The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-07-29

days of speedy vessels. Here we met
the French liner "La-Savoie," crammed
with our good friends from across the
Channel, who waved us hearty greet.
Jugs. She was but one of many crowd
ed vessels flying the Tricolor that at
tended the review, bringing French
men and Frenchwomen, more enthu-
siastic, if possible, than we were in
their admiration of what they saw.
A Lane Of Battleships.
So on into this lane of battleships-
wall-sided, massive, very broad Of
beam, sitting low in the water-along
which we were able to follow the
PROFESSOR had l better say the de-
velopment?-of British naval construc-
ton. To port were the survivals Of
the Majestic class, the eldest but
sixteen years old, all, to our eyes, in
the prime of life, full of energy and
power Yet, while their organs remain
sound and active, they are slipping
quietly into their graves, in the Oeme-
terry of obsolete war engines. But a
little farther away from the moment of
their dissolution are the improved
Majestics, the Formidables,' and the
'Duncans,' aged between twelve and
nine years, which still figure in our
active squadrons. Now to port and
starboard are the King Edward fine
ships and handsome, as ironclads go,
but despised of many authorities on
matters naval because they do not be-
long to the 'Dreadnought' era. Now
we are abreast of the 'Agamemnon'
and the Lord Nelson, the latter car
rying the flag of the commander-in-
chief; two ships that stand alone be-
tween the old order and the new.
On we went down the six-mile ave-
nue. till we came to the famous Dread
nought,' the best advertised ship that
ever was built. We mark the greater
cleanness Of her lines, compared with
the older ships, the reduction of top
hamper and. superstructure, the greater
length, the homogeneity of the arma-
ment, and we wonder whether she
and her greater sisters are really all
that theorists paint them. We are sur
rounded by rDreadnoughts now; the
Bellerophons, the st Vincents,' and
finally we reach the the latest of them
the Neptune built so that all the
heavy guns can be fired on either
beam. And all the while, on our port
armored cruisers; the County class
with one foot in the grave like the
'Majestics;' the big four-funnelled
brakes and 'Cressys, marching also
rapidly towards the sere and yellow
leaf of warship existence, though but
ten years old; the heavily armored
'Minotaurs' and Duke of Edinburghs,
and now We come to the new type,
the Dreadnought' cruisers, which the
layman can scarce distinguish from
the 'Dreadnought' battleship. There are
four Invincibles. and one Indefatig-
able long, slender, handsome ships.
The Indomitable,' which flies the flag
or the commander of the first cruiser
squadron, is the ship that carried
King George across the Atlantic when,
as Prince of Wales, he paid his last
visit to Canada. Everybody knows
the story of how, in his search after
practical knowledge of all that con-
Germs the navy, he did a spell of labor
in the cruisers stokehold
We had been steaming only fast
enough to give us steering way, but
il had been impossible to note a hun
dredth part of what there was to see.
Almost like a shadow show, the lines
OF great ships slipped past us, yet
there were impressions that caught
and held Even to our unprofessional
and undisceTning eyes the prepared
ness OF the heet was apparent we
knew somehow that everything was in
perfect order and in its right place,
and that every man was master of his
work. And the size and number OF
the ships did not make us forget that
material, after all, is of less import
ance than personnel. Dreadnoughts
may be all that is claimed for them
only the stern test of war will show;
but the value of the officers and men
of the fleet is a known quantity, They
are the best the race can produce, the
most intelligent the bravest, the best
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