The San Francisco call., 1898-07-04
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAMES.

Rearmament and refits of the older British armored ships are progressing. The Alexandra 9490 tons, built in 1877, has been fitted with six 4.7-inch quick-firers in place of the old six 4-inch battery, but the main battery of eight 10-inch and two 92-inch muzzle and breech loaders still remains, owing to lack of modern guns The ship has also been fitted with four-bladed pro- pellers in place of the three-bladed, which were unsuited for the unusual full lines of the hull.
 The Niobe, one of the eight new 1000 tons protected cruisers building for the British navy, has passed through some of her steam trials. Under one-f1fth power she developed 3341 horsepower during thir- ty hours and 12 knots speed, using TIT pounds of coal per horsepower per hour. With full power IS ,S34 horsepower were de- veloped during eight hours and a speed of 20.5 knots with a coal consumption of only 1.66 pounds. The contract required was 16,500 horsepower and 2O.5 knots speed.
 Commander Herman Gercke of the Ger man navy has an elaborate article with numerous illustrations in the Marine Rundschau on the disaster to the Maine. He proves to his own satisfaction at least that the explosion was not caused by mine or any other outside agency, but 
 caused the catastrophe. He claims that there was an accumulation of gases from the powder and explosives, the properties and dangers were not understood by the officers on the ship and that these gases caused the forward magazines to explode. Similar conclusions have been reached by naval eXperts' in France, Spain and Austria, tending to show that the articles have been inspired by the Governments of ,NrfNc ny. lA s., countries friendly to the United States there has been no attempt to disprove the conclusions reached by our naval board that the Maine was destroyed by agencies outside the ship.
 The failure of the Terrible to maintain a more than ordinary speed, owing to de- fects in her engines, is being investigated by a board appointed by the British ad- miralty. Lord Beresford has promised thorough examination and that the public will be made acquainted with the facts He is not ready to lay the blame on the contractors, J. & G. Thompson, Clyde bank, but is of the opinion that the high pressure of steam, which is 230 pounds, may have something to do with the inabil- ity of the engines to work where 1S0 pounds has hitherto proved no obstacle. It is the first time, it Is claimed, that en- zines of such great horsepower have been built and that 1t may be found that the limit of safety has been exceeded. Other ships with 2100O horsepower, such as the Minneapolis, have three engines, whereas in the Terrible and Powerful the two en- zines are worked ur to 14000 horsepower each, or just double that in American, French and German ships.
 Great Britain has acquired from China an extension of territory around Hong- kong of 1247 square miles. The original treaty of 1S43 gave England only about 29 square miles, but the acquisitions of Ger many and Russia by leases from China necessitated a like course on the part of Great Britain and by treaty of June this year lease of 99 years was given covering the waters of Mfrs Bay, Deep Bay, the peninsula and promontory of Kau-lung and island of Lan-tao The ter ritory extends about 43 miles east and west and 29 miles north and south Dur ing the year past active preparations have been in progress to extend the fortifca- tions and improve the dockyard facilities of Hongkong, for which several million dollars were appropriated, and another foreign stronghold in the Chinese empire to outrival those at Port Arthur and Kiau Bay will be completed within few years.
 The British torpedo-boa destroyer Dasher of 20 tons, built in 1895. has had her Thorneycroft locomotive boilers taken out and water-tube boilers substituted With the latter she developed last month during a three hours trial an average of 3SSS horsepower and a speed of 2 knots, while with the old boilers the horsepower was only S1S2 and the speed 26.21 knots