Arizona republican., 1898-07-09
gitimate'' has been doing something in the rotten line itself back there.
A LESSON TO ENGLAND.

A LESSON TO ENGLAND. Old Muzzle Loading Guns Are Sadly
 Out of Date.
 The first and most significant lessen of the war between Spain and the United States has been the danger oi an obsolete armament. At Manila the Spaniards may have been badly com manded, but they certainly did not want courage. With pluck and mod crate amount of pluck they ought to have accounted for good many more than eight American wounded, when their own butchers bill was 514. Yet they killed not a single American, and inflicted. the most trivial damage up- on Admiral Dewey's ships. aiae eaifs
 The explanation is their guns were old and weak They were braech- loaders, it is true, but breech-loaders of an ancient pattern, and so the Spanish ships were torn to pieces and the Spanish seamen slaughtered with out the possibility of injuring their op- ponents.
 Precisely the same thing might happen to a British fleet England has ships on her effective list armed with guns of an even older and more obsolete pattern than those which dis graced Admiral Montejo's squadron and brought defeat upon his flag. She has. that is to say, the famous muzzle- loaders, which, in any other fleet wou' d long ago have been relegated to the museum. But the British are con- servative people, and the British min. istry of marine is a conservative in stitution. e2
 By the latest return of British war. ships there are no less than forty. three ships armed with muzzle-loaders in the British navy. They are:
 Sixteen Battleships.-Ajax, Agame. non, Temeraire, Inflexible, Superb Alexandra, Dreadnaught, Neptune Triumph, Swiftsure, Sultan. 1ror Duke, Invincible, Audac ous. Monarch Hercules.
 Twelve Coast Defense. Orion, Belle. isle, Hydra, Gorgon, Hecate, Cyclops Glatton, Hotspur, Penelope, Prince AL bert, Wivern, Scorpion.
 Nine Cruisers (armored). ).-North. ampton, Nelson, Shannon, Northum berland, Agincourt, Achilles, Mino taur, Black Prince, Warrior.
 Six Cruisers Carysfort Boadicea, Active, Voltage, 1nconstant
 The muzzle-loading gun, was aban, doned by the British admiralty as fal back as eighteen years ago and ought long ago to have vanished from all our ships. It was abandoned because it was inferior in power, ac- curacy, rapidity of fire and ease oi handling to the breech-loader. Pow CT, accuracy, rapidity of fire and ease of handling in guns represent exactly those features which decide battles.
 How bad the muzzle-loader is does not seem to be realized by British citi- zens A few figures may give some clear ideas:
 Nine-inch muzzle-loader pierces eleven inches of armor and strikes 8 blow capable of lifting 3,6S1 tons one foot
 Six-inch quick-firer Of the newest pattern pierces twenty-One inches o1 armor plate and strikes blow capable of lifting 4,S00 tons one foot.
 And the modern gun weighs little more than half the old gun; can be fired ten times for the muzzle-loader's once, and is without exaggeratior three times as likely to hit the target
 Certainly the English are conser- vative race! Their seamen may bt brave-and we know that they arc brave-but I shudder at the fate oi men who are sent out with 9-inch mug zle-loaders to meet ships armed with 6-inch quick-firers or guns even better For the new French guns are as good as, if not better than, even the British best. They Have been adopted by Rus. sia as the finest quick-firers existing
 England will pay for this neglect some day. One fine morning war vii come, and she will wake to the fact that one-fourth of her battleships aIt useless, or worse than useless, since she has counted upon them and fmag- ined that they were fit and ready fol ervice.
 She will pay for her neglect in tho slaughter of British seamen, md 1T ships captured by the enemy. Ant then perhaps she will discover tha Bismarck spoke the turth when h' said, eff we have to risk the life blood of our men agaist our enemies in tn, field we are bound to give chem tht best weapons that money and scienc' can provide. e."-London Mail.