The broad ax., 1901-05-18

o1e Of the most notable surprises a
recent years has been the riss OF Japan
Eom condition considered % Il
hardly civilized % the position Of On.
% ne great powers % the world. d
part this b 6ue to the admirabls or
e1niEauon q her army and the e.
ploln Of her navy IN the var with
China The japanese fest was handles
Win an audaeity and skill that startled
professional observers al over ths
world The want Of q sufieiently M
merous heet prevented Japan from ~
thning the fruits Of victory, but her
government at once set % work .
create navy adeguatO for the Dur-
poses Of Japaness policy. The result q
seen N the splendid squadron which
Japan win soon have assaulted n the
ar east At the bsttls Of the Yulu,
Sept II, 1854. which disposed ef ths
Chinese squadron. the japanese bad II
vessels agEregating 81, 2s4 tons, againEl
u Chinese ships Of S4,s7s tons and four
torpedo boats. The Chinese sQuadEoa
oomprissd two armorolsds. the Chen
Iusn and Ting-Yusn, Of 1890 tons
each, superior 20 any individual vessel
q the japanese squadron. the largest
ahip1 IN which were thros Of t,Soo
tons; the Matsu-shima. the flagship,
Tie Itsuku-shima and the HashidatA
Their inferiority IN amor protectioa
vas compensated Tor By THAR formi-
dahl0 armament, but thGy were nos
able 70 venture into close quarters
with the two Chinese ironelada. and
the Natgu-GhimA Was % badly dam
aged that the japanese admiral had
q tranEfsr his nag during tie action
% the Hashidats. Ths net result %
tie fighting vas that four Of the Chi
na8o ships were sunk and several eap-
turod, and three japanese vessels 8sns
more O. less ssriously injured In the
les than seven years that have
elapsed since than the Japanese nsyT
has made enormous strides. Its hrSt
line is now composed Of six battlsshipA
inoluding four q the most powerful
Of their class ahoat. They are thS
ShllZi-EhimR, HatIuse, Asahi, and Misa-
Ka Of 1880 tons and II, 500 horss pow
or, with speed Of is.5 knotA The only
thing that can Be Gaid against them
q that they are furnished with the
now condemned BolleVille boilers. The
other two battleships are the YashimA
and Fuji-Yama Of 1880 tons. 1l.10o
Horsepower, and - knots speed. The
six belong 20 the English majestic
class. but are more modern and have
many improvements. ThSy form .
compact squadron In themselves su-
psrior 20 that Of any other
power n the far eastern seas.
The armorsd cruisers number six and
belong 70 one class IN sire, being of
$50 tons. 1890 horsepower. and
R2.07 knots speed. -Four Of them, like
the four great battleships, were built
IN England, the oths= two coming from
Germany and France. The two latter
have B6IlsVille boilerA They All ma
newer with great facility, and are lit
tie inferior In fighting Value 70 battle
ships. The protested cruisers number
-, ranging from 2,700 to $500 tons,
with horsepower Of from 6,100 to Is
900, and from les to g knots speed
-Four are Of the newest designs, and
With their speed and armament form
Q valuable complement Of the preced-
ing armored cruiser squadron Two.
ths Talrasago and Yo-shimo, are e
Engiish build, and the lattsP By the
Fapidity Of her IRE did great execution
among the Chinese ships At the Yaln.
The other two, the KEsad and Chitoso.
are Of American construction. OF the
ether protected cruisers the only onss
OF European build are the Idzumi, for
msrly the Chilean Esmsralda, cor
ItRuctsd IN England, and the Ssi-ysn,
built IN Germany and captured from
TIE Chinese at the sane time a. the
coast defense ahip, r.
named the chin-yen- The japanese
have also q numerous destroyer and
iorpedo-boat hOtiiia q the most nod
En build, the dsgtroyerB being - IN
Their gunboats' ana unpro-
tactsd cruisers are -loW, Of course. b.
hind TIE ags and ht only fer coast
Euard ana customs service among ths
lslanda The great feature Of the Jap
anals dghting heet q the equipment q
ths heavier raDid-Ers guns n each
nh. THIS - TIE result Of the lolson
q TIE Yaiu, Whsra the ViotsFy Was
lnrEsly dus % the shower e proisctfle8
fhToWn into TIE Chinese GhipA IN the
sEsnt q JGpan'a hnAing hsrsalf e
vaF with one of ths EuroDean powers
4 4 Questionable Whsther any 81 TIE
1uadrons nov n the faT east could
-1ats had against ths hest the Japan
- haEs created Einca 1s9l-ckieago |