The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-01-15

. sseeseeos
STA and France eight, and Germany
! six.
| The British armored cruiser Cressy,
| of 10000 tons, has had her first coal
| consumption trial of thirty hours I'M
| der one-fifth power. The ship was
down to the designed mean draught or
26 feet 3 inches, and the engines de-
| veloped 4,731 horsepower, with 20S
! pounds of steam and "a revolutions.
The speed was 13. SO knots, and the coal
consumption 1877 pounds per unit of
horsepower. Under full power the en-
| gines are to develop q, 900 horsepower
| and Il knots speed. The Cressy is of
| the same class and identical with the
Aboukir, Bachante, Euryalus, Hogue
and Sutlej, now in course OF construc-
ton. They are sheathed and coppered,
and the six new American armored
| cruisers of the California class are i'm
proved copies of the British type.
The three Russian torpedo vessels,
| Osiotr, Kepal and LoSos, building in
France, will be subjected to unusually
severe tests before being accepted, and
their construction involves a great ex-
penSe, in that the frames and hulls are
| to be of nickel steel, which is very
difficult Of working. The boats are to
steam 26 knots with 1850 horsepower.
The trials include one of eight hours
at IA knots to ascertain the coal con-
sumption, after which there is to be a
six-hour trial at full speed. This is to
be followed by speed trial of % knots,
during which the behavior of the en-
gines is to be carefully noted, and
within two hours of the end of this
trial the boats are again to make a
spin under full speed for two hours.
There is a penalty of $1,000 for each
one-quarter knot less than 26 and
down tn % knots which a "
of $1,000 is imposed for each ope-quar-
ter knot down to "a knots, which latter
is the lowest limit of acceptance. A
miscalculation or a breakdown may
thus cost the contractors $4,000, which
j would more than wipe out the profit
on the 100000 contract.
M. LaneSSau, Minister of Marines
contemplates certain radical improve
ments in the French navy, the princi-
pal of which is to reorganize the syS-
: tenn of naval construction. He contem-
plates placing that bureau under the
direction of a naval engineer and the
executive bureau under civilians. The
term naval engineer in the French
navy is different from what is implied
by that title in the American and Brit
! ish navies, the French engineer being
naval constructor and marine engine
designer. M. Lanessau's object in
making these changes is to fix individ
ual responsibility and have each de-
partment attend to its own particular
business. Under the former arrange
ment council of sixteen officers, sea-
going naval engineers were wrestling
I with the preliminary designs of new
ships, and after determining. the gen.
eral outline, detailed designs were in
vited from the engineers at the five
dockyards. 1t is not to be wondered
at that so many ships, designed under
Il fratrN Il fr.I
and M. Lockroy, the predecessor of NJ
Lanessau, strongly condemned it.
Trans-PacificyCable go
The London Daily Telegraph of De
cember 5th, discussing the trans-PacifiC
cable, says in part:
In prominent City circles yesterday con
siderable satisfaction was expressed a
the announcement of the acceptance b,
the Pacific Cable Committee of the Tele
graph Construction and Maintenance
Company's tender for laying the "All
British" cable, a scheme which, accord
ing to the contract, is to be completed b!
the year 1902. The salient features of thi
important undertaking, so long the dream
of Colonials, together with the main ad
vantages 1t will bring in its train, hav,
already been dwelt upon in these col
umns and the opinions therein expressed
the lips of influential gentlemen VIII
have given the subject their close consid
Grafton for great number Of years.
Now that the long-discussed scheme 1
on fair way to becoming an accomplish
ed fact, 1t may be of interest to give
brief retrospect of a few facts connecte'
with early Geographic communication be
tween the Australian Colonies and tn
Mother Country at a time when the pos
sibilities of Pacific cable first came un
der earnest discussion. Twenty-seve
years have passed by since the Interna
tional line was opened, and 1t Is interest
ing to be reminded that the business don
in 1873 consisted of s.952 messages to an
from the Colonies. The decade that fol
lowed witnessed a remarkable develop
ment, and in 1884 the messages sent an
received reached total of 1886, repre-
senting an average annual increase of 4
per cent. Sir Chen Mr) Sanford Elem
ing, who is to be numbered among thos
who have been most active In advocatin
the Pan-Britannic system, and by whom
as being their expert adviser, these fig
ures were submitted to the Canada