The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-05-18

TIE cid skipper unburdenea his pat
iiotie soul the ether dav on tie subj Ct Il
Yankee genius and valor In naval was-
fare. tie had an audience OK ysuuesteys
who felt dimly that they We're che scioEs
OF great nautical racf, and when hs gts
through his pslayr they were quite sure
Of II.
In ths war of ieis," the old skipper
said, I'VE proved even TO the satisfaction
OF tie British Admiralty that In duel
ci wniships, sn oke. smash. and spiintsrs
were inferior TO skiitul inansuvering and
quick, strong. and aeenrstg fir.nx--othsr-
wise, gunncry. Nelson's tactics, 10 close
III with your antagonist and pVurd iib,
won't n? In the smoke of the Gns rrierc.
the Macedonian, and tina Java c3l ares.
ana Is now nothing bur a tradition no
superiority OF American shipg guns. and
senlL en- IN those days stagge red tho Enfo-
rean navel world. Those victcries OF iss
Ilade the iattles OF ths N,ls and TrslsI-
Rpr appear what they really wtre-hr utsi-
ly stupid.
when our frigate Constitution m, Z tie
trnve GuerYisre and the Java in slnRis
combat, IL was struggle OF keen intsiil-
esnce nRairst brute force and ~ roRanC ig-
noi anoe. Ihe Guerriere wss then tina
crack frigste of the British Aavy. aud
the fitst one in 10 years To str; <, her tias
IN q n6sal dufl tetvsfn single sSipe. 1De
great disparity Of tte loss In killed end
wouIdec-fiye times as many on tie
Guefrisre as on the Constitution-a1-
tounc ed the naval world. Our sea fi9bts
sch Gil Europe tilt liking, just az our light
IN this war may do. IL Mas msuy year..
toweysr, before the EuR iisb ackrow isrgsd
that the real cause OF their defeats In the
war or 1872 wes the. superiority or tire
gubnery on the American ships. lt WAS
their sxcuse et the time of the war, and
many ytars after, that the British txPs
had been simply oyerpswsTeu by TIRE
An ericsn ships and the weight Ct their
gus lie true explanation was that We
were m arktmen.
"At the siege or Yorktown Ia our kev-
stationary War. the dsadiy accuracy Of
washir gton's artillery fire sstonis.ed the
kurf pesn aitilIeries. Your pros ress IN
artillery is wonderful. said the gallant
Lnfa,etts To ksjor Shaw. Gen. knG per-
sonaiiy SUI erin ptsn6ed tie serving of tie
guns, he was tired In ths WOODS of Mains,
and was a horn artillsrist. 'You ire bet
ter tnsn the FreIcb. uron my word you
DO said Lafayette, as Major shaw mod
estlv prots sled.
I'm bill cases except one. Americas
gunnery In the war lf 1917 WAS superior
to the British. That exception a. ia the
case OF the British frigate Shannon,
which whipped aud captured the Ameri-
can frigate chesapeake. IL wss On illus-
tration CT stealing ON opponout'e triF
umphs and playing them back At him,
Ihe Sbannon's guns were fitted with
American siGhts and rer crew wars exsr-
ssd after tte American fashion. Tho
commander OF the shannon paid pnrti0u-
lar attention to gunuery IN fact, hs was
tie oniy officer In the British Navy Who
did ut that time. The Lraye LswTeuto
who. a. Decatur said sfterwavd, had no
M ora lodge In him than the mainm nst, !"
dashed feckleselg again st the deadly fire
Of the Shannon. After reoeiviu1 tho
hhanDon's first broadsids the Ohssapssk ks
Was cut Ct 10.
as late gs 1880 the Amor loan gun sIght
Vas considered the hsst device known 70
naval Bftillerists. It was introduced intD
naval Gunnery by the Yankees In 177l.
! have no doubt that I'm thie war wifn
spain. and in any future war that We may
have on the sea, Yankee ingenuity and In.
u liigeIce will achieve the success that
tas always attended them. '-vhe sun.