The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1908-01-17

assisting. During the three hours while
1t lasted the president shook hands
with 5.G45 persons, Mrs. Roosevelt
shaking hands with the official callers
only. People Of all sorts and condi-
tons mingled in the line on this demo-
cratic occasion.
Treasury Deficit s%1o,oco,ooo.
Owing to q falling off in the customs
receir..s the United States treasury end
ed t.%sJ'd year with Il deficit of nearly
$40. GOO Geo since the beginning of the
fiscal year. Most OF the decrease &C.
cured after the money panic set in.
There was also some decrease in the
Internal revenue receipts.
Reuterdahl's Naval Expose.
Henry Reuterdahl, associate Of the
United States naval institute and
American editor of "Fighting Ships"
in his article for January McClure's on
THE Needs Of Our Navy" the publ
cation of which was coincident with
the controversy between Admiral
Brownson and Surgeon General RiXey,
makes Il number of startling disclo-
sures. First he asserts that of all our
battleships mot one shows its main
armor belt six inches above the water
when fully equipped and ready for
sea-" He attributes this to the failure
to allow for the full weight Of the YES
sci in actual service, as on the trial
trips the armor belt extended from
twelve to thirty inches above the Wa
ter. He says that no other nation Of
the world has ever made this funda-
mental mistake, the French having a
continuous armor belt from five to
eight feet above the water and the
British many feet, the belt Of the
Dreadnought being eight feet below
the water and five feet above. In
spite Of this, five American battle
ships are now building and not n Of
them with it's main belt above the wa
ter line, three being too far along to
change.
The second radical defect noted by
Reuterdahl is the lowness of Ameri-
can ships. All modern battleships in
foreign navies have forward turrets
from twenty-five to twenty-eight feet
above the water. Whereas the latest
American ships have their bows but
eleven to twenty feet out of the water,
the Dreadnoughts forward turrets are
twenty-eight feet high. The result is
that in a seaway tons of water are
shipped into the forward t%urrets, SO
that one-third Of the guns would be
rendered useless in BATTLE.
The third radical defect mentioned
is the open vertical shaft for passing
ammunition from the magazines up to
| the turretS, and numerous accidents in
recent years are referred to ito Illus
trate the danger from exploding shells
in the turrets. Reuterdahl says that
for ten years seagoing officers have
protested against this design, but with
! out avail.
In addition to all this, the aggregate
shows that the navy is hopelessly
short of up to date torpedoes and de-
stroyers and that the commanding Of
icers are past their prime because Of
IL PRIV tlll1iiS oSolSia hid odA
by seniority in service. while there
have not beer ten days of actual battle
drill in nine years. The explanation
offered for this deplorable state of af-
fairs is not that any one person is re-
sponsible, but that the bureau system
of the navy department has brought
these conditions about. These bureaus
feel compelled to defend the policies
which they have initiated, and as
they are the final sources of technical
authority the difficulty is thought to
be apparent.
Reuterdahl also charges that the bu-
reaus have studiously repealed all ad-
vances of American inventors by in
sisting upon their own specifications
for all work done. AS to the remedy,
he proposes that there shall be a board
representing the views of actual sea-
going men as expert advisers behind
the civilian secretary Of the navy,
but which is to have no part in the
| execution Of naval plans.