The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-05-09

dlnerences between the two Marathon
runners of the navy is even more strik-
ing. The Delaware carries ten II
inch guns. all of which can be fired
simultaneously. The Oregon carried
four 13 inch guns. The fact that the
Oregon's guns were of larger calibre,
however, does not indicate that they
were more powerful weapons of at
tack than those of the modern dread
naught Delaware. Quite the contrary
Is the case.
The gunners of the Delaware regu.
larly make hits at 10000 and 10000
yards approximately six and seven
miles) and have frequently scored hits
at $4,000 yerds (eight miles,. The
The Oregon's guns could not be re-
lied upon for effective firing at ranges
greater than 5000 yards, or three
miles.
The guns of the Delaware can be
fired, all of them together, or singly,
at the rate of two shots minute, for
prolonged periods. On the Oregon,
during the Spanish-American war, the
Oregon was highly praised for firing
each of her four guns as often as one
shot in two and two-thirds minutes
Even this comparatively slow firing
could not be long continued. In other
words, as far as the big guns are con-
cerned, the Delaware can fire twelve
and { e half times as many shells in
a ciU hn IA
furthermore, the new ship makes hits
with them at ranges from two to three
times as great as the maximum reyes
of thirteen years ago.
In spite of the vast incrsase in fight
ing power and efficiency over the Ore
gon type, the monster battleship of
these days is not by any means as ex.
pensive, proportionately, as were the
battleships of the days of the Oregon
On the cruise that the Delaware has
just completed, the cost of the COAL
per knot of distance covered, was less
than 10 per cent of what it cost to
drive the Oregon per knot over the
famous trip. 1t is not the coal that
has cheapened, nor has it's steaming
quality improved. The navy has cut
down the waste of power In boilers,
furnaces, and engines.
On the Delaware, thanks to improve
ments in operating methods, and in
the design of her engines. the oil con-
sumption was also reduced. The Della
ware made 10 miles per gallon of oil
I'D ~,
navy. as is also her coal consumption
figure The Oregon, whose oil con.
sumption was less than that of any
ship of her time and which was only
half the size of the Delaware. made
only five miles per gallon of oil. The
Delaware's oil bill per mile was less
than 80 per cent of the oil expense of
the Oregon on her great cruise.
Even in building, the Delaware Is
much cheaper, in proportion to her
tonnage, than was the Oregon The
Oregon cost, including her armor,
armament. and equipage, about &c.
100000. The gross cost of the Della
ware was less than $500 600, the in
crease being only 13 per cent The
cost Of the Oregon, per ton, was $639.10
and that of the Delaware per ton, was
s3SS22. The Oregon and the Della
ware were both built at the yards OF
private shipuilders, the Oregon at San
Francisco, and the Delaware at New
port News. Va.
Yet, with this decrease in cost, for
a ship twice as large as the "Old Bull
dog navy officers estimate that the
country has battleship in the Della
ware which would have been capable,
along, of destroying the entire fleets
of both the American and Spanish
navies that were assembled in Santa
60 harbor and on the Cuban coast.
Following her endurance and stan
dardization run, the Delaware spent
two days in dry-dock in Borton navy
yard. There was time when Ameri