The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-06
Seanlen Roast
ed in Them.
Ship in Port-Ho Crack
Gunners Are Trained.

lately come to Boston, scarcely one
possesses greater interest for the visi-
tor than the monitor Amphitrite, of
which Capt Barclay of Massachusetts
is commander. The monitor is the orig
inal type of ironclad which revolutions
lied the naval warfare of the world and
led the London Times to declare the
morning after the defeat of the confed-
crate ram Virginia that England had no
navy.
The turret, which was one of the dis
unguishing features of Ericsson mont
tor, Is reproduced today in every war
ship above the grade of a second class
cruiser. The stern of the unfinished
Illinois, one of the latest types Of Amer
lean battleships, quite closely resem-
bles a similar section Of a monitor. Yet
the monitor itself is peculiarly an
American product even at the present
day. 1t is found in the navy of no other
country and the few that are in com
mission in the American navy seldom
offer opportunities for inspection at
home. as9i9
AS everybody knows, the monitors
have little freeboard; that is to say,
they set very low in the water so that
about everything save the turret and
offcers' quarters are below the water
line. The mems quarters are under
water, and the discomfort of life dur
ing the Cuban war was quite beyond
description. The monitors were not in
tended for such service. When the best
of them were built, little attention was
paid to ventilation, and when the steel
craft became heated by the boilers and
the tropical sun, the atmosphere within
was intoleralble. At 4 O'clock in the
morning, nine hours after sunset, said
one of the men, the outside Of the steel
turret was too hot to walk upon. In
action. the eight men who were crowd
ed within that almost alright little box
of a turret were literally stewed. Pers-
piration poured from them in streams.
and oozed from their shoes as they
walked. Men collapsed as if smitten
with paralysis.
Elsewhere on board, the conditions
were only less distressing. During all
the period of service in the West Indies.
not a man of the crew of 1856 pretended
10 sleep in his berth or hammock. Off
GERS and men lay outside, wherever
they could find a. place large enough to
SIT upon, not to speak of lying down. A
1uH allowance of sleep in twenty four
hours was a rarity.
..Ishe officers were scarcely more COM
Portable than the men, The wardroom
IS directly over the boilers and the
smokestack forms the forward parti-
ton. There the temperature ran up to
ITO and 120. The 9-inch steel walls of the
redoubt which connects the two turrets
form also the outer walls Of the officers
state rooms. which extend along both
sides of the wardroom The wardroon.
by the way, is the officers parlor, living
room and dining room. Their staterooms
are about as large as those of a small
coasting steamer, say a Portland Bos-
ton boat
Ihe captains room seems spacious
ana luxurious, till one sees the accom-
modations afforded on such a modern
vessel as the gunboat Helena. On the
monitor the Captain has space for a
ulnlng table, desk, two or three chairs
and an alcove in which his bunk is
placed The ships library lines the
walls. On the Helena, the captain has a
handsome reception and dining room.
an office, a bedroom large enough to
contains a full sized mahogany bed
stead and dressing case. Beyond is a
path room as complete and luxurious
as any hotel or athletic club can pro-
vide.
This comparison illustrates the prfni-
time conditions which obtain on board
a monitor. The vessel is only 25s1s feet
long, and every inch of space is utilized
10 the utmost. Matches and companion
ways are so narrow, that the alder
manic civilian must go through side
wise or not at all, and the passages will
barely allow two men to get by one
announcer. The engine room is a marvel
OF completeness. It is a mystery that
rhe machinery could have been put to-
gether IN so small a compass. Q
The new monitors which are now
pullulng for the government will be a
distinct improvement upon the older
craft in various ways. They viii
nave more freeboard, giving more room
for coal. machinery and for Quarters
The ventilation will be as perfect as
can be devised, and there win be but a.
single turret. AS a result of the changes
in construction the new monitors will
be faster. will have a larger steaming
radius, and above, VIII be more toler-
able habitations for officers and men.
The Amplitude is as good a specimen
OF the present form of monitor as there
IS, with possibly the exception Of the
Monterey, which is now at Manila.
But the revolving turets are the chief
point of curiosity on the monitor The
handsome young gunner, who showed
The Spy man over the boat. was the
one who helped make the great rec
ord Of the AmDhitrite at the lombard
nent of San Juan de Porto Rico. He
is sample of the kind of men behind
the guns who have gained the Ameri-
can navy its reputation. Taken like
many another, from the crew, because
of his promising ability he has been
instructed by the officers till he is load
ed with statistics, science and mathe-
MATES. He can talk the ordinary civ
ilian into absolute confusion and am
azement in five minutes.
Standing on the little platform be-
tween the great 10-inch guns, the gun
ner thrusts his head into a little steel
To-
the turret, and gazing drought the
little squints or Sits in this hood, he
sights the gun with the assistance of
hair line telescope. Seven other men
stand about the guns to take the am
munition as it comes up the hoists,
two stories from below, and shove it
into the guns.
When the gun is discharged, there is
no disturbance within the 'turret, ex-
cept that the piece recoiIs some 40 inch
es to a seat prepared to receive and
return Ii to its position Should a
shot strike the turret, without piercing
the armor, the explosion would cause
no trouble inside But the man who
might inadvertently rest his hand
against the turret wall at that instant
would find his arm broken. Happily
the men have no leisure for loafing
while in action.
The effect of the discharge outside
the turret. however, is terrific There
is conical area Of concussion at the
mouth of the gun, and also another ex-
tending backwards from it, and any
thing that stands within the area Of
either cone viii suffer
On one occasion a gun OF the forward
turret was aimed aft. along the side Of
the ship, towards the stern. The con-
cussion ripped the steel bullet shield
from rapid-fire gun on the super
structure. or redoubt, and Aoored an
ensign who stood in the way. The
young officer did not recover his hear
ing for q week.
The area OF conclusion. or whatever
~ -@'4~tsse tArrn may be. has TO be