The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-06-02
BATTLESHIP FLEET
IS GETTING READY
To Reasonable at Hampton Roads on
June is to Take Up the Summer
Manoeuvers.


Manoeuyers.
Washington, May 25.T battleshi
feet Of the United States navy will re
assemble in Hampton Roads again Of
June Is to take up the neyer.endinl
game Of making ready for war at whicl
half the nations Of the earth are con
stantly playing.
The summer manoeuvers, to which thl
following several weeks will be devoted
viii be another chapter in the recent
chronicle Of American naval events Il
which the voyage around the world occu
pied so important a part.
The place Of rendezvous will Be the
same as that from which the battleships
started on their momentous voyage, and
the same at which they arrived last Feb.
ruary. The ships, too, viii be the same
with the exception Of the New Hamp.
shire, Idaho and Mississippi, which have
been substituted for the Illinois, Kear-
sarge and Kentucky, now held in reserve.
In appearance, however, the feet win
be vastly different.
The white squadron Is no more. The
covering of the ships is now gray, lus-
terless paint as nearly as possible the
color Of the sea itself, against which
they are scarcely visible at compara-
lively short distance The huge vessels,
instead Of havn gthe gay holiday ap.
pearance IN which they we're welcomed
m all the ports along the line Of their
forty thousand voyage, will look
more Ike the real fighting monsters
that they are.
Although the ships have undergone
little change in vital characteristics dur.
ing their stay in the navy yards since
their homecoming, their outward aspect
has been much altered. The ornate brass
hgureheads have been removed. The tor
hamper, that portion Of the ships equip.
ment above decks. has been much re
duced. The after bridges and the fyinu
bridges forward have been removed. In
place Of the old military masts, the yes
sells viii have fire control masts Of the
wire waste basket type, which detract
greatly from their symetricai appear.
ance. At distance they will be merely
gray hulls with little more than turrets,
smoke stacks and the gauzelike masts
showing above the sides.
This change Of guise foreshadows In
no small way a change OF policy in the
American navy. II is very much as if
the speeter Of war which e0nfronts Euro.
pean nations 40 every turn had cast rs
shadow also over the western hemisphere
and as ii the gray feet were the visible /
symbol Of the spirit Of militarism OF /
which the American people have become
increasingly conscious during the last |
Few years. Tn anevdyCHRDLUUPJl
lew years. The navy department has
Sept pace with these changes in color
md form b. training its officers and
men 70 be ready for war AT moments 4
notice. President Roosevelt reiterated
line and again the advantages Of this
policy. President Taft has adopted
much the same view by removing from
esponsible positions officers who are on
he retired list.
When the reassembled fleet sails out
o sea this summer, Il will be to play
he game Of war more energetieaily than
yer. The manoeuvers viii be far more
important in this respect than was the
oyage around the world. This journey
the heets quality for
tcaming and placed in the hands d the
apartment valuable data for guidance
q the construction Of the ships of the
uture. Attention-is now to be ooncen-
rated upon fighting qualities. To this ]
nd the fleet viii be divided and the j
anne Of war carried on with auxiliaries. {
ruisers and scout cruisers, as wen as {
1rpedo boats.
One Of The most important features
the manoeuyers will be the firing Of 8
Ne big guns under battle conditions. j
arget practice viii take place not at !
easured distance as heretofore, but in q
rolling sea such as might be cncoun- y
red We're the feet moving forward to I
tack a real enemy Re
The value Of the waste-hasket masts s
which the fire control instruments are I
ounted IS expected 60 be fully estab- t
shed. The torpedo boat viii be tried
Il as an instrument Of naval warfare v
ied In conjunction with the battleships. q
) many improvements have been made t
the torpedo that 1t ID likely to figure II
UGH more prominently in naval en-. p
lgements in the future than it has in 0
Ie past, both by reason of increased
euracy Of control and length Of range. $
GENERALLY speaking, it is believed that h
ese manoeuvers viii mark new epoch p
the American navy The game Of 10
ar will be played more energetically b
ID more scientifically than ever before. &
nd whether the ships are at sea or in Il
vt, they will always have the appear
zee of engines of destruction as an s.
or present reminder that the prospect IA
war is as seriously considered in the p
nited States as it Il IN the countries q
erseas where the fear Of the world Il
wers is being expressed Ia constantly ii
owing naval budgets and the rapidly st
ereasing number OF launchings Of the in
i'm leviathans Of war.
-- es
The signal corps of the army. profting N
the experience of Captain Charles de ii
Chandler and First Lieutenant James is
Ware who narrowly escaped losing fo
cir lives by the explosion Of army So
loon No. u near Fort Omaha recent m
ls trying to devise some means Of I'll
ayenting similar accidents BY the dis. al
arge Of static electricity as the aerial 90
ssels come in contact with the earth. ii
captain Chandler, in his report to the Oh
Dartment, suggests that before making vi
landing especially with balloons hav-
( silk envelopes they be maintained at NJ
ow altitude rs long as possible before te
lehin gthe earth, SO that any electric til
they may have accumulated may be M
sipated, Tie recommends also that a I'll
p Of light wire be caught around the
! bag and connected with q small flaxi- Ii