The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-02-28
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIES.

The French cruiser D'Assas has had
new set of boiler tubes put In, although
the ship is only one year old. With the
new tubes the boilers developed 5000
horsepower under natural draught, speed
ing the vessel at the rate of Is knots and
consuming only 191 pounds Of coal to
each horsepower per hour.
The French navy will shortly be repre-
sented in China waters by four armored
ships, vauban, 620S tons; Bayard, COLL
tons; Bruix and D'Entrecasteaux, ar
mored cruisers, of 4754 and STA tons re-
spectively. The cruisers will consist Of
Duguay Trouin, 1898 tons; Jean Bart, 4109
tons; Descartes, 1890 tons; Pascal, 4015
tons, and Eclaireur, 1869 tons, and the
gunboats Surprise Of 627 tons and Lion of
SOB tons. Rear-Admiral de la Bonninierre
de Beaumont, who served as captain on
the station in 1895 during the Tonquin
war, is to be promoted to vice-admiral
and will have charge of the new squad
ron.
At Kronstadt plans have been prepared
for the construction of a depot for the
storage of "matsut,' or liquid fuel. The
tanks in the depot will have capacity
of 1900 tons and in the building of These
tanks old marine boilers will be utilized.
A special iron vessel of 1000 tons is to be
constructed, fitted with requisite appa-
ratus for the transportation or the pc
troleum fuel from the shore to the ships.
The Admiral Grieg, coast defense tur-
ret ship, is having tanks fitted in her coal
bunkers, and when the Admiral Vrakin-
opp returns from China she will undergo
similar alterations and will also be fitted
with new boilers, the present ones having
been thirteen years in the ship.
China's navy building abroad since the
peace with Japan includes two torpedo
cruisers, Feiying, $50 tons and % knots
speed, built at Elbing, Germany; Feiting,
of 1000 tons and q knots, built by Arm
strongs, both of which vessels have been
delivered; three protected cruisers Of
1850 tons at Elbing of 1850 tons and 1914
knots speed, one of which has been
launched; two protected cruisers of 1900
tons and "a knots speed at Armstrong;,
one of which, Haiyung, which means the
wide ocean, Is launched. OF torpedo
boats, two of "a knots are building at
Schichau, Elbing, of 100 feet length; two
| at Vulcan Stettin, of same speed, but tek
feet longer, and four 32-knot torpedo-boat
| destroyers of 195 feet are building by
| Schichau No armored vessels of any
| description have been contracted for, but
| these five cruisers, two torpedo cruisers
| and four torpedo-boat destroyers, the
| competitions of which are near at hand,
would be valuable additions to any navy.
y.
vessels.
| At the Portsmouth dockyard eight Ship
| wrights on pecework made frequent com-
plants to the yard authorities that the
| wages they were able to earn were in
sufficient to support them, but no atten-
! ton was paid to their complaints. AS a
last resort they addressed a respectful
communication to the Admiralty explains
ing their grievances, and this brought
forth a letter from the Admiralty to the
admiral superintendent ordering the dis
charge of four of the men because they
had dared to write direct to the Admir-
atty. There is great public Indignation in
Portsmouth over the affair, and a public
! meeting was held at which a resolution
was passed by reclamation censuring the
Admiralty for summarily discharging the
| four men and thereby interfering with
| workingmen in their right of free speech
and combination. The First Lord of the
| Admiralty had denied that the, men
earned only shillings $50 a week. but
| did not deny that they were unable to
| earn adequate wages. Several members of
| Parliament have taken an interest in the
affair and the Admiralty will be called
upon to explain it's outrageous treatment
/ of the workmen.