The San Francisco call., 1898-06-14
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAMES.

The Almrante OHfggins, armoreo cruiser built for Chile by the Armstrong Company at Elswick, completed her tr1als April 20 She made a continuous run of twenty-four hours under three-fifths boiler power and developed 10000 horse power. Six runs over the measured mile course gave an average speed or Z1-f knots. a little less than anticipated The O'Higgins is of $500 tons displacement All feet 9 inches in length, 62 feet lnches beam, and her engines will deVelop 1o'Voo horse power. She carries an armament or four S-inch quick-firers, ten 6-inch, four 47-inch ten 12-pounders, ten 6-pounderS and four machine guns. all quick hrers.
 The Kiangnaw arsenal on the -Woosung River. three miles above Shanghai, em- blows 25OO men in the manufacture of guns and projectiles under the management of three Englishmen. Several 12-inch guns have been turned out, besides a large number of smaller caliber, ana are sald to be equal to work done in Europe and the United States. The arsenal has also a small dry dock, 300 feet in length, and a railway connects the arsenal with the proving grounds at Whangpoo. The loco- motive hauling the guns out for testing was built by Chinese mechanics six years ago, and is doing all that was expected from 1t.
 A new dry dock was opened at the dock yard at Sebastopol May IS.
 The British cruiser Terrible is under or ders to make a run from Portsmouth to Gibraltar under 10000 horse power She is expected to make the run of 116O miles in sixty-eight hours. After a stay Of twenty-four hours at Gibraltar she is to return to Portsmouth under 15,OO0 horse power and make the run in siXty-two hours.
 A battIe-ship was launched at St. Pe- tersburg May IS in the presence or the Czar and Czarina, and the keelplates or the armored cruiser Gromoboi or l2,3S6 tons and that of small cruiser were laid.
 In the recent competition for armor contracts for the Russian battle-shlps Peresviet and Oslabia the Carnegie Com pany at Pittsburg fairly outbid European competitors The bids per ton were in order as follows from the several countries: England = Vickers, $5S3 96; John Brown, $569 3S France = St. Chamonds. $490 and $569; Chatillon, $4S6 to s536 90; Marrel Freres, S53O 70 and $3S2 for thick and thin plates. Gernany-Krupp' $562 90; Dillingen, $55s 30; Witkowltz' thln plates. S452 2O United States-Carnegie, s530 45 The Russian Government prof. fered the contract to the last firm If 1t would accept it at $500 per ton, and the offer was accepted. This incident dis closes the fact that there is to all ap- pearance no combination between Euro pean armor manufacturers, but that the American success may lead to such combination in order to shut out competi- tion from this country. It Is also evident that European armor manufacturers ex- act greater profits from their plant or else that owing to better system Carne- gie is enabled to overcome the difference in wages paid. The most satisfactory evi- dence is that our navy is getting its ar nor at 80 per cent of the cost paid by Russia, as the contract just awarded to Carnegie and Bethlehem allows only S400 per ton for three battle-ships, whereas Russia pays $500.
 The San Martino, armored cruiser built by Orlando Brothers, Leghorn. Italy, for the Argentine Republic, has just had her trial under natural draught and made a speed of IS knots. She is sister ship to the Spanish armored cruiser CristobaI Colon, and to the Garibaldi in the Argen- tine navy, of 6S40 tons, LOGO horse power and a speed under forced draught of 20 knots. Her armament has been changed from two 10-inch to four S-inch quick firers and she will also carry ten 6-inch, six 47-inch ten 2.2-inch ten 1.4-inch and two machine guns. All the guns are quick firing.
 The Austrian naval programme pro vides for fifteen battle-ships, seven sec ond-class cruisers, seven third-class cruis- CTS, fifteen torpedo avisos and ninety tor pedo boat destroyers and torpedo boats. An annual expenditure of $27, 900 900 up to 1909 is asked for, but Austrian finances are not in healthy conoltlon, ana the ambitious naval programme will not ma terialiZe.