The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-01-10

assisting. During the three hours while
It lasted the president shook hands
with 5,645 persons, Mrs. Roosevelt
shaking hands with the official callers
only. People of all sorts and condi-
lions mingled In the line on this demo
cratic occasion.
Treasury Deficit $1o,ooo,ooc.
Owing to a falling off in the customs
receipts the United States treasury end
ed the old year with deficit OF nearly
| $40 OOO,O 600 since the beginning or the
fiscal year. Most of the decrease oc-
cured after the money panic set In.
There was also some decrease in the
internal revenue receipts.
Reuterdahrs Naval Expose.
Henry Reuterdahl, associate OF the
United States naval institute and
American editor Of Fighting Ships"
In his article for January McClures on
1.-THE Needs of Our Navy" the publ
cation Of which was coincident with
the controversy between Admiral
Brownson and Surgeon General Rixey,
makes a 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
trims 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
D spite Of this, Ave American battle
q ships are now building and not one of
9 them with it's main belt above the wa
ter line. three being too far along To
change.
The second radical defect noted by
q Reutercahl Is the lowness OF Ameri'
j. can ships. All modern batteships IL
: foreign navies have forward turrets
Q from twenty-five to twenty-eight fee'
IL above the water. Whereas the latest
a American ships have their bows bu
It eleven to twenty feet out Of the water
the Dreadnought's forward turrets art
twenty-eight feet high. The result II
n that In q seaway tons of water arr
\ shipped into the forward turrets, 81
=, that one-third Of the guns would D'
n rendered useless in battle.
= The third radical defect mentioned
=. is the open vertical shaft for passin
Y ammunition from the magazines up Z
4. the turrets, and numerous accidents II
=. recent years are referred to to Illus
m trate the danger from exploding shell
n, In the turrets. Reuterdahl says tina
n. for ten years seagoing officers hav
protested against this design, but will
out avail.
In addition to all this, the aggregat
ai shows that the navy is hopelessl
III short of up to date torpedoes and az
"' stroyers and that the commanding
un ficers are past their prime because
~ the prevailing system of taking ran
&c by seniority in service, while thei
ne have not been ten days of actual bait
Gu drill in nine years. The explanatlo
III offered for this deporable state OF
" fairs is not that any one person is I
TIC sponsibe, but that the bureau syste
'u- of the navy department has broug
these conditions about. These bureau
feel compelled to defend the policl
lie, which they have initiated, and
to they are the final sources of technic
Tor authority the difficulty Is thought
he apparent
Reuterdahl also charges that the b
\ reaus have studiously repealed all a
vances of American inventors by
! sisting upon their own speciticatio
81 for all work done. AS to the remeo
III he proposes that there shall be boa
! representing the views of actual 81
~ going men as expert advisers behl
4 the civilian secretary of the ma
but which is TO have no part in [
execution of naval plans.