Evening star., 1899-02-08
ANCIENT AND MODERN
Old and New Navy Discussed by Rep
reSentative Rilborn
BEFORE MAINE SSONS And DAUGHTERS
The Lecture ProfuseIy Illustrated
by Stereopticon Views,
WARFARE UPON THE SEAS

| The American Navy Old and New" was
| the theme of an illustrated lecture of great
| interest delivered last evening at the
| Church Of Our Father by Representative
S. G. Hilborn of California. member of
the naval committee of the House. The
| lecture was delivered under the auspices of
| the Sons and Daughters of Maine, large
| number of whom were in attendance. The
| speaker was introduced by Mr.. Pitman
| Pulsifer who referred to the fact that the
| Secretary of the Navy and the chairman of
| the committees on naval affairs of both
| the Senate and House of Representatives
| Were all natives of Maine.
From the earliest period of our colonial
| history" said MI Hilborn. in the course of
| his address. our people have shown an
| aptitude for building and sailing ships So
| long as ships We're built of wood the Ameri-
| can merchantmen and the American fri
| gates ard battle ships were the admiration
| of the world. But there came a time when
| metal took the place of wood as the ma
| terial of which ships were made The
! American shipbuilder accepted the inevi-
| table and his skill and inventive genius
| have written page i'll our history of which
| every American should be proud.
| American Construction.
| 1T is a curious fact that in Dewey's
squadron at Manila the great American
| shlpbuilders, who were constructing YES
| sells for the government at the time these
| ships We're built had each one vessel, and
| there was no vessel there built by the gov
ernment- Without any design, but by
| chance. an ideal opportunity was here pre-
stnted to test the character of work done
| for the government at the several private
| shipyards and also at a navy yard. No
vessel in the stress of action has disclosed
| any Weaknt IS V hich would accuse the build
er Of dishonesty or negligence.
"A battle ship, or indeed any vessel de-
| signed to take a place in the line of battle
| in fight, must combine three quail
| tieS-great offensive and defensive power,
| the ability to give and receive heavy blows
| in action, and good sailing qualities, to en-
| able her to change her position on the sea
| with celerity and safety. The performance
| Of the Oregon has demonstrated the sailing
| qualities of the battle ship. Her power for
| offensive purposes in action was shown at
Santiago. But her defensive qualities, her
| ability to withstand the shock of a heavy
! blow. has not been tested. A thirteen-inch
naval gun loaded with a normal charge of
so pounds Of brown powder sends LOO
pounds of metal spinning through the air
a; the rate of 2100 feet a second, and its
striking energy at the muZZle is over &i,GO
feet-suffiCient energy if properly applied
to lift the Oregon, with all her weight of
hull. machinery, armOr and guns, three feet
out of water. The energy of the discharge
of n thirteen-inch gun loaded with smoke
less powder is equal to the energy of nine
forty-ton locomotives running at the rate
of n mile minute and one tWenty-tOn 10
ccmotive running at the same speed thrown
in. No battle ship has yet received the
shock Of such a blow. What bolts will
draw. what plates will warp, what leaks
will develop when 1t occurs we can only
conjecture.
The war has shown that our ships and
guns are equal if not superior to those OF
any other nation. and it has also shown
that the men behind the guns the men of
the American navy, are knightly heroes,
without fear and without reproach.'
BEGINNING of New Era.
The lecturer spoke of the engagement
between the Constellation and the French
| frigate Insurgent in the year 1889, and Of
| the duel between the Monitor and the Mer-
rimac. That fight was the beginning of a
new era in shipbulding.
For many years" ne said, there was
great activity IN the shipyards and gun fac
| tories of Europe. One nation built a vessel
| with heavier armoT than the Monitor had
| and another nation built gun which would
| pierce this armor, and so the expensive
| contest between arnor plate and projec-
| tiles went on.
In that struggle we did not participate
| For nearly twenty years our navy was al
| most entirely neglected. and at the end of
that time there remained of our navy but a
| few wooden ships of obsolete type. Finally
| Congress appropriated money TO build four
| metal ships. They were the Atlanta BOS-
! ton, Chicago and Dolphin, and are known
| as the \ B c d of the navy. John Roach,
| the pioneer iron shipbuildcr of this coun-
| try, took the contract for building them.
| The Dolphin was the first to be completed
| and has the distinction Of being the first
| born of our navy. But the administration
| in power at the time was not favorable 70
| Roach. A board OF naval officers con-
! demned the vessel as struCturally weak,
| but 1t was finally accepted. and since then
| she has made a cruise of 5000 miles and
| lost less than two hours through faulty
| working of her machinery, and today she
| is the favorite vessel selected by the Pres
| ident and Secretary of the Navy In making
| official trips Her builder has been vindi-
| Gated. but John Roach did not live to see
! it. He died many years ago. bankrupt and
| broken-hearted.
| Necessity for Fighting Ships.
THE necessity for fighting ships was
| finally appreciated and Congress appropri-
ated money for the construction of two, the
| Texas and the Maine. They We're not de-
| signed as battle ships. in the full sense of
the term. but were armored vessels. In
| deed. for several years they were borne on
| the naval register as armOred cruisers We
| had never built any vessels of that type
| and the Navy Department could not be-
| ieve that American designers were suf-
| nclent for the task, so they went abroad
| and purchased the designs for the Texas
! The Maine was built from designs drawn
| at the Navy Department. Both We're built
| at lnt navy yards 1t would hardly be
| an eNaGgeTatiOn to say that more ink has
! been shed in writing up and writing down
/ the Texas than would be sufficient to float
| her Her guns did good service in the late
| war
! THE Oregon carries four thirteen-inch
/ guns and eight eight-inch guns besides
| some six-inch guns. Her thirteen-inch
| guns and her eight-inch guns are housed
| in six turrets. In one full discharge of her
| main battery this vessel sends out G6S0
| pounds of metal Using smOkeless pow
| der, the energy of the projectiles. fired in
| one brOadside, is equal to the energy of
| thirty-six forty-ton locomotives running at
| the rate of a mile a minute. The energy of
| the discharge Of one thirteen-inch gun is
| equal to the energy Of nine forty-tOn loco
| motives running at the rate of a mile a
| minute. and one twenty-ton locomotive
| thrown in.
| "A thirteen-inch gun weighs about sixty
| five tons. and, with its mount, costs about
| 100000. 1t costs about $500 to fire that
| gun Off using the armor-piercing she'll
| At the outbreak of the late war we were
| making a new smokeless powder of superior
| quality, but we are not prepared to make
II II sufficient quantities for war purposes
| We snail in future be prepared TO make it
III ample quantity. Our smokeless powder