The herald., 1898-04-02
INTENSITY OF THE WAR SPIRIT

| that may be snapped at any moment.
INTENSITY OF THE WAR SPIRIT
The war spirit is undoubtedly abroad.
Mimic soldiers with paper caps yester-
day paraded on Figueroa street. and
mimic war vessels were launched upon
the placid waters Of our municipal
breathing spots, showing that the pa
triotic impulse Is contagious and that 1t
ls by no means confined to the grave
and reverend masculines who spend the
livelong day in eagerly scanning The
Herald bulletin boards and their even
ings in passing bellicose resolutions.
| A campaign Of education is in prog
ress, and all classes Of our people are
developing an almost Unsuitable appe-
tite for martial lore and naval knowl-
edge. They have already learned that
squadron must be composed Of ships
of all types-torpedo catchers to go
ahead and run down the enemy's tor
pedo boats, engaging them with rapid
| fire guns at short range; torpedo boats
| to attack the big war craft: fast cruis-
ers for immediate servicec in exposed
quarters, for sudden raids and for re-
| connoitering; low-lying monitors for
coast defense and the protection Of
cities; battleships for royal engage
ments with the more powerful vessels
of the opposing fleet in the supreme
crisis that usually arises.
They have learned that a cruiser may
attack vessel of its own class, but not
a battleship. They have learned that
when torpedo boat approaches within
half mile of battleship, the peril of
the latter is extreme, for they are the
swiftest craft afloat, and can send a
torpedo tube swift and sure that dis
lance under water, piercing the vessels
hull below its armor and speedily send
ing it to the bottom. They have learned
in the presence of one Of these insidious
foes, whose speed enables 1t to discharge
a tube and get out of range Of the guns
of the big vessel, which cannot readily
be trained upon the low-lying craft,
looking like a speck on the ocean when
mile removed from the range-fipders.
The best expert naval testimony main
tains that the larger the battleship the
less capable it is Of self-defense. An
awful engine of destruction. when pitted
against another of its class, 1t Is yet
quite helpless when assailed by the tor
pedo boats and smaller armored vessels
of great speed and ready manipulation,
| capable of worming themselves in and
out among fleet Of large vessels and
completely battling the gunners.
| But the opinions of the experts are
all based upon conjecture, since the mod
ern battleship of the first class has not
yet been put to the crucial test, and the
| average citizen can indulge in wide
range of speculation without fear of Sc
rious contradiction by acknowledged au-
thority.
Among recent inventions in naval war
fare none attracts more attention or
elicits more interest," than the submarine
torpedo boat conceived by John P. Hol-
land which has been put to the severest
test by government officials within the
past ten days.
Naval experts regard this as the most
important invention since Ericsson's in
spiration took shape in the original Mon
itor. 1t has by the tests been fully dem
onstrated that, when properly ballasted,
1 o,,J TO 10
face with ease, make extraordinary
speed under water, and remain unseen
from the surface long enough to destroy
an entire fleet without harm to itself.
beneath the hulls of battleships. and by
the time the range-finders succeed in
locating it after it rises again to the sur
face, it is again under water and out
of sight, emerging again perhaps on the
opposite side. No armor can withstand
the high explosive projecties used in
it's dynamite guns and torpedo tubes.
The vessel is of such diminutive proper
tions-fifty- three feet long, with a dis
placement of only sixty tons-that it can
ne Carried On the QeCh VI d large VeSSel
of any class.
The Holland submarine torpedo boat
indeed promises to add new terrors to
naval warfare. 1t Is unique craft,
without counterpart in any other navy,
and can be antagonized only by vessels
Of similar structure. which might have
difficulty in locating it under water.
AS The Herald has before remarked,
this little craft may prove to be the
joker in the American navy. rivaling in
effectiveness the initial monitor and
perhaps revolutionizng the naval archi-
lecture of the future
WAR JOURNALISM