The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-10
Correspondence The St. Paul Globe.

Correspondence The St. Paul Globe
WASHINGTON, April 7.-Out Of the
present turmoil Of preparations for war
and striving for peace the United
States will emerge. whether the climax
be war or peace, with many useful les
sons learned. There have been strange
rumors, emanating from high places
which have been speedily stif1ed to
the effect that Uncle Sans ready
is a bold bluff so far as many essential
features Of a nation In arms are con-
cerned.
Stories have been whispered about
that guns, purchased at great cost, are
useless because the cartridges, without
which the guns are no more formidable
than bean shooters, have not been pro-
vided, and cannot be got ready in time,
should war be declared in the near
future. The strength of our fleets has
been enlarged upon, and the most made
or the fact that we are more than a
match for Spain with our navy pitted
against theirs in one great sea fight.
But the weakness of our fleet, as
compared with that of Spain, has not
been the subject of eloquent speeches
and lengthy newspaper articles on this
side of the Atlantic, although it has in
Spain. 1t is we'll to face the truth,
however unpleasant 1t may be to this
patriotic people.
We are entirely lacking in that
small, but terribly effective war craft,
the torpedo boat destroyer. So i'm
portant does Great Britain, the lead
iy,rr I
this type Of fighting vessel, that she
possesses nearly a hundred of them.
Spain has seventeen and is building
more, while all the nations have small
fleets of "destroyers
They are inexpensive boats, when
compared with the big fighting ma
chimes, but experience may prove that
they can do enormous damage in a sea
battle. In recent English naval ma
neuvers the eyes of the admiralty Of
ficials were opened to the Importance
of possessing numerous contingent
Of this speedy, wicked little craft, and
the British shipbuilders are at present
engaged in building many Of an i'm
proved type that will shortly be added
to her majesty's navy.
Of the Newest Type.
The torpedo boat destroyers possess
ed Dy spain are mostly OF the newest
type. The Furor and Terror, two de-
stroyers built to order for the Spanish
government in a British shipbuilding
yard, are splendid little crafts. They
have length of 22O feet, breadth of %
feet. and depth of 13 feet, and dis
place $50 tons. When equipped for
service they are armed with two four
teen-pounder rapid fire guns, one for
ward, above the coming tower and the
other aft; two six-pounder guns, one in
each broadside, and two automat tic ma
chine guns, one and one-half inch d.
ameter. They have two torpedo tubes
on the upper deck, from which torpe-
does can be fired on either side. Each
vessel carries four torpedoes.
The great value Of these small boats
lies in their speediness. They can cas-
lily make twenty eight knots an hour
Seventy tons of coal will be sufficient
to carry the little craft from Spain to
Porto Rico, and this amount of coal
they can easily carry. Seventy men
usually comprise the crew of destroy
er.
Take Many Chances.
With their rapid fire guns, and their
torpedoes, these small boats are threat
ening enough. but they are useful in