Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-02-18

onstration at Port Arthur Of the use
fuiness and deadliDess of these craft.
opinion is swinging round the other
way At the same time It Is pointed
out here that the apanese success at
Port Arthur is fully as much that of
the man behind the gun as of the
torpedo boat and torpedo missile. Of
ficers ask, would the Japanese have
been as successful as they were in
the employment of torpedoes If the
Russians had been on their guard
If they had taken the ordinary pre-
cautions which prudent officers would
have exercised under such crcum-
stances2 There is little doubt that
the Russians were surprised. and, il
the reports are true. that the weather
was clear and bright. a surprise I'M
der such circumstances Is regarded
by American naval officers as evidence
of almost criminal neglect If the
Russian admiral had used one-half the
care and prccaution employed by Ad-
miral Sampson in his mastery watch
over the hole at Santiago, where a
guard was stationed close in at every
hour OF the day and night, with search
lights constantly playing upon the en-
trance to the harbor from sunset to
sunrise, there might now be differ
ent story to tell. Careful students OF
naval metto DDS are slow TO rush to the
conclusion that the battleship is
doomed. and 1t is to become obsolete
on account of the destructiveness of
little craft consisting one-fftieth part
as much as the value of one OF the
great fighting machines. They con
clude, rather that the Americans al
ways have been right in their claim
that personnel counts for almost as
much as ships and guns in naval war
fare. The Russians were as much
outclassed at Port Arthur as were the
Spanish at Santiago.
A high authority among naval ex-
perts said today the American navy
was the first in the world in the value
OF its personnel and the japanese
were next He said also that the
American navy now is believed by for
eign experts to be superior to the
German in fighting effectiveness, and
almost equal to the much larger navy
of France. The French are admitted
to be the most ingenious and skillful
naval constructors in the world. Their
ingenuity is so great that they have
built ships which are marvels of ap-
pliances The interior OF a. French
battleship is like a watch full of del
icate. complicated and beautiful ma
chinery. The French ships excel, too,
in offensive power. Their armament
is of higher grade in proportion to
tonnage than that of any other large
navy. All this means that defensive
power has been sacrificed to offensive
power and to the machinery and ap-
pliances with which French ships are
filled. The case in which the watch is
carried is too thin and light for rough
usage
The British, on the other hand, have
gone 10 the opposite extreme. Their
ships are too heavy and not strong
enough in broadside force. They can
take fearful lot of punishment, but
cannot deliver as heavy blows as the
French. If British and French ships
were TO meet, everything would de
pend upon the accuracy of the French
gunners and the general skill and eff
ficiency with which the French ships
were managed. With their terrible
offensive power they should achieve
victory in anything like an even match
but II they did not achieve it quickly
they would lack of staying quality,
A few blows would knock them out
lf II were to come to close.range fight
ing, or close enough for effective fire.
the salvation of the French would be
in hitting their man before he could
hit them, as in a gun bout among the
skillful siXshooters of our own wild
and woody West"
Foreign experts say American naval
constructors have struck just the hap
py medium between the two extremes
which are exemplfed in French and
English naval types. The Americans
have defensive strength enough to
stay in the fight a reasonable length
of time and offensive power enough to
do great deal of damage while they
are there. II is upon this fine balanc
ing OF the two equations and upon
the known accuracy of the men behind
the guns that the foreign experts de-
clare the American navy to be the first
in the world of its size, and almost II
not quite equal to the French navy,
despite the latters much larger ton.
mage.
The Russo-Japanese conflict shows
the importance of naval power in the
case of the great nations having n sea.
coast and a large foreign trade. The
collection of large and small islands
comprising the kingdom of Japan have
necessarily long coast line in com.
parison with their entire area. Not |
many places in the whole Kingdom are |
100 rifles from the sea. An alert. in |
telligent. progressive people In such |
an environment must necessarily be |
good sailors. This will partly account
for Japan's victories over Russia.
which is nation of very poor sailors.
at the outset of the war. No country
in the world except Great Britain has
as great need for large and eff.
cient navy as has the United States,
trnthfully remarks the Globe-Demo.