10
destroy French ships of vastly superior
power Just as we did hundred years ago.
The American gunners would keep cool
and hit every time. The French would get
excited, and fire too high or too low and
lose ali the advantage Of the best guns
ana best explosives in che world As for
the German and American navies, there
can, OF course, be no comparison. The Ger
mans are fine sailors and brave men, but
naval struggle between the United States
and Germany would be very short and
very complete. 1t woHld surprise the EN-
peror, no doubt, who thinks himself irwin
c;be, but his self-cOntidenee cannot alter
history. The English have a habit Of win
ming at sea, and the Americans have
shown US that they have inherited the ha-
bit TO the fullest possible degree.