The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-05-20

Lieutenant Commander w. L. Field,
u. s. N, has been made full COM
mander He received his commission
the other afternoon from President Nc
Kinley. Commander Field will have
full charge Of the mosquito or har-
Dor patrol, feet Of the New York divi-
sion. The scheduled work of this feet
is now being done by detachment of
the Second battalion, naval reserve
Rear Admiral Erben, who is in charge
of the entire coast patrol feet, Of which
the mosquito feet is part, was tho
first officer to congratulate Commander
Field on his promotion.
"What, In your opinion, will be the
probable outcome of battle between
the vessels Of Admiral Simpsons fleet
and the feet of Spcsish warships that
left Cape Verde about two weeks ago
ostensibly to give battle to the Ameri-
cans?''
In answer to this question Command
er Field said:
"There can be but one outcome OF
meeting between Admiral Sampson's
feet and the Spanish warships. The VIC
tory will be almost as complete as Dew
ey's at Manila, and Admiral Sampson
will raise the stars and stripes over any
of the Spanish chips that remain afioat
after the engagement. There is abso-
lutely no chance Of our losing in bat
tie with the Spanish feet that has left
Cape Verde apparently to drive Admi-
raj Sampson and the ships under his
command off the seas
"In the first place, our ships are bet
ter than tho Spapiards'. In these days
of great speed, rapid fire guns, expert
craftsmanship and mathematical preci-
sion in the maneuvering Of vessels the
actual ship cuts considerable figure in
the chances Of victory or defeat. There
fore when we know that our ships are
better than the Spaniards' we have ev-
cry reason to be confident Of success on
that score alone.
But after all. ships are only part Of
the means toward an end Something
possibly more important are the guns.
Here, again, we are far superior to the
enemy. They have many guns and good
guns, but we have more guns and bet
ter guns. There is not modern appli-
ance to facilitate warfare or make it
more effective, as far as gunnery is con-
eerned, that is not ON our ships. The
official figures Of the armament OF the
Spanish chips and the American vessels
show that we are much better protected
and more effectively armed
$50 far, you see, we are their superior
In ships and guns
1.-THE third and far moro important
reason than either of the preceding two
why we must win is the vnequaled
skill Of our gunners. There is no nation
in the world that can boast such won
derful accuracy of craftsmanship with
modern high pressure guns as we All
over the civilized world the expert gun
merry Of the American naval officers is
admitted without question. In addition
to this marvellous skill our men have
undaunted courage, which in critical
moments Is half the fight.
"They are fighting for cause. Ex-
pert skill is not Of much value when
not backed up by courage, and II there
is one trait Of the men in the United
States navy that Is more pronounced
than any other IL is utter fearlessness
and unfalterihg courage. Now, that's
practically all there is about it. We
have the better ships and armament,
more expert gunners, unquestioned
courage and the stimulant of knowing
that we are fighting for right.
"Commodore Dewey has demonstrate