The evening times., 1898-08-10
GREATNESS OF THE kASAGI
Naval Constructor Ito's. Views Of
Japan's New Cruiser.
HER FURNITURE ALL OFMETAL
No COmbustible Material to he Al
lowed On Board the. Mikado's
American-Built Battlehip - Her
Fighting Qunlifcations-Proh
by object Lessons.

Philadelphia. Aug 10.-Nayal Construc-
tor Ito. who has represented the Japan
ese government at Cramps since March.
having been commissioned by his govern
ment to watch the construction OF the
Kasagi. In talk yesterday expressed
great satisfaction at the manner in which
the contract for the cruiser had been car
ried out.
Il believe" said Mr.. Ito. that the Ka-
serviceabie vessels of her class afioat She
has already developed speed of twenty.
and one-haR knots, ana We believe that
she can do even better than that She Is
type of vessel which the navies of the
world have come to recognize as being
Indispensable. The American navy has no
vessels of the type of the Kasagi. but it
is safe to say that you will not be long
without them. She is a protected cruiser.
capable of developing great speed and on
occasion even of engaging a battleship.
although. of course. her best policy would
be to slip away.
THE main difference between the Kasa-
81 thC VI Tic navy
of about the same displacement is in her
guns. Her armament will consist of two
s-inch guns. ten l7-inch guns and twelve
l2-pounders. In addition she will mount
ten machine guns in her fighting tops.
THE Kasagi is fitted with a protective
deck and with protective armor over her
coming towers and ammunition hoists.
In her interior construction everything
con-bustible has been avoided. SO far as
possible. All of her sliding doors and
nearly all her tables are made Of metal.
The terrible destruction wrought by fire
on board the Spanish cruisers is a suffi-
cient object lesson of the dangers attend
ant on the presence aboard OF woodwork
and other combust.ble material.
las soon as the Kasasi is turned over
TO the japanese government. which we
expect will be some time in October she
W II sail for England. where her guns will
be supplied by the Armstrong;. She will
then take short cruise in Eu-opS an Wa
ters and subsequently sail for home via
the SueZ canal. She Will be In command
OF Captain Kosiwayujhen:a.
II anticipate the arrival in Philadel-
2hia today of X. Hideshena. fleet engi-
neer: S. Nakahama, chef paymaster.
and Y. Suzuki chief surgeon. The ka-
sagi will be taken, to ERg;api by crew
of $50 men. who will be sent from Japan.
though her fun complems MT IL 40 men
Naval Constructor Ito, when asked what
he considered, from the naval construct
or's point of view. the most instructive
lesson taught by the battle Of Santiago.
laughed and said: There were many diff
ferent lessons taught on that occasion.
Perhaps the most conspicuous fact i'm
pressed on the mind of naval authorities
was the necessity of training and disci-
pline The Spanish were not trained in
shooting and the Americans were. No
matter how good ships may be, or how
much Individual bravery IS displayed on
board of them. all is without avail If the
men have not been taught to use their
guns. The japanese government has al
ways followed very closely the example
of the American Government in training
its sailors how to shoot l have never
seen any of the Spanish ,vhsssls~which
were destroyed at Santiago. as they never
came into japanese waters. From what
l know of them. however. they were
splendid vessels. The result of the battle
showed. however. that in a fight with
trained gunners- know how TO hit
mark the ships of the Spaniards might
as well have been made of cardboard