The Wichita daily eagle., 1898-03-30
ABOUT THE OLD MONITORS
Which are TO be FiXeq up and Made
Available Fer war.

Washington, March 29.-The feet Of old
monitors now being rehabilitated for the
protection Of this country against foreign
enemies represents the pride and front of
naval war machines 80 years ago. Raised
form their bed of mud at League Island,
they Will be cleaned, FURNISHED up and re-
converted into terrible engines of des-
truction and will beready to render a good
| account of themselves at any time they
are called upon to do so. The monitor of
today, like the Monterey or Puritan, for
example with its monstrous guns, its rock
solid like deck. its awful turrets and its
impregnabie armor of steel, is the out
growth Of the idea IN the brain of John
Ericsson that became concrete in the ori-
ginal Monitor and in the fleet that scour-
ged the rebels from the sea and bit into
the vitals of the confederacy. Six heavily
armed and heavily armored monitors,
built in the most improved modern style,
will be REINFORCED by this fleet of their
ancient prototypes, and if naval experts
are to be believed these boats have by no
means lost their sting. Their names sug-
gest sinking ships, death and destruction.
These names are historical: Ajax, Canon
icus, Mahopac, Manhattan and Wyandotte
Comanche. Catskill, Jason, Lehigh. Mon
tauk, Nahant, Nantucket and Passaic.
The first five are of 2100 tons displacement,
the remaining ones of 1875 tons displace-
ment True, they are Ighterhan the mod
ern monitors, their successors, and are in
ferior in all ways 10 the Puritan type, vet
to say that they would be inefficient in q
war tomorrow would be absurd. Some of
those old monitors stood up under heavy
f1refrom great ships, and their replies were
couched in terms of death. Battered by
as many as 800 shots. they still dealt des-
truction right and left and survived thirty
years TO be used again for war At Fort
Fisher the monitors lay three days under
fire, and from the first monitor fight to the
last only three men died aboard them. One
of these deaths was accidental. and then
Ericsson wrwote tn enavy department apo
logizing. Such facts as these have re-
suited inthe famous Monitor vs.. Battle
ship controversy, (which is not yet fin
ished. Lieutenant Commander Moses S.
Stuyvesant (retIred) knows what a moni-
tor is and what it can do and he thus de-
scribes the same: What is the matter
with the monitor, that those who design
our ships and who do not go to sea in them
must have battle ships2 The two-turreted
monitor is a fighting ship pur et simple,
stripped TO the waist. and has no solar
p,eXus. Shedoes not require a man Of cast
steel TO get out Of her all she is capable OF
Her main deck IS only u TO 16 inches above
water. presenting an armored target that
high. and about 20 feet long. On top Of
this are two low turrets. containing each
two heavy rifles. on top OF them is a light
superstructure. in which are a few light
guns for repelling boards. torpedo boats,
etc. With equal guns she can whip any
battle ship aioat." Ofthis quality are the
or yankee ironcla6s that are being made
ready for war near Philadelphia wiu
they bear out their record? Not a few
think they Will