The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-17

Of the great eco fght OF Santiago would seem
to warrant the retention Of the refrigerator
supply Bhipa 60 permanent adiuncts 70 the neet.
Admiral Cerveras after surrendering himself
Q prisoner Of war on board the Gloucester, ex-
pressed his astonishment that the American
feet should be 20 abundAntly supplied with
ammunition. II had thought" he IL said to
have remarked. :" that after your frequent and
thorough bombardments Of the forts, your sup
ply Of proiectiles and gunpowder must have be-
come fairly well exhausted" This conclusion.
perhaps. had some weight in determining the
Spanish Admiral to run the gauntlet OF our
ships. The terrific and prolonged IRE with
which no was received soon caused him to
abandon this theory. The secret OF the album
dance. as Cervera now knows. Is that the Ar
meria and the Fern have been especially fitted
QUIT TO carry spare ammunition for the fighting
ships, Whenever. for instance. the stock OF
S-inch and 13-inch shells In the Indiana's mag
azines needed replenishing, the Armenia was
signalledto come alongside. and the deficiency
was soon remedied. The Fern was equally
ready to supply 3-pounder and ~8-pounder pro-
~iectiles to vessels needing them. The fact that
ammunition would run low had been foreseen
and provided for. 1t was not necessary to send
q battleship hundreds Of miles to renew her
supply OF the death-dealinR missiles.
On board all steamers minor accidents to the
machinery are OF daily occurrence. The COM
PIGMENTS OF our men-of-war include q force Of
mechanics, and in the larger vessels lathe and
other machine tools are f%urnished, and an at
tempt is made to do repair work. The facili-
ties, however, are never good. and frequent
trips to navy yards have always been neces-
sary. To prevent our fleets being crippled in
time Of war. the Vulcan has been added TO the
navy. h is, In effect, a floating machine
shop. her outfit including a foundry. black
smiths shop. boiler shop. and q shop fitted
with machine tools. such as lathes, planners.
boring machines, and plate rollers. The COM
plement 10 made up OF m~Sehinists, electricians,
g~unsmiths, b~lacksmiths, coppersmiths, plumb
era. brass workers. carpenters. and shipwrights.
She is commanded BY Lieutenant-O Commander
Harris, and among her officers are Chief En-
gineers Sims and Aldrich and o number of the
other most prominent mechanical engineers In
the world. The Vulcan makes 1t practicable fol-
very extensive repairs to the feet to DO made
thousands Of miles away from o navy yard
There are a Vulcan and q Heola In the British
Navy. but less complete than ours.
From the ships enumerated Il will be clear
that Sampson can keep the sea for months at q
time. as indeed some OF his ships have actually
done. But the Vulcan only enables interior re.
pairs to be made. In case Of exterior work be.
ing demanded recourse must DO had to o dr.
dock. Unfortunately we have not ct present
any floating dry dock in our navy. There is
however. a very good one In Havana that be-
longs to Spain. Sampson has his eye on II. ant
believes he can induce Blanco to part with It
After borrowing 1t, Sampson will put It to goot
use in reftting the Cristobal Colon. Undei
the circumstances 1t would be no more thar
polite to send that fine vessel back to Spain, IL
care Of Schley or Watson. say.