The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-14
in contest in which their feebler fire
would prove ineffective.

The changes wrought by steam, ar
NOR and rifled guns have not altered
this classification. In a pitched battle
only those vessels which at once can
night effectively and can hope to with
stand the hammering of the enemy's
nre have any business in the line OF
pattle. But for the menace of the
torpedo, the weapon by which the
smallest vessel may chance to sink
the mightiest, the line of separation
would be drawn every whit as rigidly
TO-DAY as century ago. The battle
snip is vessel which "a tarries
guns heavy enough to have n chance
or piercing the armor of opposing bat
tleships, and (2) is provided with ar
NOR stout enough to enable her to sur
VlVe a fair amount of pounding from
the big guns of the foe. The cruiser
as rule, is simply the old frigate, a
vessel swift enough to be used as a
scout, armed heavily enough to make
ner a fighting unit Of some value, but
unprovided with the heavy armor
which enables the battleship to survive
the fierce pounding of a pitched battle.
An ironclad, to use a designation
which is going out of use. is not, as
some people think, a vessel which has
hull of solid steel ever so many
inches thick. She has an ordinary
steel hull, such as Is given to any ves-
sell When the hull of a ship is COM
pleted she can carry a given number
OF tons or weight, and upon this fact
the designer must figure. This weight
can be distributed in a number of
ways. 1t can be used up largely in en-
NriN l. slI.
That case there must be less armor and
fewer guns. 1t may be used to give
heavy armament and armor, and then
the engines cannot be so heavy. In
nearly every important ship an arched
steel deck, about two inches thick, is
built over her engines. magazines and
other vital parts for the entire length
OF the ship. This fact that a shot will
glance on striking the water protects
the hull below the waterline, and this
arched deck protects the vitals, as
shots will strike it as such an angle
as to glance: If the ship Is to be a
battleship on this foundation is erect
ed the armored citadel and the guns.
The heaviest armor is around the big
gest guns-the standard battleships
carries four guns Of from ten to thr-
TO hre round in from one to two min
utes. Two Of these are in a thickly
armored fort (called a turret OF. bar
bette) forward, two in a similar struc-
ture towards the stern. Between these
big guns are placed a number of small
Ter weapons, in British battleships
usually ten or twelve six-inch quick
firing guns, which can fire half a doz-
en- or more 1OO-pound shells a minute.
These guns are protected by case
ments of somewhat lighter armor, and
the whole region of the ship which
contains this heavy armament has a
still thinner armor belt, extending n
foot or two below the watertine, and
several feet up the ships sides. Out of
the $50 or 800 feet Of a battleship's
length perhaps $50 feet will be armored
by this belt. The ends may be smashed
up by the enemy's fire-the watertight
compartments and protective deck will
keep the vessel from sinking and no
important guns are placed here A bat
tleshlp is comparatively short and
broad, so as to be handy and to make
a steady platform for the guns. She
can usually stand a great deal of
pounding; at the Yalu the Japanese
fired all day with some very heavy
guns at two old-fashioned Chinese
battleships, which were inefficiently
fought, and while the Chinese cruisers
came to grief, the battleships limped
away, battered but unsubdued.
The cruiser is a lighter built ship,
longer and narrower than the battle
ship, and unencumbered by the weight
OF heavy armor and guns which makes
high speed impossible for the battle
ship. There are two types Of large
cruisers, the armored and the pro-
tected. The armored carry a certain
amount of armor either as a belt as
in battleships or as a thin coat Of
mail Protected cruisers rely on their
steel arched decks defending their lar
ger guns by armored easements of steel
shields. The New York and Brooklyn
among American warships are armor
ed; the Columbia, Minneapolis, Cincin-
natl, Olympia and others are specimens
of the protected cruiser. The standard
large British cruiser has a big 9.2-inch
gun at each end, and a goodly number
of 4.7-inch and 6-inch quick firing guns
along the side. Some American vessels
use the S-inch gun, a weapon which
British naval architects do not regard
with favor. Battleships can steam from
IA to 7,knots, a few very fast ones.
chiefly In the British navy, making IS
or 1S.5 knots an hour. For a cruiser II
knots an hour is dangerously slow, and
most new large ones range from 20 to
% knots. Vessels of less than 1000 or
5000 tons dispense with the protective
deck. and are then termed unprotected
cruisers. Each type of vessel has it's re-
cognized place as of old, though the
armor of the armored cruiser may
tempt her into the experiment of stay
ing in the line of battle, and the un-
certain chances of the torpedo may lead
light craft to try their luck at sinking
the big ships.
Pennsylvania PensiOns.
Washington, May 13.-'The following
Pennsylvania pension has been issued:
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