The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-06-27
By CHARLE2S E. HUGHES, International News Service Staff
 COrFcSDOudent


 U. S. S. New Mexico. Flagship Pa cihc Fleet, Los Angeles Harbor, Cal. June 26-In portions of the nation far removed from the seaboard, es- pecia,lly in the interior of the cOun- try, the question is often raised 'TWhy are so many millions of dol lars necessary in constructing mod ern battFeship?"
 To one who has had the oppor- tunity of going over every foot of a great superdreadnought like this New Mexico the answer is simple.
 The reason our great sea fighting units cost so much is because they are the last words in naval perfec- tion at the time they are built. And to be such they had to be equipped with the best, as well as the most efficient and durable, mechanism. This has to be kept up to the high est possible standard and constantly renewed.
 The correspondent was taken into a magazine of powder used to sup ply the energy of the fourteen feet long and of which the New Mexico carries twelve, located in four turrets-two forward and two aft.
 a glass jar partly filed with powder, broken up into small sticks and ap- bearing something like broken sticks of hoarhound candy. Inside the cap Q q treated paper. If it turned a cer- tain color it showed the powder was deteriorating in strength.
 The same method is used in various forms throughout the ship. Every where there is a check to see if any thing is happening daily to possibly render the superdreadnOught inef- f1cient.
 Efficiency is Primary.
 When even the smallest defect is found it is immediately remedied. At the same time there is a continua! comparison being made of the per formanceS of the ships mechanical , odds and ends, so that as new war vessels are laid down @hey can be rendered more efficient than craft of the type of only a year or two pre- vouS
 If there can be said to be one ob 1ection in the navy regarded more important than anything else it un- doubtedly is efficiency with saving of time and effort One has only to watch the loading of the three four teenAnch guns in one of the tdrrets to ascertain this. From the depths Of the New Mexico a charge ot 4oO pounds of powder, contained in four siIken bags, is hOisted by electric elevators to the turret. Likewise a shell weighing 1,40O pounds ana containing a charge of thIrty-three pounds of dunnite, deadly explos- i've, is moved up by another electric elevator The gun is loaded and it's missile sent spinning away twelve and a half miles with a velocity or 2sOO feet a second, all within a few seconds.
 While the twelve fourteen-inch guns are being fired fourteen other guns of five-inch calibre can be utiI- ized for shorter range work, or held in reserve until they can become et- fective If there was an engage nen+ in which aircraft were attack ing four three-inch anti-aircraft p1Ins would bark And if the Occa- sion arose for their use. two sub merged torpedo tubes would be avail able with their missiles of destruc- tion-
 The Lesson of Preparedness
 Admiral Rodman, in an interview with the correspondent, stated re gently before leaving the Pacific fleet that a gooo navy is good insurance. Other officers hold the same view They feel that preparedness is pro lection against war, as well as a means of defense in case of war
 Judging from the attitude Of the New Mexico's officers, the United States is regarded in the navy as be- ing friendly to every nation on earth with which it is not in actual state of war. One hears no boasting about the superiority of the United States in this or that regard.
 The correspondent referred to Ja- pan and its navy several times in his conversations with officers Every one of them was able to answer each question promptly. They know ex' act1y what Japan is doing, insofa1 as public records are available. That is their business as police officers of the sea.