The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-05-17
PACIFIC WAR
PREDICTED
Continued from page One,

mills owned by the Powder Trust ar
| located on the California coast 5ant
their product, of course, would be avail
able in case of hostilities and press
ing demand for ammunition.
The Paymaster General of the Nav,
says that the collier and transport ser
vice on the Pacific is pretty good. Th'
collier service will be supplemented il
the course of a few months by a big
new 17-knot ship, the Prometheus, nov
under construction at the Mare IslanC
yard She viii cost 81, 100000 and will
have capacity of 5000 tons of coal
besides room for large quantities OF
ammunition and for a small compile
ment of men. A similar collier is
building on the Atlantic coast and will
cost an equal sum of money. But the
navy also has considerable number
of golfers both on the Atlantic and
the Pacific oceans. The navy GOLFERS
now on the Pacific ocean are: the
Alexander, at Woosung, China; Iris,
Manshan, and Pompey at Cavite, and
Saturn at Magdalena Bay, Mexico
Some of these golfers carry as much
as 5000 tons of coal and are good ships
for that kind of business.
The Navy Department keeps its
stores of coal at Cavite. 1t buys good
Pocahontas steaming coal for delivery
at Cavite and then keeps the golfers
to distribute it among the ships on
the Asiatic station. Not less than 40
600 tons are held in stock at Cavite
and generally it is much more. Some
times the amount is 100000 tons. There
fore in coal the navy on the Pacific
is well-provided for emergencies. There
are other stores for the Pacific Navy
but that is the largest and most i'm
portant.
The army manages the transports, of
which there are now nine on the Pa
cifc ready for immediate use and, as
4 matter of fact in constant use. They
are the Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas,
Logan. Buford and Crook, all for ear
wing men and having a large capacity,
angling from 800 to 1900 soldiers and
which are for the transportation of
animals and freight, and the Burn
,ide, which is a cable ship. Further
more there are four government trans
PORTS in the inter-island Philippine SER
gice-the Sacramento, Liscum, Seward, |
Wright. This is a transport service
in considerable excess of any
hing Japan could command immedi
stely, although more might be press
ID in to the service from the merchant |
marine in the course of few weeks, |
nut in the meantime our government |
ould be starting transports from the
Atlantic to the Pacific along with 9th
r ships of war.
In the matter of other supplies for
navy, the Paymaster Generals Office
ould easily meet all demands. Sup
lies of food and clothing are kept in
took and can easily be augmented.
he navy has it's own factory that
nrns out $4,000 garments every month.
Assistant Secretary Newbery, who
ras the acting Secretary of the Navy
rhen ex-Secretary Shaw made his
-arlike speech, said he would not deny
nough it was plain that he thought
he picture was overdrawn. He added
nat every annual report by the Secre
ary of the navy for several years had
equested appropriations for additional
quipment along the lines indicated in
[r. Shaw S speech.
There are many men prominent In
ublic life, however, who do not think
lere is to be war for the control
the Pacific. Senator Newlands, who
YES in Nevada, but has large inter
IT'S on the Pacific coast, is one of
lem. 81 do not think there is any
IMMEDIATE prospect of war, said the
enator in commenting upon ex-Seere-
lry Shaw's prophecy. Japan is
lsy building up her resources and viii
ot engage lightly in war. Our only
anger comes from our possession Of
lie Philippines. That was an intru-
We entrance into the governmental
olieies of the Orient and may cost us
ear. If war occurs it will be ON the g
static coast, not on our coast With {
e Hawaiian islands in our possession
Id Pearl Harbor thoroughly fortified
Id protected by our ships of war
'stile feet projected from the Asiatic
'ast against our coast would have no
slf-way coaling station and the at
cking ships would be almost with
It coal by the time they reached our
'ast. In short time they would be
erelict on the ocean.
But the Philippines are so near
Asia and so far from the United ]
,ates that any difficulty in the ORR