Arizona republican., 1898-07-10
TRauNpH OF VESUVIUS.
Nalvc of the Dynamite Cruiser Has
 Been Proven.

Been Proven.
 Some of those who have not believed in the value of the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius as an instrument of naval warfare are now among ner strongest advocates since her wonderfully ef- fective work against the defences of Santiago in the last two weeks. Ad- miral Sampson reported that the snip had thrown charges of gun cotton ashore with the most satisfactory re- suits and that her value in operating against Notifications has been of the highest character.
 For years, ever since the completion of the vessel, in fact, the navy has di- vided as to her usefulness in war time, and until some practical experiments could be made it was argued that it would be foolish to build more ships of her type. She was one of the early ships completed for the navy and the fastest in the service for many years, but she was always regarded as fail ure except by a few officers who had tested her and had the amplest conf dence that she would do everything she was designed for.
 Her one great defect Is her inability to turn rapidly, but this is owing to her extreme length and narrow beam It is difficult for her to turn in a radius Of less than 400 yards, although pro- Eided with twin screws Naval ofh- cers have pointed cut that another de feet is the fact that her three tubes are stationary and can be trained only by the rudder. To train them therefore is sometimes difficult matter in heavy seaway. Down of the Cuban coast, though, the reports show that she has had apparently little trouble in hitting her targets and backing out of range in short order.
 No opportunity has been afforded until the present, her advocates say, to prove the real efficiency of the ship, and the trials that have taken place heretofore were Of such "a nature as to prove nothing except the accuracy Of her fire. Several years ago an ex- tended series of trials was conducted oR Port Royal and elaborate reports made to the navy department, and the conclusion reached was that the Vesu- wins was not of much value to the navy. Now all officers are willing to admit that she is a wonderfully efi- cient boat for certain classes of work and that her tubes have done mone de struction to the outer harbor of San tiago than a bombardment by the en- tire feet could have accomplished in a day. While it is an expensive pro cess of inf1icting destruction, tine ex- perts agree that it really costs far less than firing heavy shells against forti- 1ications
 The tubes of the Vesuvius are of 15 inches caliber, but she has never yet fired the full charge they are capable of throwing. Subca1iber charges of 5, from 200 to 800 pounds of gun cotton, were used in the attacks on Santiago's defences, and it is not regarded as probable that higher charges will be hereafter used by the ship.
 It is regarded now as practically set- tied that Vesuvius will play as impor- tant a part in completing the destruc- tion of Morro castle at Havana as she has done in knocking down large sec- tions of the defences at Santiago. Her range of effectiveness is from one mile to one mile and half for smaller charges, and confidence is expressed by the torpedo experts here that she will be able to run up at night close
 under Morro and let go her projectiles and back away before being caught by the fire of rapid-firing machine guns.
 Captain Sigsbee is one of the strong est believers in the Vesuvius in the navy next to Lieut.. Commander Sea- ton Schroeder, who commanded her for several years One of the first messages sent to the navy department after the Maine disaster was a request that the Vesuvius be at once ordered to Havana. If there was to be any trouble with Spain it was thought the Vesuvius could do more effective work by tossing several projectiles of gun cotton into the city than larger yes sels could in a bombardment. The Ve- suv1us was at once prepared for ser vice and has been in commission since the war began.-Washing dispatch to New York Sun.