The evening times., 1899-10-11
WORK ON new WARSHIPS
Many Fighting Craft to Be Added
to the Navy,
The kearsarge Almost Ready for
tucky-The Condition of Other yes-
sells Now RufldinE-An Obsolete
Method of Classification in Vogue.

Eight battleships building, three author.
lied and four armored cruisers being de-
signed, in addition to four big fighting
monitors, represent the fighting strength
that will be added to the navy within the
next three years. There are, however, thlr-
ty-five torpedo craft, from the twenty two
knot small fry TO the thirty-one knot de-
stroyers, with more horsepower in the en-
gines than half the merchant steamers thai
cross the ocean have.
Three battleships, three armored cruisers
and six protected cruisers are yet on paper
and none of them has yet been contracted
for. The first 10 be laid down will be the
will be opened on November l. There is
doubt whether the bids can possibly be
within the limit of the appropriations, ow-
ing 10 the heavy advance in all structural
materials.
Admiral Hichborn, whose monthly report
has just been issued and deals with the
progress made on ships building, states that
the battleship Kearsarge will be ready for
which the Government will place on board
at New York. Her sister ship, the Ken
lucky, is within per cent of readiness and
the Illinois 80 per cent. The Alabama,
building at Cramps, is within 10 per cent
of readiness, and should be in active SER
vice early next year.
III the crews can be secured three bat
tleships will be available for duty within
three months, but at present il seems i'm
possible TO secure the men unless other
vessels are retired from active service.
This cannot well be done, owing to the
pressing demand for every shipin commits
sion. either at Manila or in home waters
The cruiser Albany, building in England.
is So per cent completed. The vessel will
probably be put in commission in England
and brought directly to the United States.
Many of the torpedo boats are now prac-
tically completed, but the majority will
scarcely be ready untir the close of next
year or later. .,- So, ..s.,
With all the advances made in the de-
velopment, class and desi igns-of ships, the
same old laws yet apply to their classifica-
tion which existed in the days of frfgates
and line-of- battle ships with forty and
ninety guns. The law provides that naval
vessels be divided, into four Glasses and
commanded as follows: First rate. by
commodores; second rate, by captains;
third rate, by commanders, and fourth
grade of commodore is no. longer recog-
niZed and as commodores were never as
signed to single ships, but squadrons, the
law is irapplicable to present conditions.
In rating ships the law still states that
steamships of 40 guns or more are first
rate, those of 20 or more second rate, and
all of less than 20 guns third rate. Under
such strict Interpretation of the law
none of the battleships would be classed
as first rate, and few of the cruisers would
be entitled to higher rank than second or
third rate, although any of these ships
would clearly outrank the best vessels of
the old service. The changes which have
taken place in naval construction during
the latter half of the present century have
been so radical that the foregoing classifi-
cation of ships of war, prescribed by law
scarcely fifty years of age, has become OBJ
solete.
The line-of-battle ship, which under this
classification would have been ranked as a
first rate" with its wooden hull, tier on
tier of muzzle-loading guns and lofty spars,