The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-12-15

terhalter insisted that the navy ito
the extent of It's facilities was in
good state of preparedness.
Mr.. Lee failing to induce the wit
ness to testify more definitely as to the
preparedness of the navy. Mr. Hobson
took charge OF the examination. He
pictured the unpreparedness of this
country for warfare as he viewed 1t,
and attempted to persuade the wit
ness to agree with him. but Captain
Winterhalter stuck to his assertion
that the navy la prepared for war
ito the extent of its facilities" He
finally made the remark about seeing
things that provoked Mr.. Hobson's
statement.
HoIsson Make Good Point
! There was another striking incident
in the committee hearing in which
Representative Hobson took part. f-u.-
lowing a discussion between Captain
I Winterhalter and members of the
committee as to the effectiveness of
the submarine as a weapon of war.
the witness told of inventions that
had been devised to prevent the de-
struction of battleships by the sub
marine. Representative Roberts. of
Massachusetts, asked for an expert
opinion as to the iuternal armor in
stalled In battleships as IA means of
preventing destruction by torpedoes.
The witness started to reply when he
was interrupted by Mr. Hohson
| Il object to that question" shouted
Mr.. Hohson. addressing Chairman
PadFett, Of the committee. We
should not tell the world how many
OF our battleships have internal ar
NOR, The question ia improper and
| II should not be answered.
After some discussion IL waa dratf ,-
agreed that the witness would NOT
be obliged to answer the question.
I In the course of his testimony to-
day Captain Winterhalter, who is an
expert on ship construction, gave II
as his opinion that the British battle
Fship Audacious was blown up by a
mine. He did not seem to have a
nigh opinion of the submarine as a
destructive agency.
Thought Mine DESTROYED Audacious.
Replying 10 a o%sstion, Captain
Winterhalter said he had never heard
of a modern battleship being blown
up by submarine.
You have heard of the battleship
Audacions. have you mott" said Rep
resentative N9therspoon. Of Mtssis-
sippi. The witness bowed assent
do you think the Audscious was
blown up by a submarine@"
Il am keeping an open mind on
that. l had hoped to think It was
not submarine. My opinion is that
the damage was done by mine"
Mr. Witherspoon directed atten-
ton to the exploit of the British
Eli submarine in destroying the
Turkish battleship Massudieh in the
Darda nelies The witness insisted
that this engagement was not conclu-
siye in proving the theory that the
submarine would prove effective
against modern battieships He point
ed out that the Massudieh was built
In 1874. that it's armament lacked
the power Of resistance now employ
ed in battleship building, and fur
Their that this particular ship was not
constructed in compartments like the
capital navy ship Of the present day.
Drops 10 Fourth Place.
II was brought out in the course
Of Captain Winterhalter' testimony
that within the past few years the
United States had dropped from sec
ond to fourth place among naval pow
'ers by reason of the large building
programs OF Germany and France,
Germany now standing second and
France third. The witness AiprT.d
testimony given last week by Score
tary Daniels, that owing to difficult
ties in construction, the submarine
had yet to be brought to high
state Of efficiency az fighting
weapon.
Mr. Daniels was before the COM
mittee, but his testimony was ova.-
Swallowed by the developments fol-
lowing the appearance OF captain
winterhalter. Mr.. Daniels talk to-
day dealt largely with matters OF de-
partment routine.