The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1904-12-01
WOULD ADD TO NAVY
PROJECT ON FOOT TO AUGMENT
FIGHTING STRENGTH.
Secretary Morton will Ask Congress-
to Provide More Armof- -Clads-
United States Rapidly Out
strips Other Nations.

Secretary Morton will soon recon-
mend to congress the construction Of
three and possibly four armor-clad
ships. II congress, however, between
now and 1909 does not authorize an
other ship the American people by
that time will have a navy that will
have cost approximately $3O2,199,-
0S7.15.
In round numbers 1t now costs $751;
100000 year to maintain the navy
When the new ships are finished the
fighting strength of the navy will
have been nearly trebled. because in
stead of two ,armored cruisers there
will be IL, and each will be ,substan-
TALLY twice the size of the two with
which the Spanish war was fought.
The cost of maintenance, unless .
very large number of the ships now
in service are sent to the scrap heap,
will be at least $125,0O0.OO0. At pres
ent rates the United States will then
be paying more for protection on the
water than any other nation, Just as
now II Is building ships In greater
number than any other nation.
A good idea of the progress of the
American navy toward first-class i'm
portance SO far as size Is concerned
may be had from the fact that three
of the sort of ships congress will be
asked to provide for will have total
displacement equal to that of fve bat
tleships in the navy at the outbreak of
the Spanish war.
At that time the battleship tonnage
amounted to 4S,519. Some of the latest
ships laid down will have displace-
ment of in excess of 10000.
There are to-day 13 battleships In
commission, with total tonnage Of
132,229. The tonnage of all vessels.
at the beginning Of the late war, hard
ly came up to that figure, which in a
few years will look like modesty it.
self.
The battleship feet now consists Of
three vessels of the Ohio class, with a
tonnage of 37.5OO; four of the Wiscon-
sin class, with tonnage of 46,100;
three of the Oregon class, 30, 1854; one
OF the Iowa class, of IL $40, and the
little Texas, 6.315 tons. The increase
In battleship tonnage has been S3,710,
or 172 per cent. in less than six years.
There are 13 battleships under con-
struction, the tonnage of which Is
196,200. When these are finished the
battleship tonnage will be more than
doubled, while the speed will be in
creased from 16 to 10 knots for the
fastest ships.
The four battleships that will be put
into commission during the coming
year are the Pennsylvania, West Vir-
ginia, Colorado and Maryland, the
first two of $4,000 tons, and the last
two of 1860.
In addition to this other vesesls un-
der construction. cruisers, gunboats,
torpedo-boats and colliers, have a tom
mage of 54,325, making a grand total
OF 374,325, or nearly three times the
tonnage of all the ships in the navy
at the time the Maine was destroyed.
Since the beginning of the fiscal
year last July builders have
launched IL ships for the American
navy. No other nation has done SO
well. In this list there were five bat
tleships and one armored cruiser. The
other seven were gunboats, training
ships and cruisers OF comparatively
small size.