Iron County register., 1899-03-16
FRENCH OPINION OF OUR NAVY
deut. FaramOnd Talks Interestingly
Of American War Ships and
the Late War.

Faramond, of the French navy recent
ly arrived here in company with the
French ambassador, NJ Cambon, to be-
come naval attache of the French en-
bassy. Lieut.. de Faramond has had
wide experience as a naval observer,
following the japanese and Chinese
vessels through the China-Japanese
war, and now coming here to study
American naval methods. Speaking of
the American navy yesterday, Lieut..
de Faramond said:
Has Attracted Worldwide Attention.
'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 that the French government has
had naval attache with the embassy.
\ German naval officer is coming to
the German embassy, and other coun-
tries 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 fighting vessels, and
naval science must draw *, conciu-
sions largely from what The American
navy accomplished during the war
with Spain.
Made Splendid Record.
''I think it is universally conceded in
Europe that the American navy made
a splendid record, not only in a gen.
eral way, but in technical matters of
naval datail. 1t demonstrated the ef
fectiveness of the rapid-ire gun of
medium caliber, rather than the larger
guns. 1t also seemed to show that the
power of a navy is more in its weapons
of attack and offense, its capability of
giving blows, rather than in its heavy
armor and capability of resisting
blows.
Growing Power of Our Navy.
1--WE, in France, were quite aware of
The growing power OF the American
navy even before the recent war. Our
chief naval constructor, NJ. Bertin,
.ame to this country prior to the war
and made a tour of your dockyards,
Rrsenals, etc. On his return he made
an Official report, showing the great
improvements the American naval
constructors had brought about, par
ticularly in the arrangement of bulk
heads and in the distribution of armor
81 as to protect vital points. We also
know your American armor, and are
using the harveyized American process
which has been found entirely sue
cessful thus far
Navies of the World.
Lieut.. de Faramond says foreign
naval observers are not only interested
in the results of the war, but are also
observing the large amount of naval
construction now in progress in the
United States, and the naval improve
nent it involves. From italian naval
statistics he shows that the United
States is to-day reckoned second among
the great powers in point of war ships
under construction. This tonnage by
countries is as follows: Great Britain
1892 tons, United States 56,425, ia
pan 47,52O, Russia 29,O4O, France 25,-
Cos, Germany 16,545 and Italy 2,972.
An Interesting Line of Inquiry.
sAn interesting line of inquiry"
said Lieut.. de Faramond, sis as 10 why
you are building so many heavy ships,
ironclads, as we call them, as
against the lighter, swifter cruisers.
The French navy has in commission
IL ironclads on the Mediterranean and
eight in the northern squadron. But
these are purely defense vessels, and
never leave home ports.
The Oregon's Trip.
1.-The performance OF your battleship
Oregon, in running Is, 900 miles around
South America, was remarkable for
that reason, and her present trip across
the Pacific is equally remarkable. But
Judged by the usual naval standards an
armored crusier 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."
Possible improvements.
The lieutenant says that France has
gone further in adopting the torpedo
beats as an effective naval weapon
than any other country. She has in
ali some 25O torpedo boats, some of
them very swift. De Faramond says
he thinks the adoption of the water
tube boilers in American war ships
will be further Improvement, and
will make them much more effective
for long cruising. This class of boil
ers, he says, has been adopted by the
British admiralty for the Powerful,
Terrible and ships of that class, and
quite generally by the naval authori-
ties of France, Russia, Japan, Chile,
Argentine and Italy.
NJ. Viaud, a naval constructor of the
French navy, is at present in Wash
ington, on an unofficial mission, and
will confer with our naval constructors
on this new method of boiler construc-
ton.
Admiral Dewey is generally recog-
nized abroad as entitled to rank as one
of the great naval commanders" said
de Faramond. Such a man does honor
to the naval fraternity the world over"
Mrs. Gen. Keffer Dead.
Springfield, O., March 13.-Mrs. ].
Warren Keifer, wife of Maj.-Gen. Keif-
er, died here at three o'clock yesterday
morning of pneumonia. She had been
i'll but little over a week. Gen. Keifer
and his son, Capt. Keifer, of his staff,
are on their way home from Havana,
but will not arrive here until Tuesday
or Wednesday. Mrs. Keifer was GA
years of age, having been married to
Gen. Keifer in 1850. During President
Arthur's administration, when Gen.
Keifer was speaker of the house, Mrs.
fio1lrR in