Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1906-10-10

er-the latter a Hrst cousin or the battle
ship and pretty nearly as capable Of
taking care Of herself In prolonged.
close-rauge contest OF arms. 10 pursue
the subject further It may be added that
Of The % warships uncompleted at this
writing II are hattleships or armored
cruisers. whereas It is proposed to submit
&C the next session Of Congress the plans
for a new battlcshlp intended to be the
most powrful hghtng machine ever de-
vised and that viii Guido John Bull's
lately completed master Of the seas. the
Dreadnought
Building battleships TO keep the peace
Is, however, rather an expensive luxury.
The general public appears to have an
impression, probably dating from the days
before the Spanish War; that hrsr
class battleship costs, complete ANA
ready for service. about $1,000 900.
However, the price Of lmttlcships, likc
almost every other commodity, has
advanced during recent years. 10 be
sure. the hull % such a ship the
framework without armor or armament
costs less ln proportion ihm formerly,
being available IN most Instances al less
than s40o0u00. but more guns are carried
on the up-to date hattleship than were
/ provided ln days gone hy and this ln.
crease, together with the other added
/ fAlls that are considered essential runs
4 the cost up q Ss.O000u0 Of thefeabouts.
/ The lifc Of usefulness OF the average
battlcshlp Is much more brief than was
formerly the case. and this furnishes
another Interesting factor ID tide recent
development 81 the United States Navy.
Thus large proportion Of the public
was surprised the other day ~ the au.
nouncement that the battleship Texas
which played rather prominent part Ia
the Spanish war, had been retired from
the nghtlng Hue as Obsolete ana would
henceforth BE- used only as station shin
at one of the navy yards The three
sister ships the lndiann. Massachusetts
and Oregon, are pretty near as old rs the
Texts. bnt By liberal expenditures Tor
overhauling ana reconstruction these bat.
teships have been kept up-todate. aud
the same Is true Of the Iowa. the last
battleshlp to be added 70 the Navy prior
to the outbreak OF the war with Spain.
Whereas Uncle Sans experience in
building battleships covers only about a
quarter or a century. the recent develop
ment of the Navy, which has nroused
such enthusiasm on the part Of President
Roosevelt aud thousands Of other patri.
otto citizens. dates only from the year
1900 when those magnificent twin Aght-
ers. the Kearsarge and Kentucky. went
into commission. These vessels were
novelties among the lighting ships Of the
world. In THAT they inauGugated the idea
OF the superimpased tur~ts or two-story
armor-clad shelters for the heaviest guns.
four cightanch guns being stationed 10
turrets placed on TOP Of the regular tnr-
rets containing the four 13inch weapons.
The kearsarge and Kentucky were fol-
lowed by the battleshlps Illinois, Ala
bama and Wisconsin. a trio Of floating
fortresses that are virtual duplicates.
Then came another group Of three sister
ships the hatteships Maine. Missouri
aud Ohio. which brings the record of
battleship progress almost down to the
present day II has only been within
the past year or SO that the first mem
oers Of another hattleship class Joined