Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-05

run by steam which will crush the ice of
the harbors and force their way into almost
any port. Kronstadt is kept open during
the winter 10y such ice breakers. and they
will also be OF great value at Vladivostock
and other Siberian ports.
The largest of these vessels is the Ermak,
built in 1898 at Newcastle-on-Tyne. 1t Is
hi'e huge man-of-war, being long as
the average city block, wide the Or
binary city street and a depth as great
as that of four-story house. 1t has a
draft of twenty-five feet and a displace-
ment of 5000 tons. It's machinery is oper-
ated by engines furnishing 10000 horse
power, and when it pushes against ice with
this enormous force the ice has to be in
deed thick to resist it. The Ermak is so
shaped at the stern that another vessel
can be dashed to 1t, so that it will have the
assistance and additional power Of the yes-
sci behind. 1t has forty-eight water-tight
compartments, the larger of which have
engines and boiler rooms, the capacity Of
each boiler room being 1000 tons.
Two Hundred Miles Through Solid Ice.
The Ermak has been severely tested In
1899 1t made journey of 200 miles through
solid ice. all Of it being at least five feet
thick and fifty miles of 1t about ten feet
In thickness In blowing through this 1t
hurled the ice aside as locomotive plow
throws snow, cutting its way right into the
harbor Of Kronstadt
Such ice breakers will make Vladivos-
took an open port during the winter, fur
nishlng a new. outlet for war supplies via
the Trans Siberian road. There are ice
breakers on Lake Baikal which keep the
Trans-Siberfan road open, although in case
OF trouble tracks can be laid on the ice
and communication thus be kept up. With
Lake Baikal open 1t is now only seventeen
or eighteen days from Moscow to Port
Arthur. where the harbor Is free from ice
the year round. and where ships drawing
thirty feet can enter without difficulty.
The Russians have built up great naval
station at Port Arthur. This is only a few
miles from Dalny. the commercial port, at
the end of the Trans-Siberian road. They
have an enormous amount of naval supplies
there. and they are. am told now ready
for war If Japan is anxious to fight.
The Japanese Navy.
The navy of Japan Is a greater wonder
than that Of Russia. The Russians have
had a navy since the days of Peter the
up within the present generation. During
our civil war the japanese anew nothing
of naval affairs outside their war 1unks,
and for ten years thereafter they had no
merchant vessels to speak of. When they
fought the Chinese In 1894 their navy con-
sisted of sixteen steel men-Of-war, seven
teen gunboats of wood and steel and about
twenty-six torpedo boats. They had good
guns and they fired them well. They
showed that they knew how to shoot, and
proved themselves the equals of any naval
troops upon earth. The story of that war
was much the same as that OF our war
with Spain. The Japanese gained their
victory by courage and skill rather than by
better ships or better guns. They de-
stroyed the heavier vessels of their enemy
and practically annihilated the Chinese as
a sea power.
non uvnd~od M;1No,, noJlo~v Frr Nox,
At the close of the war the Japanese took
the money they received from China and
put 1t into new battle ships. cruisers and
gunboats. They bought new arms. and
have been adding to their navy from that
day to this During the present year they
will spend about $1O,OOOOOO for warships
and war material. and they have spent
about a hundred million since the close of
their war with China. In addition to this,
they have set aside another hundred million
dollars to be spent in the future. This vast
sum is to be spread over eleven years, be-
ginning with March next, making an aver
age of more than 100000 year.
AS a result of such expenditures the Jap
anese navy Is now one Of the best Of the
world. and in some respects 1t is already
stronger than that of Russia.
In the Japanese Shipyards.
During my last visit to Japan, about two
building yards. The Japanese are now
making their own protected cruisers and
destroyers and are founding armor facto-
ries with which they will be able to con-
struct battle ships. There Is no doubt but
that they can manufacture anything they
please. for their workmen are among the
most skilled upon earth, and they are ready
70 ADOPT any new thing at a moments no.
uce They have their mechanical and ma
val engineers in all of the great shipyards
OF the world studying the newest methods
ana experimenting the construction of
s sha intended for Japan. You will find
them at Cramps in PhiIadelphia 7 saw
some at the Krupp works in Essen and
ehey are also at the Vulcan shipyards ir,s
Stettin. LUIS III
Japan's Big Gunboats.
The six first-class battle ships now in the
Japanese navy were all built in Great
Britain. They are twin-screw steel vesseIs
with an ordinary speed of sixteen knots
and possible speed of eighteen knots or
more They are protected by belts of Har-
Veyized metal from fourteen to eiehteap
inches thick. and they each carry four
tweive-inch guns. ten six-inch quick-firfne
suns .Wehty-aour rapid firing, and five tor
pedo tubes The largest of these shfps is
the Mikasa. She has Is. 200 tons and X O00
horse power, and she can make eipbtaan
knots an hour. 1t takes TAI men to man
age her
Some of Japan's second-elass ships were
built in Germany and some of them came
from the Chinese. Two of her nrotectad
cruisers were built in the United States.
one at Philadelphia and the other at San
Francisco. They are just alike In design
but the San Francisco cruiser is the faster
having made almost twenty four knots an
hour.
Japan has also a number Of merchant
vessels which can be called upon in case