Bisbee daily review., 1912-02-27
AMERICA HAS BETTER NAVY
 THAN JAPAN
German Expert PrOclaims United States Equip ment to Be far
 Superior
COMPARISONS MADE
 co INTO DETAILS
Berlin Advertises for q Mayor and Receives Thirty Willing
 Applicants

BERLIN. FeDruary 26--The over whelming superiority of the American navy over the Japanese is proclaimed by Captain L. Persius, one of the most capable and best known of the retired naval officers writing in the German press, in an article just published in the Berlin Tageblatt.
 Captain Persius' view shows a com plete conversion from those advanced until now by himself. Lieutenant Count of Reventlow and the other German naval publicists, who for sew eral years have been regularly pre- dieting the coming war between the United States and Japan and the in- evitable triumph of the Japanese fleet and army. Homer Lea's work, The Vslor of Ignorance" serving for them ss 6 text book.
 Captain Persius can now see DO probability of a war before the open ing of the Panama canal or al any ap preciable date in the future. and as serts that the Japanese navy, far from being equal to that of the United States, is weaker than at the out break of the Russo-Japanese war. The then modern battleships are, he says, now obsolee. The ships captured from the Russians rebuilt at cost Of over s3O,OOO,OO0, have very slight fighting value, and the increment through new battleships is eItraordin- erily small.
 Only the battleships Aki and Sat suma, completed with almost record breaking slowness Of construction in i've years, can be considered modern ships, though these carry only four l2-inch guns instead of the usual Dreadnaught armament, and it Is ex' tremely doubtful whether Japan's first two ships of the Dreadnaught class, the Settsu and Kawachi. will bs finished in time to join the fleet this year. A first class battleship-cruiser is under construction in England; another has recently been started in Japan. These. with small cruisers, destroyers and submarines, represent the total increase since the war with Russia.
 The attempt to construct battle ships in Japan has proved, according to Captain Persius, failure due to the deficiencies Of the Japanese steel works and the lack of technically trained workmen in the yards. h confirmation of this is cited the Jap anese Minister of Marine, who, in 6 speech before parliament, admitted that the foreign-built ships were su- perior 10 the Japanese-built, and that the government steel works were not up to the requirements.
 Comparing the Japanese and Amer ican fleets he finds that Japan has on. ly -l3 battleships, with a tonnage of 1S4 800. to oppose to 31 American bat tleships of 49S,200 tons, including siI Dreadnaughts with six more Amer ican DreadDaughts under constTeio- tion.
 The financial weakness of Japan will, he holds, bar any extensive ap- propriations for naval purposes for years to come and the United States needs no longer fear for it's Pacific possessions.
 Another Naval Increase
 The navy of the Argentine Republic will shortly be increased by the ad- dition of two torpedo boat destroyers, the finishing touches to which are now being watched at the shipbsiid- ing company's yards in Danzig by rep Teseltatives of the republic. The complements of the two new crafts, 90 men for each, or 1S0 in all are al ready at Kiel The Krupp works will arm the destroyers and supply them with other equipment.
 Advertise for Mayor
 Neither politics nor party services have anything to do with the choice of the German cities. Greater Der lin, which recently advertised for can didates for the post of director, or mayor, has received applications from thirty men In the list are state and city officials, educatorsA merchants and leaders of big industrial enter prises. While it is likely Berliner will eventually be chosen for the post, an outsider may be taken from any part O. the empire to preside over the destinies of the greater city.
 Prince Waldemar, of Prussia, eldest son of Prince Henry. the Emperor's brother. will leave Genoa this month for a six-month trip in the east. The trip is of an entirely personal char aeter. The prince will make stops a. Leylon and TsingtaI among other places, and may visit Japan, although this is not yet settled. He has stud fed law at Strassburg and Kiel, and passed last month his examination as a probationary barrister entitled to practice law or assist judges without receiving emolument