Arizona silver belt., 1899-10-12
THE AMERICAN NAVY.
It Is Now .Secoud 10 Those Of Great
 Britain and France Only.

Iu the comparatively brief space of time since Admiral Dewey departed from this country for the Orient, the tangible effective naval strength ofthe United States has increased almost one-third. says the Marine Review.
 To all intents and purposes the Uni ted States is now the third naval pow CT of the world Gcrmany isa vigilant, active. aggressive rival, whose energy in this direction. constantly fostered by ruling power, may be expected to increase rather than diminish. Japan. the-coming commercial power of the other hemisphere, is annihilating with giant strides the modicum of our su- premacy. But for all that the United States will continue for some time, at least, to he exceled as a naval power only by Great Britain and France.
 The full strength of the navy of the United States now amounts to 5l2 ves- seIs of all kinds. built and building. Of this number ls9 are in the regular navy and 132 constitute the auxiliary force, for the accumulation of which we are largely indebted to the necessi- ties of the Spanish-Americn war. Something of the pace at which We are moving forward may be imagined when it is stated that, roughly csti- mated, the existing naval fleet repre- sents all expenditure for construction of about SIP. 5.O0O, OO0, and yet there are now under construction or awaiting formal acceptance by the government more than half hundred war vessels. the contract price for which, exclusive of armor and armament. is m the neighborhood of sl0.000.0oO
 The war almost doubled the aggre- gate of men on our war vessels. At it's outset the complement was l2.Joo men. but in the summer of lS9S lt reached the maximum figure of 2l, l23 men. Since that time it has of course decreased considerably, but the incom- ing congress is expected to authorize permanent naval strength of 2O,OOo men Nor, in passing, should mention be omitted of the success which has az tended the amalgamation of the line and staff. An experiment, watched by students of naval administrationevery- where. it's beneficial effects have been discernable instantaneously.
 Already the eyes of every naval oi- ;icer across the Atlantic are upon us, Within the past month two of our new battleships have exceeded contract speed. The DracticabiIity of that most novel of ideas the superinduced tur- rets of the kearsarge will soon be put to the test We are preparing to out do the British in the thoroughness of our experiments with liquid fuel and wireless telegraphy. Finally, we are 1 investigating the possibilities of the of the submarine boat, and our con clusions will have enhanced value be- cause they will De charactefiHed ny neither the enthusiastic optimism of the French or the cynicism of the con servative Britons.
 Heretofore the powers have charged us with being deficient in the matter of diversity of strength in our naval feet This is true no longer, for. with the completion of the vessels now on the stocks. we will have more than half hundred torpedo boats and de- stroyers Here, too. American build CTS have been daring, for who will contend that it is not venturesome to guarantee speed in excess of3o knots on smaller displacement than has ever before been attempted by any