The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-26
THE NAVAL PROGRAM
By Frederic ]. IIsskin.

1 goyernment acquiring all the anthFa- cite coal beds of the United States and holding all of the coal for the navy. He points out that it Is the best coal
 in the world. and would give the Amer l ioan navy a tactical advantage over every other sea power. He estimates
 that it would cost sis.0o0. 100000 to buy 1 the coal beds, but that 1t would not be
 necessary to pay for them all at once. 1 giving hundred-year bonds for them. l 'Imaglne" says he. clouds of inky
 blackness shooting up into the air two
 hundred feet. and trailing to stern for ten miles. That Is a picture of the or- l dinafy commercial steamer running under draft which is intended to husband coal supply. Then imagine
 a hattleship. it's engines being forced
 to their utmost power. giving off many | times the volume of smoke. Then add to that ten times as much fora fleet.
 and you will begin to see what an i'm lnense signal spread the burning of hituminous coal gives to an enemy. and how impossible 1t Is to surprise an teneniy In ordinary weather"
 I Admiral Evans then points out how f near to disaster Dewey came as he entered Manila Bay. The little Me-
 cuIIough. hard pressed to keep the pace set by Deweys fleet. came hur- | rying into the bay. spouting flames | from it's tunnels. The forts at Corre- gidor Island took the alarm and train ed it's guns on the little vessel. The | rest of the fleet was past the range I of the land guns before it's presence l was discovered He draws a lesson from Port Arthur. and ventures the be- | lief that the unions successful block ade of southern ports was due to the fact that the blockade runners of the \ southern confederacy were forced to | use. bituminous coal, while the Federal l vessels used anthracite. He argues | that oil is unsatisfactory as battle | ship fuel, permitting of little forced | draft and that the obscuring of signals l by smoke from bituminous coal might 1 change victory into defeat.
 | There are those who believe that the l time is here when there will be a let-up | In the great battleship building con test now being carried on by the lead l ing nations, England is especially | anxious that there should be. Years I ago that country decided that its con tinued supremacy of the seas made 1t 1 essential that a navy, slightly larger l and stronger than those of any other two powers should be maintained. During the past half dozen years there has been such remarkable activity in l naval upbuiIding In other countries that England finds itself sadly over worked That nation does not relish the idea of giving up an ambitious pro- gram, yet to carry it out is such heavy tax that it sometimes fears it cannot much longer stand the strain. Therefore, its good offices arc always working in favor of less naval activity on the part of other countries.
 But there Is more important reason l why there should be a let-up in eattie- | ship building The development of the | submarine boat makes 1t uncertain l when battleship Is going to be blown out of the water. as 1t approaches a hostile shore. On the other hand. the
 development of the flying machine makes 1t more than possible that with if working in the air in harmony with
 A submarine in the water. a battIeship could be located to nicety, and that It's chance of escape with explosives
 both from above and from below would
 he practically nil. One of the principal
 objections to the submarine has been
 ite lack of observation facilities. Co.,
 onerating with the flying machine in
 an attack. this difficulty would be al-
 most entirely overcome. It is not im-
 probable that these considerations may lead to the conclusion that building
 siO. 100000 battleshIps is too much like