Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-01-18

sodi cdpbclty Oh Z,u"V tphs anu al al
mament of four 12-inch. four 9-inch
and ten finch guns.
The strongest ship In the French
navy is the Republique, 5000 tons.
1S knots speed, capacity for 1,SO0 tons
OF coal and an armament of four ~
inch an deighteen 61a-inch guns.
The best ship in the German navy |
is the Elsass, 10 200 tons. Is knots |
speed. 500 tons coal capacity and
an armament of four l2-inch and four
teen 6hs inch guns.
The Louisiana will cost about S.
100000 and is being built by contract
| by the Newport News Shipbuilding
company, which was the lowest bid
der The Connecticut, an exact du
plicate. is being built at the New York
navy yard by the government, and by
day labor There is good deal OF
rivalry between the two and they will
offer an excellent opportunity to dem
onstrate the comparative advantages
of naval construction by contract and
in the government navy yard. There
has always been dispute on that
| question. The New Hampshire and
the Kansas, also duplicates of the
Louisiana. are now under construction
at Camden, y. j.: the Minnesota at
Newport News, and the Vermont at
the Fore River navy yard, Quincy,
Mass When they are finished, these
six ships will form the finest fleet OF
| fighting machines that were ever bnilt
in the world, and will be more for
mdahle than anything that floats. The
next best ships in our navy are the
Virginia. Rhode Island New Jersey.
Nebraska and Georgin, which are now
approaching completion They have
displacement of ii,00O tons.
The Louisiana is expected to he
ready to go into commission in May.
and several of her officers have al
ready been selected. She will be com.
manded by Captain a. n Couden. who
was appointed to fne naval academy
from Utah and graduated In the class
of 81 Captain Couden Is now inspect,
or general of ordnance and is ranked
as expert authority on that subject.
| nc haS coHimHnued tne gunbOatS
Wheeling and Mohegan and has been
commandant OF the naval station at
Cavite Phil ppine islands, hut most
of his duties Of late years hpve been
in connection with the ordnance bu-
reau. and for a long time he was in
charge of the proving ground at in.
dian Head
Lieutenant Commander Frederick
l.. Chaplin has been selected for ex-
ecnuye officer of the Louisiana and
viii have charge of fitting her for sea
He comes from Kirkwood Warren
county, H.. and graduated from the
academy with the class OF SO. Dur
ing the spanish war he served on the
! hattleship Indiana under the lamented
Admiral Taylor and for several years
was engaged in building coaling sta
tions for the navy ip different parts
OF the world He was flag lieutenant
for Admiral Evans while the latter
: was in command OF the Asiatic fleet,
and has since been serving as an aid
TO Admiral Converse. chief OF the bu-
reau of navigation. Lieutenant Com
mander Chaplin is regarded as one OF
the ablest as well as one of the most
versatile officers in the navy, and
stands nigh In every branch OF his
profession. Secretary Morton says
that after one years experience ne
learned that there were two classes
OF men in the navy--one class always
seeking things and another class al
ways being sought after, He said
that Chapm was one OF the latter
class
The navigator of the Louisiana will
be Lieutenant Commander Thomas
Washington, VINO is another of the
same class. second-class, to which Sec
retary Morton referred, He halls
from North Carolina and graduated
from the naval academy in 1887 He
was flag lieutenant for Admiral Evans
in the Chinese fleet and also served
with Lieutenant Commander Chaplin
under Admiral Taylor on the Indiana
during the Spanish war.
The Japanese are taking the lead in
naval construction. They have adopt
ed broad and comprehensive pro-
gram since the war. They expect TO
replace their old fleet with new and
larger hattleships and armored cruis-
ers. and propose to design and build
;heir own ships hereafter, They have
recently constructed a new shipyard
and gun factory on the Sumida river
covering IS acres. with twenty large
machine shops. foundries and gun fac
tories. in which 1000 men will be EN-
ployed Heretofore they have built
only about one-half of their war ships.
The remainder have been constructed
In England and the United States or
have been purchased from foreign
countries, but hereafter they will build
their own ships and their own guns.
The largest battleships will have a
speed of eighteen knots and will be
armed with eight Pinch and eight
6'inch guns. The second-cass battle
ships will have a speed of eighteen
knots and AN armament of eight H.
inch and eight, 6-inch guns.
The four armored cruisers will have