The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-14

rapid as that of the armored cruisers above mentioned but they dlsplaee only a,700 tons, and carry none of the eight inch guns, such as constitute the main battery of each armored cruiser.
 On the stocks in New England ship yards. bur less than half finished. are three thoroughly unique ships that are to be ehristened respectively, Chester, Bir- mlngham and Salem. These are to be known as 'scout cruisers,' from which name their function in naval warfare may readily be guessed, and the idea of having such ships in the fleet has been borrowed by Uncle Sam from Great Britain, where several such craft have recently been con- structed for the purpose of keeping tab on an enemy's fleet. Since scout cruiser upon discovering the approach of hos tile squadron must not only be agile enough to eyade capture. but must also be qualified to race home and give warn Ing, It goes without saying that speed Is a prime requisite in such vessel, and accordingly the trio of new Yankee scouts will each be fitted with engines of f6,000- horsepower, capable of driving her through the water at a clip of 2s miles per hour, or better.
 The new scout cruisers will be doubly interesting, from the fact that the Navy Department will try an innovation In the means of obtaining speed. One of the ships - the Birmingham = will be equipped with ordinary triple-expansion engines of the same general pattern as those installed fin all our warshlps for years past, but the other two scouts will be fitted with steam turbines, the newest wrinkle in power-produeing machinery and apparatus, such as has gained credit for the exceptional speed of the new transatlantic passenger steamers of the cunard Line. Two different styles of tur- pines will be tested In order to determine their comparative merits. The scout cruisers will have a uniform length of APO feet, but their light construction can be appreciated from the fact that each will have a displacement of only 3,75o tons. Such ship is expected 10 run away rather than fight, and this type of cruisers only means of selfdefense will be found in dozen three-ineb rapld-f guns. Inasmuch as the cruisers will draw only about 16 feet of water they will be
 
 other warships of large size.
 Yet another tendency lately manifest In the new policy for the development of the United States Navy is found in the increasing attention being paid to submarine torpedo boats. Yankee in yentors, with the proyerbIal ingenuity l Of the race, have produced decidedly the best underwater fighters that have been evolved anywhere in the world, but Uncle snm for one reason or another. has not paid as much attention to these new ter TOTS as have European nations that have not had available anything like such good examples. Latterly, however, there has been an awakening. Four submarines are well on the way to completion at the big shipyard at Quincy Point, Mass, and It is now proposed to devote fully S1 ,O00 GOO to further construction In fhis line as soon as our naval experts can de- ternlne just which one of the several inventors In the field Is offering the best type of craft for work nnder the waves.
 The recent tremendous increase In the United States Navy has caused the of fcias at Washington to be sorely put to 1t to provide officers and men for all
 
 ly that there has been n heavy increase In the number of ships, but almost every one of these newcomers requires almost twice as many bueIackets as were need ed on the biggest battleship we hnd in service at the time of the Spanish -Ameri- can War. To remedy matters the Navy Department Is using every possible meaus 10 encourage enlistment in the Navy, and the enlarged Academy at Annapolis is graduating new officers ahead of time, In order to keep pace with the demand. Al most equally serious Is the need for flag officers of experience to command the fleets and squadrons into which our grow ing Navy must. by reason of its size, be divided One result of the cry for more officers will be that In future, promotion will be more rapid and younger officers will be given the positions of fesponsibil- ity. WALDON FAWCETT.