The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-18
VII HH M|NAS WELl-GOERNED AND PROSPEROUS ISLANDS

does might be expected to inrict dam
age on. The Furor and the Pluton were
among the very best and most modern
of the destroyer class, and yet the Glou-
cester, which Is merely a converted
Yacht, defeated them both.
The war has taught US TO rely on
our great battleships and cruisers with
absolute confidence. Hitherto the ques-
ton has been open To fair discussion In
the absence Of any practical illustration
of their work in actual warfare. But
now we know what they can do. The
two vessels which. as ships of war.
nave given the best account Of them
selves on their merits. without regard
to the manner in which they were
Observation-Disclosures that, Of course. was
above criticism with all u ships-arr
the Oregon and Brooklyn, and these
are types Of vessels which are likely
to come more and more in vogue. not
only in the American navy, but in the
navies of foreign powers. The Brook
lyn. for Instance with only four inches
OF armor on her sides. was far more
than a match FOR the Nizcaya, with
a 2-inc armor belt. This type or
| vessel combines speed with efficiency
to a most desirable degree.
LAS for the Oregon. she combines
great strength Of armament with a rea-
sonable amount OF speed and coal-car-
TYING capacity III Il DlbIbIAibh VIM
seems to be eminently desirable. Bat
| tleships will be built more and more
on the Oregon plan. with greater speed
IL possible, without interfering with
their effectiveness as fighting machines
The navy will have 10 be supplied
with vessels particularly adapted 10
the work for which. at the beginning
of the war, we We're compelled to buy
all sorts of vessels at all sorts Of prices.
When the war came we were praCti-
ALLY without ships suitable for auNil-
larry service. We had no patrol boats
and hardly any dispatch boats, So
that steam yachts, tugboats and even
ocean liners had 10 be bought or char
tered for the Use Of the navy. The re-
suit was highly gratifying when IL Is
considered with what sort Of material
we had to Zeal But IN preparing for
the possibility Of another war. the
United States will have to build mp
especially adapted for his auxiliary
work. Some of the ships which were
bought for this emergency can cub
less be made To answer the purpose
permanently very well, but, as a rule,
the auxiliary fleet ought to be con.
~structed from especially prepared plans
I'VE can speak from actual expert
ence now on a great many questions
with regard to which we could only
theorize three months ago We know
for instance, that dry docks are needed
large enough TO receive our biggest
ships and numerous enough to prevent
the necessity Of their lying long with
out repair or without having their bot
toms cleaned. Our frst-Class fighting
ships have been In bad condition al
most from the beginning OF the war
simply because we did not ave dock
large enough 10 put them into. and al
though even our smaller craft have
been so nearly exempt from injury il
actual combat, it has been impnsSibl
to repair them speedily. because we ha'
not enough docks capable Of accom-
mndating even them Had any OF GU
ships suffered great damage I'm BATH
Il would have been out Of the question
to put them quickly into Conditio'
again. and we should have been AT
terrible disadvantage.
r THE war has shown, too. that tn
bottoms OF an our ships should be- cop
e per sheathed, so that they can be ker
= at sea without the necessity Of too IRE
: uuent docking for cleaning. At pres
ent not one OF our important ships
v copper shsathyd. The only sheathe
vessels I'm the navy are the six gunbOai
n Of the Annapolis and Marietta classe