Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-22
WORLD- WIDE REVIEW OF ACHEVEMENTS or MEN AND WOMEN
BIGGEST BATlTLESHIP
i'm UNCLE SAM'S NAVY
NEARING COMPLETION

INSSalENlHE big battleship New Hamp
KAN shire, which is nearing COM
lH HSN pletion at the yard of the
III Ws New York Shipbuilding COM
|AAsS pany at Camden, N; j. will
ernment in a few months.
Commander c. MGR. Winslow, as
sistant chief of the bureau of navi-
cation, who will shortly be pro-
NOTED captain, will be assigned to the
ship early in February. The New
Hampshire is the first of distinct
class, her displacement of $1,000 tons
making her of equal tonnage to the
Michigan and South Carolina, but she.
is quite different in armor and battery
arrangement She will carry the
heaviest battery of any United States
ship af1oat, her main battery consist
ing of twenty-four heavy guns.
Speculation is alive in naval circles
today over the probable effect of firing
q 12-inch shell into the turret of the
monitor Florida and of shooting an ap-
proved Whitehead torpedo against her
armored side. Probably more than one
shell will be fired If the first is not ef-
fective, while a repetition of the tor
redo test is also under consideration.
When the Florida is prepared at Nor
folk she will be as well protected as
the newest battleships, and ordnance
experts are not convinced that
twelve-inch shell will break through.
They wish, however. to observe the
damage caused and compare 1t if pos
sible with the effect of one of the high
explosive shells fired at the turret.
The hull of the Florida where the
torpedo will strike is now being pre-
pared, the inside being divided into
compartments to keep the rush of
water out, and other plans long con-
templated In theory will have prac-
tical test.
The wireless telegraph station at the
naval academy is now exchanging
messages with Colon, Panama, over
1000 miles in a direct line from Annap-
oils Other points with which the
academy station is in direct commune
cation are Key West, Pensacola, San
Juan, Porto Rico, and Guantanamo,
Cuba. Lieutenant Commander w. H.
G. Bullard, u. IS. N, has charge of the
station and w. Eaton, chief electrician,
is chief operator. Although the cleo
trical power is small, the system is
reported to be working perfectly.
In a letter to the New York Sun,
QaIoQ 0dildOdB IOiOOo -.
Sutherland describes his experiences at
Fort Saskatchewan, Canada, in the old
days when nearly everybody from the
officer commanding to the bugler boy
went to bed drunk, or pretty nearly so.
He adds: 1.-TWO years ago / returned to
Fort Saskatchewan after an absence of
about year and a half. canteen
had been established during my ap-
sence. The change in every respect was
most marked and peculiar. The
spirit and morality of the whole troop
had changed, although it was composed
of nearly the same men as when l was
first stationed there. The hotels and
road houses over town were tabooed.
If a man drank 'tanglefoot' he was Sc
verely sat upon,' not only by the offi-
GERS. but by his comrades. Men stayed
in barracks. The canteen gave them
amusement and something decent to
drink as we'll. Instead of going outside
and filling up on lot of red eye and
bringing home with them a supply to
keep up the debauch, they sat at nome,
slipped beer and stayed sober"
Lieut.. Col. George w. Goethals, C. E.,
u. S. A., engineer in chief of the Pana-
ma canal in a statement to the senate
committee on interoceanic canals on
January Is, remarked that when cement
work in the canal locks begins in jan
uary, 19O9 it will be advisable to keep
the concrete mixing machinery in con-
stant operation, both day and night.
The chief sanitary officer of the canal
zone is of the opinion that night work
will not be detrimental to the health of
the men, provided they take regular
does of quinine. AS for the increase in
the width of the canal locks from 100
to 11O, Col. Goethals said IF we make
them much wider than that it would
practically call for a widening of all
the drydocks of the world"
There is a friendly feeling for the bill
to advance Maj. Gen. o. o. Howard,
retired, to the grade of lieutenant gen
eral. The senate military committee
took up the bill and gave hearing on
it to Senators Hale and Proctor. who
both heartily urged the justice of such