The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-15

the Sheridan of 5,673 tons, the former
with accommodations for siXty-eight
officers and 1886 men, and the latter
accommodating ninety-three officers
and 1,S43 men. Six of the transports
are of from 5000 to 5000 tons, these be-
ing the Grant. Hancock, Logan, Meade,
Sheridan and Sherman; three, the
Crook. SedgWick and the Warren. are
of between 1900 and 5000 tons burden;
six vessels, the Buford, Fitzpatrick,
! Lawton, Relief. Summer and McPher-
son. measure from 5000 to 1000 tons
burden; while five vessels, the Burn
side kebert, Mcclellan, Rawlins an
Rosecrans. are of from 1000 to 5000
tons. OF the chartered ships. two, the
Indiana of 2,484 tons and the PennSyl-
vania of 3,166 tons, are used as troop
ships. while the other nine, which are
vessels of from $500 to 5000 tons dis
placement are used for the transporta
ton of horses. mules and live stock.
The chartered vessels, for charter alone
according to the New York Marine
Journal, cost from $3.50 to $500 per day.
Various Naval Items
The United Service Gazette says
The navy boiler committee are go
/ ing to French port to inspect the
wonderful ship, the Russian cruiser
| Variag, which has recently been built
| by the Cramps of Philadelphia, and
achieved a great speed. The particu-
| lar feature of this vessel is that she
is fitted with Niclausse boilers, and
has developed 10000 indicated horse
power and attained a speed of 90
knots, which is the more remarkable
b. al <,f ny,,ta dnr,yy
type, and is only of $500 tons dispIace-
ment She corresponds in some re-
spects to our Hermes class of 500 tons.
| which develop only 10000 indicated
| horsepower, and have a speed of 20
knots. The Niclausse boiler, it may be
remembered, has been ordered for two
/ of the cruisers of the county class of
$500 tons and $4,000 indicated horse
power, to steam % knots. 1t will thus
be seen that, Notwithstanding the
same high speed is got for slightly
| greater power than in the Variag, Sug-
costing a much more easily driven and
| finer modelled ship
| NJ. de Lanessan, the French Minister
| of Marine, proposes to strengthen the
French navy by improving the condi-
| ton of the men of the lower deck by
| opening a larger future for them, and
| to place upon better footing the
dockyard employees, giving them boun-
! ties to encourage zeal, and allowing
| the men to have a voice IN awarding
these. Each operative of the inferior
class is also to receive % francs for his
| first child, 30 additional for his second
80 for his third, and SO on. Every cat
egory of operatives has been divided
| into classes, each with zeal, and to
| give the men voice in awarding
| these. Each operative of the inferior
class is also to receive % francs for his
| first child, 80 additional for his sec
ond, 80 for the third, and so on. Ev-
| cry category Of operatives has been di
| vided into classes, each with a special
rate of pay, and advancement from
one class to the other is regulated by
committees, on which the worl6men are
| represented. They also take part in
| the committees which deal with the
recruitment of the personnel, and
which determine the pay of each new
recruit according to his knowledge and
experience. 1t is further proposed to
establish professional nautical schools
for sons of seamen between the ages
of thirteen and fourteen, to whom will
be taught everything that a seaman
should know, fitting him later on for
his work on board, whether it be con-
cerned with mechanics, electricity,
gunnery, craftsmanship or torpedoes
These schools are to bring into the
,, lower deck better class of men, who
will form the elite, and it will be the
object to retain these in the navy by
offering material advancement, proper
promotion, and eventually commssfon-
ed rank.
This year will see the launching in
Germany of four battleships and an
armored cruiser, and orders have been
given for the construction Of another
great armored cruiser by Blonm and
One-e ~, 4
cruisers of the fourth class.
The torpedo boat Tramontane was
launched at Bordeaux, May 2, all ready
for sea. She is As metres long and Ats
metres wide. She carries two 27-milli-
metre guns and has two torpedo tubes
Her engines are expected to develop
4,4O0 horsepower, which will give her
a speed of 80 knots an hour.
Interesting experiments to test the
effect of gun fire on warships were
held at Hamilton, Bermuda, May IA,
under the direction of British naval
officers. The old ironclad Scorpion was
used for a target vessel, and number
of dummy figures We're set up on her
in different places to represent her
crew. The warship Crescent then took
a position at from one to two thousand
yards and began firing. Unofficial ad-
vices concerning the firing state thar
the first shots fired at the Scorpion
We're from 3-pounder and 6-pounder
quick-f1rers at one to two thousand
yards range. Afterward the Crescent
steamed off to about six thousand
yards and opened fire with her 6-inch
guns. The quick-frers played havoc
with the dummy figures and every
thing destructible on the Scorpion 8
decks, showing it would have been I'M
possible for any crew to survive such
a fire. The firing from the bigger guns.
although the shells were accurately
placed, was not so good. Out of about
twenty shells only two or three hit the
mark. These, however, were very de-
structive. and it is understood that the
effect of the lyddite shell was regarded
as satisfactory. One shell, which burst
inside the Scorpion, partially wrecked