Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-09-10

The cou mand OF the sea- the first
lord of the British admiralty stated last
year, was passing to cruisers rather
than to battleships. This may be so
to limited extent, for il depends rath-
er on what the words battleship and
cruiser signify.
AS has been repeatedly told in the
Herald a battleship is vessel which,
for her size, carries the heaviest arma-
ment and the thickest armor possible,
subordinatiDg speed and coal-carrying
capacity to secure these ends. An ar
mored cruiser. on the other hand, sac
riices a certain amount of gun power
and protection in order TO reach a
high speed and to stow a large guam
tity OF coal. But the dividing line be-
tween these two types of armored
fighting ships is decidedly arbitrary.
each nation classifying its ships to
suit the fancy of the committee that
decides upon their construction.
For instance. when the old Maine
-as first laid down she was called by
cur nary department an armored cruis-
e-- At that time it was proposed to
equip her with masts for sail power
La-sr Il gzs decided that instead OF
the sqzrs there should be military
Dzstz. and thsree.orth the Maine was
EzcE1 as bzttlsship.
-=-=-ss-.-s -. Cruisers
he neE bzIt.eships Of England OF
the Czncqus class are TO carry 12-inch
sE1s ard amor only six inches thick,
tut the speed, with natural draft, is
10 be 1872 knots, and the coal capacity
is 1890 tons
Germany's latest designed battle
ships mount s.2-inch guns as the heav-
lest pieces in their main batteries.
In our navy the Texas is denominat-
ed second-class battleship. but the
Spanish ships of the same size and ap-
proximately the same armament and
armor are classified as armored cruis-
ers. This is a distinction, therefore,
without difference, and is not al
ways recognized, even among naval
men, the Infanta Maria Teresa being
often spoken of as a second-class bat
tleship.
This vessel and the armored cruiser
Cristobal Colon, now that they are
both to become American men-of-war,
are particularly interesting to us.
First, because having been won in war
they represent the fruit of conquest,
the reward of victory and the glory
of the United States navy; and second
because, be they called armored cruis-
ers or battleships, they are a type Of
ship our naval officers are very de-
sirous OF seeing added to our service.
The Infanta Maria Teresa.
The Infanta Maria Teresa was built
by Sir Charles Palmer's Anglo-Spanish
company e pll5ca, Spain.
The following are the dimensions
and other particulars of the ship:
Length between perpendiculars. $40
feet; greatest beam, S. feet 2 inches:
mean draught, n feet 6 inches; dis
placement, 1000 tons.
Her hull is built OF mild steel and
is we'll subdivided by double bottom
and watertight bulkheads. She was
launched at Bilboa on August 30. 1890.
and completed her steam trials off Fer
rol in September and October of 1892
With natural draft 1858 horsepower
was developed and q speed of 1s.5
knots, whereas only is knots were stip-
ulated. With forced draft in four and
half hours triai, the mean horse
power developed was 13,7ss and tho
speed was 20.5 knots
The two sets Of vertical triple ex-
pansion engines Of the ship were de-
signed by an English engineer. The
diameters Of the cylinders are AZ. 81
and go inches and the stroke is 4e
inches. The steam generating plant
consists Of four double-ended and twc
single-ended boilers. In addition
there are two separate boilers for the
auxiliary machinery, comprising over
fifty separate engines, which are stu,
ated In the engine and boiler com
partments.
Tho Terssa's Protection.
The Teresa is protected by an armol
belt IL inches thick and feet inches
wide, extending for a distance Of 81;
feet OF the length of the ship at the
water line, from feet above 1t to Is
inches below it, and having backing
OF teak wood, to which it is bolted.
The armored or protective deck
placed at certain height above the
water line throughout the greater part