New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-18
NEEDS FIVE YEARS
TO FIT FOR WAR
Continued from page 1

his father and grandfather were MIL
farv men. and his mother was inc
dauobter Of a military man. and "here
all the people all through the county
are people Of that kind; where the 81"
,eror will 90 out to reviews, as ne does
and practically carry on the revue"
through his staff; where the plans are
laid in the staff Office years before ana
changed from year to year. from 0'e
Year 70 another; where the stan 20 10
see how these things are carried on !"
order 20 see that the plans are always
kent I'D TO date; where the whole au-
miraltv is organized as etfectiVeiy a.
.Lo shin itself is. l have heard a great
noorv officers say we never could 90 H.
whiio will not 90 to that extreme ]"
will will say, be pretty hard"
The British Admiralty.
met me ask right there, admiral
said Mr.. Roberts. "if our naval organ
i1at;on Is as good as the British Ad-
owe have not anything like the BRIT
;sb Admiralty replied the admiral.
"Have we anything thai taxes It's
Mace in our service or tha' '0
spends to it, anyway ,,. for
"No. we have not any machinery iOl
handling the navy, for instance III III
''''. - ,rbich other navies are handed
Tho british. German, Austrian; tenon'
I lnG Russian, Japanese and AIgen
inc navies are handed WI"
en,ounts 10 a general stan: .bo+ if
"Then am | to understands TO
We were plunged into war To- at in
v,e would have to handle our igeront
some sort of haphazard way, Poh-
from other nations! was WI
erts's next question.
eyes" said Admiral Fiske'
porresentative Roberts now TOOK q
ri, Nth a view to developing the
rev "a" ,,;ews as to the coordination
1870 navv's work along modern lihes
VI .,;c,,iarly with regard to pertectihe
r. fghting organization ana mahimf
theory and practice dovetall' Aui'''i"'
Fiske replied: bo1f the
,,,or college has become more IN IouoI
18th The fleet. Many Of us think ina.
- has not gone nearly far enough; tna'
tbere ought to be a closer relation pc
tu,oen the feet and the department, so
that we can approximate the system "
The German staff, whereby the PiaI'
are worked out in detail IN the az
miraltv and certain problems gwen 70
the feet. A certain statement Is sen.
10 the commander in cher: ne enemy
;s az such a place with such torcei
that do YOU do? The commander IN
chief takes that problem ana diViIeo
the force so and so, and mas IL OUT "
experimenting and practice Inc au-
miraltv sends some one 10 observe -;
and perhaps the chief Of stan himsei
goes. and they say; This Is done pauls'
or done WELL They take back the &c
norts IN the admiralty and mark cut
the plans on the game board and try IL
again They say: The plans we sent
down the last time were defective IN
his wavI, or that the plan we sent
down the next time was better IN
that wav there is a constant interac-
tion between the feet and the ad-
niraltv. It is no surprise, therefore,
20 naval officers who try TO keep III
touch to see the wonderful work when
they have done within the last tour
months"
Admires German Organization.
Admiral Fiske expressed admiration
for the organization of the German
navy, dwelling on the battle OIL the
CHILEAN coast, in which Admiral SIR
Christopher Cradock's cruiser squad
ron was smashed and sunk by Ter
man force. He said:
"There was the most amazing in
stance of effectiveness on the PACING.
What happeucd In the North Sea We do
not quite so well know; but we do
know the vessels got out of Kiao-Chau
Harbor which the japanese thought
we're caught inside, and went over to
the Pacific and did great deal of dam
age here and there, and, finally, when
the British Admiralty sent out vessels
TO catch them, the Germans managed,
by their superior forces, to whip the
British in a very short time, showing
the effectiveness of the plans laid
by the German staff and put into oper-
alton by their vessels-laid and put
into partial operation before the war
broke-because those vessels got ut or
Kiao-Chau without the Japanese know
ing il. so far as we know. When they
did fight this battle, they did what
think has never been done before
they sank two ships larger than them
selves, at a distance anywhere from
eight thousand to twelve thousand
yards, according TO our informatita. 1t
was a most wonderful example, and
that, think, must be scientific gun
merry"
us the staff of the commander in
chief organized for other than routine
and administrative duties in tim. Of
peace?" asked Mr.. Roberts.
"Unless there has oeen a recent
change, no." replied Admiral Fiske.
Admiral Fiske was then led on to the
subject of coast defences, and spoke of
the possibility of attacks by aeronaut-
lea fleets. Captain Bristol was quoted
as saying that aeroplanes had the
power TO make sustained flight Of
twenty-five hours duration and speed
of one hundred miles an hour. IL was,
therefore, argued that an aeroplane
could be released twelve hundred miles
outside of New York and come ashore
and drop bombs on the city.
THAT is an extreme view, and l
should say little outside, but not
very much" Admiral Fiske commented.
81 should say it could be successfully
done at distance of 500 or 500 miles"
Ships Not a Defence.
as it possible for any feet of any
country TO insure that the feet of an
enemy will not approach within that
distance I"
THAT would be very difficult, in
deed"
"The only defence against that would