The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-10-01
A Chat With the Writer Of
BFaSSGy'S Animal.
VIEW OF WHITE SQUADRONS
Likes the Oregon-Commend Am
eriCan Sea Fighters Alliance.
Voyage Of Sunbeam

The big man aboard the c. & a.
steamship Miowera this voyage is not
big man physically. Lord Brassey is
small in stature. His fame is so!idly
and lastingly established. He is known
all over the world for final authority
on naval matters, for one of the fore
most sailors of any time, for man Of
the most charming personality and for
one of active, broad, powerful and in
cisive mentality. There is nothing
naughty about this man of reputation
and brains and title and high degree.
When one approache~ him for a chat
he finds seats and rea lily enters into
conversation.
There is issued regular V from press
a book "Brassey's, Annual" This vol
ume is looked for eagerly each year by
the hI ads of all Governments. 1t al
ways tells all about navies. If any
one at any time wants to know any
thing about any navy, resort is at once
had to this comprehensive and accur-
ate work. Lord Brassey has been COM
/
facts and figures of the work are ''at
the tips of his fingers" He amazes one
with his remarkable grasp of the de-
tails of information on navies.
Lord Brassey. retuI ming 81 ~h.s t1t..l
from England, spent some time in the
United States. He wanted to see how
the American ships looked after the
campaign against Spain. He speaks in
glowing terms of the construction of
the ships of the United States, on their
fitness for battle and on the bravery
and skill of the men who handled and
fought them. All this says Lord
BraSSey, earnestly, was to be expected
on the part of our cousins and is taken
as matter of course. We expected them
to battle gallantly. We knew they had
the better ships and men and the wish
| that they would win was father to the
sympathetic hope. The public men of
the United States are elated over the
fact that the war brought their polit-
lcal factions closer together as a ma
ton and wiped out sectional lines. 1t
did much more than that and should be
given broader view. 1t has welded
together forever the bond of friend
ship between the United States and
Great Britain and has settled once and
for all that the English speaking peo-
pies are in brotherhood whether or
no treaties or documents or letters or
protocols are signed to that effect in
fact. SO complete and thorough and
absolute is the understanding between
the heads of the nations and the two
peoples that no agreement of arbitra-
ton between the United States and
Great Britain as a matter Of record is
necessary at all"
In the opinion of Lord Brassay the
feature of the fighting was the fear
fully effective work of the cruisers both
in Manila bay and off Santiago. Both
the cruisers and the battleships did
more than the eXpe- S thought they
were capable of and they have been
studied pretty carefully. 1t is marvel
Gus that through all the work of the
navy not an American ship was found
unprepared when called upon. That
nothing should have gone amiss with
any or the ships in the squadron that
waited so long for Cervera is little
short of a miracle. The landsman can
| not grasp the computation of what is
involved in having a fighting ship
| ready for business on the notice of an
| instant for weeks. There are hun
dreds upon hundreds of chances for ac-
| cldents that might keep a ship out of
| action or delay her with an enemy in
| sight, but all of these myriad of
| chances seem to have been avoided
somehow, and it must frankly be ad-
mitted that brains all along the line
| is what did it,
Lord Brdssey grows enthusiastic in
| commenting upon the performance of
the Oregon. He says that what Capt.
| Clarke did with this ship is unparal-
| leled both for man and craft Nothing
like IL was ever before attempted and
| few naval men could be induced to be
iieve in advance that anything of the
sort could be accomplished 1t can
readily be noticed in conversation that
Lord Brassey is deeply impressed with
the Oregon. The distinguished Brit
Usher speaks OF the nicely with which
| calculations had been made in placing
guns on the American ships He has
only highest praise for this factor. He
is especially pleased with the work OF
the small guns, of which he has been a
persistent advocate. Lord Brassay
speaks with caution of torpedoes He