Arizona republican., 1902-03-23
NEVER GOES TO SEA

The most novel warship in exfstence appears on the admiralty list. Ii fe
 hHoWh as II. M. $. Excellent. but Fl Af
 0- Excellent never weighs anchor | never gets up steam with BelleviIle ar any other boilers. and has never loft . tAese shores. in search Of any enemy
 says the London Mail. ] The ship as q ship, in fact. does. not
 exist II. NJ s. Excellent is an admir-
 atty fiction. The name has been he [ slowed upon what was thirty years aro
 mere mud bank off Portsmouth hut which now, owing to the exertfons of the handy man." is the most perfectly equipped gunnery establishment in inc
 world. '-' ''i0
 On II. M. s. Excellent-or Whale island, as it is sometimes caTad-tba
 arnaor plates for British warsbins arc tested Special proof butts have baan
 punt for this purpose. For it's s1,nnIv
 oi arlflor plates the admiralty relies en-
 t!Fely upon the enterprise of n1.i,ata
 Hrlns Very few of these are wea1+b,,
 enough to put down the costly plant
 necessary for producing atn1or DIates
 anu stand the expense of the not less
 costly experimental work that has ,o
 De constantly undertaken if the 1nanu- Iacturer would keep abreast of his 1i-
 Ndls' Great IS the competition among
 the lew Dig firms who do produce ar
 i!of' and the result is that the admir- @il| are constantly being asked to try Fo.iie make Of plate that is designed to uii CT more resistance to projectiles than the older patterns did. Tn otha,, "ords' the admiralty lets the private Ilrlns do the experimenting and selects [ f1.rsJ l,r.
 hen firm has produced sompthtng they deem an advance upon inc nro,I7 | uct of their rivals they send ii on | board 1T. M. $. Excellent. and ask the to subject the plate to the official lest. The armor is built m in proof cells against strong backing of olk to keep it rigid. anu when every thing IS ready q day is fixed for the ey- pertinent
 Ihls IS conducted by party of gun neIs under the direction of the captain pr his majesty'a steamship Excellent. admiralty officials watch the proceed hGS' and the firm whose goods are on -flaI Is permitted to send representa- -lNes. though the latter are little more han Spectators. Five projectiles are lred at the plate. one at each corner md one in the center. For testing our-inch plates a 4.1-fnch gun is used. or siX-fnch plates six-inch gun. for ilne-inch plates q 9.2-inch gun. and or 1oot-thick plates Pinch gun. The ring takes place at short range. with harSes carefully calculated to give a ISh striking velocity to the armor- herclng projectile that is loaded into he gun When the gun is laid G. e.. lmed everybody goes into a bomb roof shelter. and the weapon is fired y electricity.
 AS soon as danger is over the party merge from their shelter. The plate carefully examined, photographed nd the depth of the indentatfon-if Time arter time is this L 'Peated, if the plate shows sufficient \ SlSting power. until the trial is com eted Sometimes the prctoctile L lnch"s q hole through the plate or 'hcks il in all directions as though it ld been bit 0c glass instead of :, b-g . ass of rolled steel Then an unfavor- E 'le verdict is given. and the unfortu- E, ate manufacturer finds that research id experiments that have perhaps st him hundreds of pounds will bring III no return. When any new frvcn- pn is brought to the notice of the ad- irally and is accepted by that august dy. the inventor is required to dis DSe every detail of manufacture II
 in fact. one of the strictest rules ' at the process from beginning to end all be plainly stated. so that a strict - itch may be kept by the properly ap- ( inted officials. In this way. and in E Is way only, can the standard of alitV he assured