The times., 1898-07-17

alent in European countries have been ut
terly exploded, while on the other hand.
the contentious Of our own naval con-
structors have been more than confirm
ed by certain facts growing out OF Ger
veras defeat
had quite a chat with Chief Naval
Constructor Philip Hichborn, of the Navy
Department on the whole subject
The battle off Santiago was worth mil
lions OF dollars to the whole world" said
Mr.. Hichborn. Every nation on the globe
was watching it in order to see whether
their theories as 20 modern ships would
hold good. IT was the first square fight
that has taken place since the present
modern naval architecture came into exis-
tence There was nothing equal 10 il in
the Chinese-Japanese war. 1t was fighters
= against fighters, war TO the knife. and the
knife TO the hilt. The annihilation Of
Cervera's feet Is great tribute to the
superiority of American ships, and the
world viii sooner or dater acknowledge
this fact. in everything we were superior
10 the Spaniards-in construction, arma-
ment, and equipment.
with the bravest and best officers and
sailors in the world, and with such splen-
did ships, DO you wonder that the Stars
and Stripes were triumphant?
''The fight of Santiago teaches US that
we should have more armored cruisers.
The Brooklyn did splendid work, and cut
of all possibility Of the Cristobal Colon
escaping. In every way she demonstrated
her efficiency. and proved herself d
worthy match for the Colon. Facts are
stubborn things. and the fact that the
whole Spanish feet is on the Cuban
beach. shows that we got there no
matter what our continental critics may
say. The Brooklyn was hit twenty-four
times. and was not hurt nor did she
even catch fire. This clearly shows that
armor is a pretty good thing for a yes
sci, after all. In number Of quarters
il has been stated that armor plate is
Of no value. The reports show that the
BrOOklyn's armor was not pierced. and
the experience Of the Indiana and Texas
are pretty much the same. Any damage
from DrojeCtiIes was done in the urI-
armored portions Of the ships, or where
the shells came through the port holes.
''Of course. you can readily see that
we were bound TO be victorious with bet
line. better training, and infinitely super
ior gUnnery.
Another very interesting thing Is the
fact that none Of our ships took fire. All
the reports Of the battle show that the
flame and smoke from the American
shells sti1ed the Spanish gunners. and
made them desert their guns Hence The
Spanish armada was beached, and their
ships burned fiercely. On the other
hand, none Of our vessels took fire. The
fire-proof wood was a silent monitor, do
ing It's quiet but benefcent work.
.'You remember the report of the en-
gagement in Cardenas Bay last May, in
which Ensign Bagley was killed. The
little WiusloW was shot all to pieces.
Capt. Newcomb, Of the revenue cutter
Hudson, says. in his report:
''Ohserying that the Winslcw was far inshore
and exposed 20 the fun strength Of the enemy :
guns. ] ran alongside 0f the Wilmington aud ask
ed il should 90 u her (the Mluslow > sssis-
tance. Received the answer 'Nes'' and immed-
lately steamed into the immediate vicinity Of the
hlnsloW, keeping up a constant and rapid fre
from the HuiscHs batteries upon the enemy 5
guns on shore n 2-2O commanding officer Cf
the NiuSlow reported his vessel totally dis
ahled. and requested 10 be towed out OF range.
Owing 90 shDal water and the rapid drift toward
shore Of the Ninsl0w (the wind was the shorcl
It was fully thirty minutes before the Hudson
succeeded IN making a line fast from the NinslUw
and starting ahead with her. The enemy kept
up a constant fire during this time which appeared
10 be especially directed toward the Winslow.
which fire was returned at every opportunity By
the Ninslow and Hudson. The Winslow was
towed alongside the Wilmington from which YES
SCI a boat sent with medical officer. who
transferred the dead and wounded from the
NInslow 10 the Wilmington. Finally. about 3:30
p. IN, all three vessels steamed out Cf the bay,
the Winslow in tow Of the Hudson
Secretary Long, in acknowledging the
report, says:
THE rescue Of the Winslow hy the Hudson was
50 gallanlty done in the face of the most gall
ing fire. that her captain. officers ando men de
serve The warmest commendstion- The Winslow
was r.ddled with she'll disabled and helnless.
drifting 10 the beach into the hands OF the
enemy, her captain wounded, her only other
officers and half Of the crew killed; but the
Hudson courage gsly remained 10y her in the
center OF the hottest FIRE Of the action. although
in constant danger Of going ashore account OF
shallow water until finally line was gotten TO
the Ninslow and the vessel drawn out OF the way
q the enemy's guns.
Had fire broken out on the Winslow.
Ii would have driven every one of our men
overheard and would besides have pre-
vented the Hudson from coming 10 the
rescue. The loss Of life on both vessels
consequently would have been greater
than 81 was.
The Spanish ships Of Cervera, on the
DAltI manu. LOOK IRE early IN lue action.
They showed that they had plenty of
speed and seagoins qualities. Indeed. they
had been cleaned and prepared to make
this dash for liberty And yet they were
not protected by fire-prOof woodwork
and hence their speed figured little in
their favor when they We're all on fire.
The battle clearly shows how import
ant il is 10 have fire-proof material en-
ter into the construction Of our men-of-
ION
TO this fact now. II certainly has been
brought home TO the Navy Department.
another important result of the San
tiago victory is that the torpedo DESTROY
ers have lost cash. The simple converted
yacht commanded by Capt Wainwright
completely Knocked out one of them.
AT the beginning Of the war great ap-
ppehension was felt and expressed lest
the supposed superiority Of Spain in the
matter OF torpedo boats and torpedo boat
destroyers might prove an unfortunate
factor in the contest. So far the results
have by no means justified this fear
Judged by actual accomplishments these
swift destroyers have scarcely justified
either the fears Of our people or the hopes
Of the Spaniards. Already there have
been several encounters in every one of
which the torpedo craft Jared badly. The
recent fight off san Juan OF Capt Sigs-
bee with the Spanish torpedo boat de-
stroyer Terror is quite in line with
previous experiences. The Terror 70
be sure, made her attack In
this case upon the St Paul in
broad daylight. She had the protection
Of the forts and another vessel to assist
her. Our auxiliary cruiser, instead OF
running away, waited until the swift as
sailant was near enough to make a
capital target, and then blazed away The
Terror was hit squarely three times. Sew
eral men were wounded and the torpedo
boat destroyer came very near being des-
troyed herself, and went back in a Leak
Ing and crippled condition, and was finally
towed into the harbor for repairs. Intel