Arizona republican., 1906-09-18
KEEPING THE NAVY
 FULLY UP-T0DATE
BisGsst War ships May Not Bs the
 Best or Neat Emcisnt.


New York. Sept IT.-UnIred States naval officers do not admit that rh. monster battleships planned by Greac Gritain and Italy are necessarily nio-, effective than warships of the Connec- tieut-Louisiana and Michigan South Carolina types Now that fuller Ea- tails have reached here regarding eha Cuniberti battleship. with which Italy expects to OutcIass the @DreaduouEhr there is less disposition than ever to oEer-estimate the importance 0f ItaIv-s move.
 "On paper a naval constructor at- tached to the Brooklyn yard said. both Great Britain and Italy will have shIrs greatly superior to any thing in oar navy But all comparisons which take into consideration merely comparatiys displacement and battery strength ar- misleading No one knows as vet hou- these monster warships will behave ar sea The ~DreadnOught~ went into commission only two weeks ago. and has never had a trial Of any kind And their effectiveness in action iz in even greater doubt
 Moreover. the assumption that tie biggest battleship can whip oae of a few hundred tons smaller. Ieaves out of account the matter of ssassznshir. brains. courage. marksERaRshiR. z-rI relative efficiency AmeFEeaH aarzzs<s may not be as big as the h5Eeass eur in personnel and equipment sheF <szas anything ahoat'
 This officer called atteataaa se ss-s placement of the I2-sneh gus sa fAs "COnneeticut.- which has been sa szez- ned that they have range of ars Es-ze dead ahead 10 a point wet ahasa Az other device that adds xasflr e. sAz so ne rangement for closing all t3le buEaE-ss doors in time of danger F'Fez ga emergency station on the eTA1zr as -a the pilot house all the deers t,sAsa Es-z water line can he closed akaasr Eea stantly by what Is known az aAe -E1asa Arm system Each dneT sRa sa-z armor matches have an eseetra- Esssas connected with the central station e= any emergency the ship can he Feassa9- ed practically unsuitable fH fsE uzaz- utes by starting these motors aaa sszE- ing the water-tight cOTnpartHsesrss sn many life preservers- That it is ua imaginary danger against which naval constructors are guarding our WarshiTs by perfecting their bslllxhead arranEe- ments in this way. is shown by a Ions line of marine disasters. beginning Wirh the loss of the Victoria and conins down to the RussO-Japanese war oth- CT powers are deeply interested sn the Long Arm system. but for the pres ent United States fighting ships alone have the advantage of the most el- fectiye means of safety devised since the watertight bulkhead was introduc- ed.
 Our newest warshlps also have a steaming radius Of 5000 miles. much greater than that of any other battle ships afioat This is a very inportaur element in the fighting efficiency of aI war vessels. and one in which the larz- English and Italian battleships are likely to fail
 Improved steering gear. better pro- vision for handling ammunitloH and means of communication far in ad- vance of anything heretofore perfected are. additional advantages claimed for Uncle Sans latest warships On the Connecticut and Louisiana a complete telephone system Is installed In ad- dltiOn. private lines are run for the executive officer. navigator chief en- gineer. surgeon. and electrical Eunnrr- There are twenty-five extensions from the central station and seven private lines. in addition to S7 lines Of voice pipes.