Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-04-01

| the writer. ana not to the officers OF
this fleet. They scofrcd at the posi-
bility of difficulty; they quietly
shrugged their shoulders when prais-
ed for their hardihood in undertake
| ing this cruise.
Today they look out upon this OBJ
scure and struggling Mexican hamlet
with the same Indifference they have
previously displayed for a hundred
other ports.
Armor Belt Is Showing
! How about the armOr belt? Does
it show? 1t shows. You can see it
very plainly on all the ships. On
! this ship it is about a foot above the
water; ON some It rises to three feet;
on none lower than six inches. You
| can easily tell. because the main belt
is painted red, while from the pro-
tective deck, which meets it, upwards
the paint is white. Under the white
! paint the armor is seven inches thick,
under the red, nine.
4 NAbhN utit VIC AOllN W AlltNN JUS
bugbear, criticism of the navy. II
centers in the armOr belt. 1t also
centers in the freeboard, and in the
ammunition hOists, and in the low
ness of the turrets.
But II Is more plausible in the
belt, in which the style now is like
that in women's belts and supposed
not to show. But If we pause to con-
slider this proposition of the armor
belts for while we may get q
: glimpse of what all this storm OF
criticism means. Yet, | doubt If
can present 1t here, because It would
require several volumes.
may only say that for three
months have been diligently trying
to find out from the various experts
on this fleet---we have three naval
constructors and 700 well-trained Of
| ficers--whether the armor belt
should be above or below the water
Part of them say that 1t should, and
| part of them say that II should not,
| and whenever you get a. wardroom
conversation on the subject you start
a free fight. 1t is like proposing "A
debate at state niversity-Should
We have co-education?
At any rate, there is that 7-inch
armor plate plenty high enough, and
at least some of the 9-inch. A bat
tleship is a compromise. When they
start to build one they let loose Oh
her plans three bureaus in Washing
ton and about six experts, who col
leCtiyely represent the highest navU!
| intelligence the world can produce
Each of these experts is special
list, who has devoted his life, per-
haps, to ordnance, perhaps to engi-
neering, perhaps to navigation. They
battle, each for his convictions. II
Is like turning sick man over 10
half dozen specialists, each for Il
different disorder.
The result is--welI, you will see
sixteen of them steaming up the
coast within the month; on tine
ready for action--or a flower parade
Years afterward, when this present
expose of the navy has been placed
historically on record with long
list of other sensational, international
descriptions, each of which has con,
tributed its tempest-testing and
whirlwind-proving to an efficient and
distinguished service, you will still
find the Stars and Stripes floating
over the best battleships in the world
Perhaps not Il little of that su,
premacy will be due to these attacks
buff you take them seriously
while they are On--pshaw!
MAGDALENA BAY, Lower Cali
fornia, March l3,--Rear Admiral Ev
ans sat for several hours enjoyinl
the semi-tropical sun today in M
armchair placed on the after bridg,