The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-13
GREAT NAVY
This Country Is a Power on
the Seas.
FRENCH OBSERVER HERE
Lieutenant de Faramond Will Study Our
Naval Methods-New System OF
Water Tube Boilers-Dewey
Man to Be Proud O..


de Faramond of the French navy ,e-
Gently arrived here in company Witn
the French ambassadors. Lieutenant da
Faramond has wide experience as Il
naval observer. He followed The jap
anese and Chinese vessels through the
| Chlna-Japan war and is now coming
here 10 study American naval methods.
! Speaking OF the American navy to-day
| Lieutenant de Faramond said:
The American navy has attracted
Worldwide attention within the last
year, and this is leading European
countries to send naval attaches to
| Washington. This will be the first time
tnat the French government has had
a naval attache at the embassy. \
German naval officer is coming to the
German embassy, and other counIriss
doubtless will follow in the same line.
Since the Spanish American war, this
country affords splendid facilities for
naval study. 1t was the first real test
of modern lighting vessels, and naval
science must draw its conclusions large
| ly from what the American navy ac-
complished during the war with Spain.
| think 1t is universally conceded in
Europe that the American navy made j
SDltiluiu lttblu, lltt Oily III Il StHbl tl
way, but in technical matters of naval
| detail. 1t demonstrated the effective
ness of the rapid fire gun of medium
Caliber, rather than the larger guns.
1t seemed also to show hat the power
of the navy is more in its weapons of
attack and offense. its capabilty of g.v-
ing blows, rather than in its heavy
armor and capability of resisting blows.
we in france We're quite aware of
the growing nf the american
navy, even before the recent war. Our
chief naval constructor, NJ. Bertin.
came to this country prior to the war
and made tour of your dock yards
aIsenals, etc. On his return he made
| an official report. showing the gre 1T
improvements the American naval con-
structors had brought about. partcu-
larly in the arrangement of bulkheads
and in the distribution of armOr, 80
as to protect vital points. We also
know your American arnor and ale
! using the Harveyized American process.
which has been found entirely salts
! factory thus far.
Lieutenant de Faramond says foreign
naval observers are not only interested
in the results of the war, but are also
observing the large amount of navl!
construction now in progress in the
United States and the naval improve
ment it involves. From Italian naval
statistics he shows that the United
States is to-day reckoned second among
| the great powers in point of Warships
| under construction. This tonnage by
| countries is as follows: Great Britain,
153,132 tons; United States, 425 tons;
| Japan, 41,520; Russia, 29,04C, France,
25.66S; Germany, 1856; Italy. 2,972.
An interesting line of inquiry" said
| Lieutenant de Faramond, "is as to why
| you are building SO many heavy ships,
ironclads, as We call them, as against
| the lighter, swifter cruisers. The iron
clad is essentially home ship and is
not fitted, owing to her bulk and lack
of coal capacity, for crossing the ocean,
| or for long cruises. The French navy
has in commission Is ironclads on the
Mediterranean and eight in the north
ern squadron. But those are purely
defense vessels and never leave the
| home ports. The performance of your
battleship Oregon in running 1900
miles around South America, was re-
| markable for that reason, and her pres
| ent trip across the Pacific is equally
| remarkable. But judged by the usual
| naval standards, an armored cruiser
would have been much better equipped
for these long voyages. She has the
speed. the coal and at the same time
! sufficient armOr to make her defensive
powers almost equal to those of the
| ironclad."
The lieutenant says that France has
gone further in adopting the torpedo
! boat as an effective naval weapon than
any other country. She has in all some
| $50 torpedo boats, some of them very
swift.
Lieutenant de Faramond says he
thinks the adoption of the water tube
boilers in American ships will be n fur
| ther Improvement and will make them
, much more efficient for long cruising
This class of boilers, he says, has been
adopted by the British admiralty for
the Powerful. Terrible and ships of that
class. and quite generally by the ma
| vies of Germany Italy and other coun-
tries NJ. Niaud, a naval constructor
of the French navy, is at present in
| Washington on an unofficial mission
and will confer with our naval con-
structors on this new method of boiler
| construction.
admiral Dewey is recognized gener-
| ally abroad as entitled to rank as one
of the great naval commanders" said
! Lieutenant de FaramOnd. such q
| man does honor to the naval fraternity
the world over"