St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1917-12-29

graduation.
In previous reports to Congress [
have expressed very frankly my be-
lief that our aeronautic progress was
not satisfactory. As a new branch
OF naval activity using a new va:
machine for new purpose, this VAS
not to be wondered at. / was glal
to report this year that the Await on
Division had made gratifying strides
In this, as in all other matters OF
supplies for the Navy, we have been
thampered by lack of manufactTr-
ing facilities even for our own needs
To this has been added the necessity
OF providing an enormous develop
ment in aviation lines for the Army.
Continuing the policy Of being, SO
far as possible, self-sustaining, we
have erected our own aeroplane
mandatory at Philadelphia. With
in 80 days of the beginning Of the
work on the buildings, the keel Of
the first naval flying boat was laid
At. this factory, in addition to reliey-
ing other manufacturers for Army
work, we hope to be able to conduct
experimental developments without
clogging the wheels Of production
and from a business point OF view,
the figures that we will obtain as to
costs of aeroplane construction will
go far toward solving many difficult
problems of the adjustment Of prices
of articles of which there has been
up to very recently SO few manu-
featured.
Patrol Boats for the Coast.
The problem of patrol boats for
our ow coast was another novel and
perplexing question. The use of
many small boats, some Of the less
than 100 feet and most of them II
feet and over, as actually important
vessels of war was not contemplated
up to a very short time ago. The
possibility of their creation as an
organized force has been very re-
cent addition to naval strategy. A
hurried survey of the situation re-
vealed that there were not enough
suitable craft to meet the demands
of the situation and we were forced
at the very prospect of actual hos
tilities, and before war was decIar-
ed, to undertake the construction OF
hundreds of small boats. All up and
down our coast small-craft shipyards
have been busy With this work Our
own navy yards are taking care Of
all that they could possibly find room
for, and while not all of these craft
have gone forward with the speed to
be desired We feel that this situa-
ton has been met with all the ex-
pedition that it was possible to use.
A sudden shift of naval warfare.
which transformed our destroyers
from being the eyes OF the fleet to
Separate organizations engaged far
from the home base and the home
fleets, in aggressive warfare against
submarines, involved more military
problems than could be easily under
stood by the layman. Their duties
as conveying ships were not SO novel
CIR unexpected. The splendid en-
thusiasm shown by the personnel of
our destroyers, their ready adapta-
bility to the new conditions arising,
nd the almost perfect coordination
of their work with that of the de-
stroyer fleet OF our allies is also
something for which we fee, we may
deserve the thanks of our country
Of the utter groundlessness of the
criticisms Of those who speak with
out knowledge regarding our ship
a reserve before war was declared,
you will perceive, when you learn
how quickly and with how little frie.
ton, how almost automatically every
che of those reserve ships, which had
been pictured as slowly melting int
heaps of rust at their docks, were
manned, provisioned, and sent on
when the time came, ready TO give
account of themselves. They have
trained hundreds of men for gun
crews and other important naval
service.
Ships In Commission.
We now have over 4 900 ships, as
against 800 in commission two years
ago.
To map these ships erquired an in