Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-27

of fire in each case being the same and
based upon a fair and probable rate in &C
ton.
Hosting Apparatus.
Most of the ammunition hoists viii be
controlled by electricity, while a moving
latform-a novel feature on shipboard-
passing by the doors of the ammunition
rooms will carry continuous supply to
the lifts, the men in the rooms having only
to carry the boxes to the door and place
them on the travelling sidewalk, from which
it will be taken as fast as needed and de-
livered up the hoists to the gun stations
This is a revolutionary feature in the mat
ter of ammunition supply and something
that places US ahead of any other power.
1t is distinctly an American invention and
we have reason to glory in It,
A safety fea ture of the ships Will be the
method by which all of the doors in the
principal water-tight compartments can be
controlled from central emergency sta
ton The doors will be closed automatical-
" by power by the simple pressing of a but
ton. and in case of mishap, as instanced by
the Inflated British battle ship Victoria,
this will guarantee the welfare of the en-
tire ship This too is a novel feature and
one of the ideas of the chief constructor.
The ships will be driven by twin screws
actuated by separate engines. These en-
gfnes. each in It's own Water-tlght compart-
ment will be of the modern four-cylinder
at top speed will develop quite 1850 indi-
Gated horsepower. To supply them and the
numerous auXiiares with the needtul
steam there will be a dozen water-tube
boilers of approved American pattern
There will be six fire rooms. and there will
be special means for facilitating rapid
transit of fuel from the coal bunkers to the
floors of the fire rooms There Will be
forced-draught arrangements, ana these
blowers will be the only steam-driven aux
iliaries The 300 tons of coal carried when
the bunkers are full will be enough to take
the ships from San Francisco to Manila
without a halt and at the comfortable rate
of ten or twelve knots an hour AL lull
speed they could steam directly across the
Atlantic from New York TO Queenstown
without hitch and have something TO
spare AS never before electricity Will be
used in these ships and besides lifting the
ammunition, controlling and loading the
great guns lighting the ship inside ana OUT
and ventilating all but the fire rooms, most
of the other hosting will be done in this
way while the steam laundry, the en-
CHEERS big workshop ana many other SER
vices will be performed through the agency
of this energy
To make it possible to coal these big
ships with exceptional speed they Will be
fitted with a novel system of coallns booHs
and chuteS the operation OF Whlch, 10 Il
considerable degree will be automatic 1t
will be possible to load simultaneously from
four large barges and the rate is estimated
Fireproof Wood.
Common to all modern ships of war, as
little wood as possible will be used, and
that to a vast extent, will be freproofed
The ships will carry upon their ample
backs we'll out of the way of the blast OF
the guns a regular fleet of small boats,
and the distinctly new feature will be the
advent of the 50-foot picket boat. 1t has
frequently been found impossible or eXces-
sively dangerous to communicate between
ship and shore in rough weather with the
ordinary launches The picket boat will
make this operation reasonably safe, while
as an escort for a landing party or for
counte rmining work, the boat will be just
the thing
The congressional price limit for hull
and machinery is four millions of dollars,
the cost of armor and armament and much
of the equipment being an added call upon
Uncle Sans purse.
ROBERT G. SKERRETT. ,