The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-16
MODERN WAR MATERIAL
LECTURE BY CAPTAIN ARTHUR
 MURRAY, U. s. 4.

Listened to by Large Audience at Shenield
 Hail-Various Kinds of Ships for De-
 fensive and Offensive warfare--Their
 Armament-Torpedoesa and Mines-Land
 Notifications.
 Captain Arthur Murray, U. s. IA. spoke on Modern War Materiap' in the Sheffield lecture course last eyen- ing. The subject was a most oppor- tune one, and the captains presenta- ton of 1t was instructive and interest," ing in a high degree. The announce ment that so able an officer was to lec- ture on the subject at this time filled the hall with an audience of people who listened to the lecturer with the closest attention throughout. The ad- dress was profusely illustrated throughout with lantern views of the various engines employed in modern offensive and defensive warfare. Cap- tain Murray said:
 When I selected the subject of this lecture some time ago did not realize how timely the lecture would be in view of the events that are transpirinx to-day. The history of ancient war fare extends back to the earliest perfI ods in the history of races. The his- tory of modern warfare dates from the early part of the present century. War occupies most important place in all history. By war nations have been made and nations have been destroyed. The ability to carry on war has made nations great, and the importance ofl nations has waned as their war power has diminished. War has carried the civilization of the victorious nation into the country of the vanquished people, and thus it's influence has been effect i've in spreading civilization. The field is so great in the discussion of a siIb- ject like this that I shall confine my- self to seacoast Notifications and still more closely to those of the United States.
 "The subject can be still further di-A vided into the active and defensive means for seacoast defense. The for mer of these classes includes the sea- going vessels and the latter the forti- fications, mines, etc. Certain ships are intended for seagoing purposes, while others are intended as an outer line of defense to harbors. Various classes of warships are batteships, armored cruisers, unarmored cruisers, gunboats, torpedo-boat destroyers and torpedo- boats. Several of these six classes are further divided into classes according to their size, armor or amament The battleships are the most powerful of these ships and are divided into three classes according to their armament. These ships are equipped with main and secondary batteries and are ar mored usually along certain lines.E There is an arrnor belt along the water line thickest amidships and sloping to- ward the bow and stern of the ship The deck is also armored with a vary ing thickness of armor plate and the turrets are very heavily armored. Of first-class battleships the Indiana is the best example in our navy which is. about two-thirds the size of the Eng fish ship the Magnificent. The Indiana has in it's turrets thirteen-inch guns. and her armament is more powerful than that of the Magnificent. Were all her guns fired at once a force of 200, ,000 foot tons would be engendered, or suf- fcient to raise the ship twenty feet AilIO IhC c1ils iiC lcII SCoL dAu 6WlllCSts of our battleships is the Iowa, of 1900 tons.
 "The class of armored cruisers are intended as commerce destroyers, and are built with lighter armor and far greater speed. Of this class are the twin cruisers of our navy, the New York and Brooklyn. Protected cruis- CTS are built for speed. Of this class is the Olympia.
 With the development in the use Of torpedoes and torpedo-boats has come the use of torpedo-boat destroyers. In the number of these boats the United States is behind all other nations, in cluding Spain. Gunboats are intended to form the outer line of harber de- fense. In addition to their main bat teries all warships to-day are equipped with rapid-fire guns, which are of great service in destroying torpedoes and torpedo-boats. Torpedoes are eith-8 CT naval or field. Naval torpedoes are movable and anti-movable, and nova ble torpedoes are auto-movable and dirigible. The two auto-movable tor-s pedoes which are most used are the Whitehead and Howell. The White- head is the only torpedo with war record.
 "Torpedoes are discharged beneath or above the water. The Whitehead has a velocity of about thirty knots for 800 yards and is the torpedo used by most nations. The searchlight is also an important adjunct of the modern war vessel. Monitors for harbor de- fense are peculiar to the United States | and are believed by their advocates to be very effective vessels. Submarine boats have not as yet been sufficiently tried. so that their value cannot be es- timated. The trials with a French sub- marine boat is said to have been very successful"
 New Sound Steamer.