The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-05-05

though OF course II IS desired TO dis
charge them at shorter range II pos
sible. and the destroyers can steam al
the rate OF thirty miles an hour
They are not arTnOred. and their
plates are not more than from half 10
three-ouarters OF an inch IN thickness
It is not supposed that they VII need
arDor. however. II their speed cannot
save them. Nothing Can. for though
they can infiics a deadly sting upon a
monster bzttleship. one Of them could
not stand for a moment before a giant
iprpjectile. one shot, and THAI would be
the end But they are built for speed
There is nothing in them al all. appar-
iently. but machinery To be sure. there
is q somewhat limited space for the
men. sixty-tu-o. al told. and yet more
limited space for the officers. cap
tain. a navigator. a. watch officer and
q gunner. StiH the little craft carry
coal enough 10 steam about $500 miles
al pinch One OF the men aboard said
yesterday that they could have steamed
from Esquinalt 10 Honolulu. al modsr-
ate speed. snd this was confirmed by
an officer OF the ATnphitrite. It is not
the design OF such boats. however. TO
have q wide steaming radius nor TO OPP
crate independently OF a feet Of larger
vessels The torpedo arm is. in fact,
auxiliary For that reason the vessels
must have speed and must draw little
water. The yirago and the Sparrow
hawk. tain ships IN al respects. draw
little water, and each has engines Of
$500 indicated horse power You can
only appreciate how these are carried
by going on board and inspecting the
engines themselves. The boats seem
TO be literally filed with machinery.
TO go down into the hold OF one OF
them is a good deal like descending |
into the bowels OF a giants watch 1
They are fnII Of wheels and springs |
and cylinders and al kinds OF things
that man not an engineer knows not |
the purpose of-and could not learn. 1
either. in a day. Bur. there is not an
inch OF room wasted There could not /
be II is not there 10 waste.
Wfthal. the boats are pretty good sea
boats SO the 5ackies say. and although
they VIII roll in sea way, the men 1
aboard express the hrmest faith that /
one Of them could not sink. no matter
how rough the waves should become.
She might turn turtle. bur even that is
a most unlikely thing. We had some
pretty rough weather coming down
here" one Of the sailors said. but we
weathered il all right As to steering.
the one spoke OF the wheel viii change
-HAE 4-ACLlADA Ii DAtc III ll4clll. ftLDh llEL
she has way on her A torpedo boat de-
stroyer steers ike fish
The men aboard the British fleet, by !
he way. do not take a great deal OF
stock n. the talk OF war in Asia. II has
been the purpose for long time, these
men tsay, TO send the Nirago and The
5parrowdawk 10 the China station.
There was no need for them at Esqui-
malt. where there are two torpedo boats
stationed, and there might be a need ,
or one Of them or the other side But
he resolution 10 send them over was
cached a long time before this talk OF
roubie in Manchuria began The fact
hat they are going now while war Is
'eIng talked about, is coincidentaI
merely.
Also. the impression that the Amphi-
rite VIII tow the torpedo boat destroy
rs from here 10 HOngkOng is mis-
AIKEN one The smaller craft viii go :
inder their own steam and there win .
e stop on the way, probably at Mid :
ray or Guam-more likely the latter ,,
0 give the little fellows new supply
z coal II this is done at Midway. of
curse the coal must come from the ca
acious stores of the Amphitrite- If it
done at Guam, why there IS plenty
[ coal 70 be had there The Guam
cute is favored. rather. because the
ratsr on the southern seas is smoother
I this time of year. or is apt TO be.
Just when the feet VIII leave Homo
llu has not yet been definitely deter
mined The Amplitude was preparing
esterday 10 take in the balance Of her
cal supply, and VIII do this on Tues
ay- After that. il is probable that the
eel win sail on Wednesday morning,
there has not yet been al off,
ial announcement OF the sailing dale.
here are q great many contingencies
D be considered Because the men on
be Amphitrfte were busy getting the
hip ready TO coal. the shoot to have
cen held with the police team yester-
az was postponed Gunuery Lieuten-
NJ Beamish. OF the cruiser. said there
tight be chance OF having the shoot
n Wednesday. but there was nothing Z
srtaEn about IL Of
&c