The St. Johns herald., 1900-03-31
A DANGEROUS POSITION.
The Captain of Q Modern Warshir Must Be Q Brave and
 Heady Man.

Of all on board, the man who stands in the greatest peril is the captain. In the batlleships and cruisers his position Is in a cylindrical box of steei, placed just under the bridge, well forward, which is called the coming tower. The armor of ii is thick enough ordinarily to resist the penetration of heavy pro- isctiles. It contains the speaking tubes and electrical wires whereby he com municates with the guns, engines and helm, and sometimes apparatus where by he is enabled to fire the guns him. self after they are laid upon the enemy. His fed of vision is limited to what he can see through little horizontal slit on about the level of h:s eye. In point of frightful res possibility no situation Tn the world san compare with that which is occupied by the man who stands in that tower and directs the movement of his ship. After the conflict once begins the din about him will be something internal. Upon hia the fire of the enemy will be concentrated. and upon the exterior of that steel drum in which he is shut up there will be continuous hail of iron and steel. Shells will burst everywhere around it, and to that babel will be added the roar of the force blast under the engines, the tre- nendous reports of the heavy guns, and the d;n of the quick-fre and machine guns in chorus. Tn such circumstances as this, aided by such knowledge as he can get by looking out through the little peep hoie in front of him as we'll as the smoke will let him, the captain must control the tremendous forces under his command, and his decisions are mat ters of seconds.
 Nobody now believes that a captain who finds his vision through the sits of the tower cut off by smoke, will stay thus shut up. Ii is extremely doubtful if it will be physically possible for him to remain there after the shells com mence to hammer its sides and burst against it, and, in any event, the intense anxiety 10 see and know clearly what the enemy is doing will inevitably lead him to take his chances in the open. Coming tower or no connoing tower, his duty is 10 place himself at whatever point he can manage his ships to the best advantage, and this he will cer- tainly do. Lord Charles Beresford. with grim humor, has suggested that the captains safest place is not in but be- hind his coming tower, "because then be has two thicknesses of steel between himself and the enemy. don't yon see?" but while coming tower armor may re- sist penetration, it is by no means cer- tain that the whole structure will not be swept away by the first heavy pro- iectile which squarely hits if.
 As for the admiral, there is nowadays no rigging for him to ascend, and he would be promptly blown out of it if there were. In fact, after a fleet en- gagement has begun, there is no place for him at all. He has no business in the coming tower, no business at the guns. He cannot very consistently go below, and he cannot stay on deck. IL has been proposed to build a separate armored tower for him, or to take him of the flag ship, and put him on a sInai-, swift vesse,, so that he could choose his position and conveniently give his ord CTS by signals. The difficulty with this would be that the enemy wou d concen- trate his fire on that tower or ship with the certainty of sinking the latter, and rendering the former uninhabitabie. The problem, therefore, is still un- solved.
 Against the effect of torpedo if it gets to the hull. there is no safeguard. The heaviest battleship is just as vu,- nerable as the lightest gunboat. The best that car be hoped is that the de- struction will be limited 10 few com partments, so that those remaining in- tact will be sufficient to keep the ship afoat. But this only puts off the evil hour. As the vessel becomes water logged, her speed falls off and her maneuvering capacity is reduced, so that the enemy may then pick his posi- ton of advantage and shatter her with his guns or administer coup dG grace with another torpedo.
 Altogether the prospects of ones com ing out of q naval engagement unhurt are far from bright. Even the wounded stand poorer chance than was tie case in the old wooden ships. How the sur geons are to get at them with the vessel divided into a hcneycomb of compart- ments with no direct interconnection where they can be conveyed directly from the guns without travers:ng doors and passages intricate and many is diff cult 10 understand. Those who happen to be stationed in the battle ships di- rect;y over the torpedo or handling rooms may perhaps be lowered at once 10 surgeons there placed; but what is to become of the rest in more distant positions is not clear.
 All of this goes to show the great ad- vantage of the almost perfect discipline and drill now prevailing in the navy. Indeed, it never has been so completely recognized as it is at the present day that the best protection for warship's crew is their own fighting capacity. No armor is so efficient as celerity of action and good gunnery. That ship will win. snd incidentally save the greater num- Der of lives of its men, which first plants an effective projectiie in a vital part of the enemy. The sea fight will not be gained by the ship which w:thstands the most pounding, but by the ship which pounds hardest and quickest and 50 destroys or impairs her antagonists pounding capacity. IL is that swift at tack and superior craftsmanship which above all else characterize the crews of the warships of the United States, and it is in just this that the Spaniards are maSt dpffcient-E Y IndeDPudenf