The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-08-11

ous War Vessel Trims for an Engage
ment.
Are you familiar with the modern
battleship? DO you know her otherwise
than through the medium OF the illus
trated papers, or by catchingg an oc-
casIonaI glimpse Of her ponderous form
gliding along the horizon from some
vantage point Of the coast2
You will not discover much romance
in the mighty fabric Of iron and steel
upon fieetfng that grows upon you but
slowly from out Of the grimness of these
great gray structures.
The early impress is one OF vague
awe at the enormous power OF the MON
ster floating the pent-up forces of ami
hilation. You are shown long, slim
gun which can hurl a projeetile weigh
ing $50 pounds with a velocity that
would sink stout ship at twelve miles.
You are led down to Submerged fiat"
from which a torpedo is invisibly dis
charged with unerring aim. to cary de-
struction Of two thousand yards.
You are taken into the coming tower,
little. darksome circle, with steel
walls twelve solid inches thick, and be-
wildering with its completed ARRAY Of
indicators telegraphs, speaking tubes.
and the like; you are told that amid the
conclusion and hellish uproar of battle
1t is within this suffocating turret that
the captain and his two or three staff
officers would stand directing the fight
ing Of the ship.
You descend through an atmosphere
of blue warm mist into the deep-down
bowels OF the leviathan, and are shown
in addition to the twin pairs of ponder
GUS main machinery, something like
eighty distinct sets of engines, which
work the barbettes, the ammunition
hoists, the ash electors, keep the fans
buzzing, steer the ship. light the ship.
disti1l fresh water for the ship, re-
frigerate for the sip-in short, make her
almost as a sentient creature in re-
spending to the demands Of the con-
trolling hand. You move through the
long corridors. garnished with rifle racks
and puntuated with the cleaning breeeh
mechanism Of quick-firing guns; dusky
figures ceaselessly fit past you in silence
and, as you emerge into one of the mes
fats, populous with Jack in his watch
below, 1t dawns upon you that within
these floating walls is the home Of some
S0O'men.
BEAUTY or A. BATTLEsHIP.
And vet. as say, it is not the ro-
nance and poetry Of 1t all that comes to
the inexperienced spectator. A vague
dull sense Of half-amazed awe IS the one
haunting impression left by the first Of
inspection of a modern batleshtip.
Everything is too stern and forbidding
to leave any room for poetic sentiment;
but still the ilnpalable spirit of romance
turks In that ship strong as life itself,
and with with familiarity the conscious
ness of it Is borne in upon you. / will
not prtend that the battleship of to-day
possesses the degree of tender pictures
1 queness with which the old three-decker
of Nelson's time was fraught. But that
she carries d quality of beauty Of her
own is undeniable.
Perfect symmetry and compelling
sense of stupendous force form the inn
pressionfst appeal to the cortemplative
mind in gazing upon the great war
giantess Of the present day. The old
sailing ship was pretty, the modern
battleship is handsome; the picturelike
beauty Of the one. and the majestic
stateliness Of the other form a distinc-
tion whose only real difference lies in
the question Of degree.
confess that never realized the ex-
tent Of that quality Of poetic sentiment
which invests the battleship Of to-day
as completely as did on seval occasions
during the ocean naval maneuvers Of
last summer. was present throughout
these mimic war operations as a special
correspondent, and my ship was. II. M.
s. Hood, Of the home fleet.
we sailed from Berehaven early one
August morning for a rendezvous west
OF the Azoresc, d grim and gay process
sion of seven battleships and four
cruisers and the admiral's orders were
4 to proceed with all possible dispatch.
The looming shadow of the Glengariff
mountains had not faded into the north
ern dilnness before the full spirit Of
modern warship romance was manifest
ing itself on board our careering vessel
It was just that species Of pulse-quick-E
er1ing emotion which the late w. e.
g 1AS9i1CSs ~ AMY CApIG5S Ill 1Al5
tunultuous Song Of Speed
A SHAM, BUT VERY REAL.
Fe were racing to the assistance Of a
friend four hundred leagues distant,
who, under the scheme Of the maneu-
vers, was supposed to have met with
reverse and fallen back upon Madeira
to await succor. Of course, every man
jack on board knew that the whole
thing was tactical sham, and vet
venture to say that every man-jack
was sensible Of an indef1nable haunting
consciousness Of stern reality; of the
4 strenuous urgent obligations Of genuine
war.
You witnessed the expression Of this
sentiment at every turn. The little
cone, periodically rising and falling at
the foreyard arm as it indicated the
fluctuating revolutions of the engines,
became an object Of intense interest to
every man on deck. 1t was the telltale
OF our progress, and when it became
apparent that the Hood was foregath-
ering upon the leading ships--for the
rules Of station keeping We're totally
disregarded during that impressive