Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-05-10

Improvement In Guns-Barring Torpe-
does, Man May Hope to Live.
Modern warfare kills quicker and far
Their away. That is the chief difference
between it and the ancient-a difference
in kind rather than in degree. In spite
of l, 600 pound projectiles that push in
to sheets of steel as though the obstruc.
ton were SO much cheese, in spite Of
guns that can throw these projectiles IS
miles, in spite Of rapid fire guns that
discharge 1000 steel capped shells q
minute, the crew of modern man-o'.
war is in no more danger than were the
crews of the old time wooden vessels of
Captain Marryat's day, when Jack knew
nothing of engine rooms or armor plate.
This is not the general impression, but
it is the opinion of the naval engineers
who have had charge of the construction
of these modern warships. The common
idea is that the man who enters sea
fight nowadays takes his tomb with
him; that the battle will be so fierce
that nothing will be left to surrender on
either side. This is not SO, at least &C.
cording to the experience Of the vessels
engaged in sea fights in the war between
Chile and Peru in 1879, and between
the Chinese and japanese in 1894.
Not one Of these vessels sank, though
some Of them had not square yard Of
| them free from marks. The Tin Yuen
was struck more than 200 times, but she
made port after the battle. Her engines
were not damaged in the least, and her
armor plate, though dented deeply, was
not loosened. Her deck had caught fire
and burned up completely, her two sec.
ondary batteries were disabled, and
what little rigging she had, even to the
signal halyards, was cut away. The
Chen Yuen, which was hit 100 times,
reached port three feet down in the bow
with her main battery disabled and her
decks burned away. In the action the
steel bulkheads about her magazines
were redhot. The loss of life was not
greater than it has been often in the old
style of fighting, when three deckers ran
along side by side, made fast and blew
each other into eternity with broadsides.
The danger from fire and from maya
zine explosion was more imminent then,
for ships were constructed almost entire
ly of inflammable material. Iron and
steel protection had not been introduced.
The fire squad was as busy as the fight
eTs and had fully as hard work to do.
One great endeavor then was to set the
enemy on fire. Redhot shot was used for
this purpose, and the missiles burned
furiously and persistently, no matter
how much water was thrown over them.
In the modern ship woodwork has
been practically eliminated. Even the
decks and bulkheads are now made Of
steel. Only the interior trimmings are
Of wood, and not enough of these are
used to offer opportunity for large fire.
But no doubt some commanders will or.
der even these to be torn out if the ship
is going into action. Wooden decks
proved dangerous indeed in the battle Of
the Yalu. They are gone forever.
Boats are made fast to line and sent
overheard when the vessel clears for &C.
tion. If the water is not too deep, they
are anchored; otherwise they are cast
adrift with the hope that after the fight
is over they may be picked up again.
Boats are much in the way except
when ship is sinking, and they are
productive of splinters also. In former
days half of the killing and wounding
was due to splinters.
Cruisers are safe or not, chiefly accord
ing to their speed. Except for mines and
torpedoes, which would make mouth
full Of the most powerful vessel afloat,
cruisers have as good chance to sur
vive an engagement as the best of the
old timers. Battleships, which are prac-
tically floating fortresses, like the cruis-
ers, must maintain perpetual vigilance
against torpedoes and eschew mines, but
otherwise they are not likely to 60 down.
They cannot be blown out of the water
except from underneath. The most ter.
rifio bombardment will not sink them.
Crews are not locked in below deck
in time Of action with no chance to es-
cape, as some accounts have stated. The
matches can be opened from the inside,
and the various doorways in the iron
bulkheads that divide the ship into al
legged watertight compartments are not
closed when fight is on. They have
to be kept open to maintain a passage
way. Only the fireroom is shut tight.
This is necessary in order to keep up a
forced draft. The firemen then have
less chance to escape than any other
men in the ship, but in their drills
they are on deck five minutes after the
alarm.
When battle is expected, everything
on deck that is in the way is removed,
anchors are unstocked, cables are slowed
away, fire hose is laid, the engines for the
hose are kept ready for emergency and
the leak mats are stacked up ready for
use. These mats are sheets of steel, with
rubber rims or flanges. which act like
suckers. Gables are unbent and slowed
below, along with all unnecessary rail
ings, gear, ladders and rigging; screws
are cleaned, extra tillers placed in readi-
ness, tackle for the rudder in case the
steering apparatus is damaged is got
ready for service. Nothing that can
splinter is allowed above water. Thus
prepared, the modern ship is far prefera-
Bile to anything of oak and teak, the
safest instrument Of slaughter vet do.