The evening times., 1898-07-11
THE QUESTION OF euNNERY.
Spaninrds Do Not Shoot Eetter Than
the ChinCpe.

London. July 1.-THE Times. reviewing
of the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba.
and arrives at the conclusion that "eith-
er the gunnery of the Spaniards. afioa;
on shore. must be hopelessiy incompe-
tent, or their ammunition mus, be near
ly worthless"
1t thinks that the fire of the Chinese
was relatively excellent. -H@r
Both squadrons. continues the writer,
carried torpedoes. but these might as
well have been on shore. for the Ameri-
can ships had no possible inducement to
close to torpedo range. and the Spanish
ships, receiving continuous punishment,
were unable to do so. The action. like
that of the Yalu, was therefore decided
by the gun, which will continue TO be the
dominant weapon in naval warfare
The Importance Of good naval gun
merry needs no demonstration. As AT the
Dattle of the Yalu fire IS reported to have
burst out quickly ON board the stricken
vessels. but it is not impossible that in
some cases oil may have been employed
upon the decks to insure destruction If
all hopes of escaping capture had van
tppH inS question OF tnt value
OF side armor as compared with protec-
tive decks for cruisers, no light is at
present forthcoming,
Ihe rate OF the torpedo boat destroy
ers. Furor and Pluton, is noteworthy. As
such vessels carry little combustible ma
terial the report that they were set afre
may have been due TO the. appearance
Of flames from damaged tunnels. The
fact remains that these craft. which had
been claimed ia
for a battleship. were wrecked by an
armed yacht which possessed nominally
far inferior speed. The inference is that
the tabulated elements of force and theo-
retical assumption may need great quail
ihcation. 1t appears indisputable that
the devotion Admiral Cervera's seamen
displayed in continuing Il hopeless strug-
gle till the last was worthy of the loft
lest traditions of the Spanish ptople'-
Regarding Gen. Skaters expedition,
the Times says:
1T recalls in many respects England's
experiences in the Crimea; but the lack
of science and of organization have re-
suited in fresh demonstration of the
admirable fighting qualities of the Amer
leans"
With reference to the actual position at
Santiago, the article observes:
America seems naturally to have de-
be unconditional. and. in the circum-
stances, permission 20 evacuate could
not reasonably be expected. The idea
mooted in New York that the Spanish
garrison can escape IL 1t desires appears
TO have little foundation. Escape in the
face of an active enemy at close quar-
ters Is not an easy operation; and. al
though Gen. Shafter is not prepared for
pursuit, his right wing would probably
be able to hold the Spaniards. while the
latter. without transport or food and LA
BILE to the guerrilla attacks of the Gu
bans. would experience great difficulties.
There is nothing now to justify a fur
ther expenditure of life upon either the
capture or the defense of Santiago. If it
be true that Admiral Sampson declines
to send ships into the harbor his decis-
ion cannot be too strongly commended
Warships have no business in cramped
water, where the fire of one or two
guns may disable them
With reference to Admiral Camara's
the writer says: |
His costly proceedings supply q strong
commentary on the terrible mismanage-
ment of .he business of war at Madrid"