!�T!!STEAM BOATS 31169 MILES
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JOUHNAL OF INFORMATION, AnT, CIENCE MECHANICS, MANUFACTURES. l WEEKLY PRACTICAL S , CHEMISTRY, AND LXXXIII.-NO.ll. [$3.00 A YEAR. Vol. ] WEEKL'l. ESTABLISHED 1845. NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 15, 1900. --------- -------------------------------------------------- ----- PNEUMATIC TUBE SUI'(. 6 STREET CARS .. t& !�t!!STEAM BOATS 31169 MILES E"-RTH . ... co "!. N e .0- 0> '" uJ � i z S! uJ 1; > uJ f- a: uJ UJ ...J "- « f- 0> '" '" 0"- en '" uJ uJ 1; ...J f- a: '" « f- z '" uJ UJ '" THE ANNUAL WEIGHT OF MAIL CARRIED IS 664,286,868 L8S. " UJ 6,576.310,000 PIECES OF MAIL, ANNUALLY, « a: TO TRANSPORT IT WOULD REQUIRE 3 3,21 4 FREIGHT CARS FORMING A TR AIN 300 MILES LONG, HAULED BY PL ACED TOGETHER, WOULD MAKE BAND :E: "- A uJ 500 LOCOMOTIVES HAVING 500,000 HORSE POWER. AND R EOU I RI NG 7 MILES OF TRACK. 7 FEET WIDE AROUND THE WORLD. > a: ...J < :x:" 0 S! 0 UJ 1; ...J f-uJ < uJ :E: "- a: e UJ e f- e r-: f- ... « :E: ",- ALL OTH ER PLAC ES. FIRST '" UJ '" 0 ,65.967,732.98 « UJ 262..239.710 lb,. ...J a: 0 0 (J)� ...J a: 0" � a: "- « 0 ...J '" ...J UJ 0 0 0 UJ z a: UJ 128.:117.992 U" 0> f- CIt "- ... ... - 0 e uJ co ...J '" a: 1 FEl TOWER" W HERE THE SECOND'CLASS MATTER IS MAILED. WEIGHT OF DIFFERENT CLASSES CARR IED __ POST�GE PAIU BY CLASSES . -'"'-----""'.�oo�rW;. - \I,\W A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF SOltE INTERESTING FEATURES OF tHE UNItED StAtES POStAL SERVICE.-lSee page 166.] fire equal to that of the more heavily armed vessels. defend. The Port Royal site was chosen, presumably, We must remember that in the case of the •• Oregon" after careful and exhaustive examination, by variou!! �mtritJn. class it was found that the blast of the 8-inch guns pre expert commissions, in the course of which the advant Irientifi' vented them from being fired dead· ahead or dead ages of Charleston must surely have received due con ESTABLISHED 1845 astern, for fear of injuring the officers in the sighting sideration. At the same time it is possible that the MUNN & CO., EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. hoods of the lS-inch guns. At the same time, for relative strate�ical advantages of Port Royal and PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT broadside firing, only two turrets will be available in Charleston are not the same under the changed con No. 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. the" Rhode Island " and .. Virginia," the guns on the dition of modern naval warfare as they were in the offside of the ship being masked by the superstruc days of Admiral Porter, Admiral Jewett and Com TERMS TO SUBSCRIBERS tUl·e. The absence of four 8-inch guns, moreover, en modore McCann. ..•...... $8.00 Ulle coP . one year. for the United States. Canada. or Mexico 4.00 ables the secondary battery of the" Georgia " class to Among other reasons which are given for the remov (.ne copy.Y one year. to any foreign country. postage prepaid. £0 168. M. THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN'PUBLICATIONS. be increased by at least four 6-inch guns. al of the station it is urged that the absence of social $3.00 ScIentificAmerican �Establi8hed 1845) •. ........ , ...•...•.•.•.•.. a year. In general it may be said that if there has been any attractions and cOllveniences in such an out-of-the error in the designs of our eal'iiest battleships, it has way place as Port Royal will render it unpopular with ��:mg� t::::g� B':.�fJ?m'lfJi��,:}(���fls��1;'&;):'::::::: �:� ::.. ScientificAmerican EXPor �dition (Established 1878) ....••••.. 3.00 la n in the tendency to overload them with guns ; and naval officers, both of the line and staff, conveniences The combined subscription rates and rates to foreign couutries ...111 i be fom1shed upon application. if this be true, we must naturally look for a somewhat which Charleston would readily afford. It seems to Remit by postal or express money order. or by bank draft or cheCk. MUNN & CO .. 361 Broadway. corner Franklin Street. New York. lighter armament relative to the displacement than is us that argu ments of this kind are not warranted found in the ships. say of the "Ol'egon "type. Our either by the trad itions of the navy or the invariable NEW YORK, SAT URDAY, SEPTEMBER Hi, 1900. naval constructors are giving more berthing space to self-effacement which characterizes our naval officers, C/'ew than formerly, and it is easily conceivable that it when it is a question between personal comfort and the THE ARMAMENT OF OUR NEW BATTLESHIPS might be well worth while to sacrifice a gun or two for highest interests of the country they serve. The ques AND CRUISERS. th'e sake of increasing the comfort, health and general tion for the best site for a dry dock and naval repair We are asked by a correspondent, whose letter is good spirits of the crew, upon whom, after all, the yard is purely a technical one, and will be decided en publisbed on another page, to express an opinion as to fighting efficiency of the ship is dependent. tirely by questions of accessibility by sea and by land, the efficiency of the armament of our latest battle "1.' .. capabilities for defense, suitability of location with re ships and armored cruisers. In the first place. with reo PROPOSED ABANDONMENT OF PORT ROYAL gard to the exigencies of a naval campaign, and pos gard to the armored cruisers, of lS,500 tons displace NAVAL STATION. sibilities of obtaining at all times the necessary skilled ment, it is sufficient to say that the latest decision of The question of the best site for a naval station on labor. the government is to arm these vessels with fOUl" 8-inch the Atlantic coast between Norfolk and Pensacola is It is at any'rate certain that so complicated and emi breech-loading rifles, and fourteen 6·inch rapid-fire now being made the subject of investigation by a spe nently technical a question as this is not to be decided gu ns, and that all of these weapons will be of the new cial commission, whose report to the Secretary of the by the preferences of the Mayor of any particular city long caliber, high-velocity type, which is now being Navy will probably be made public within the next concerned, although it must be arlmitted that by manufactured at the Washington gun shops. We few weeks. There is already in existence at Port quoting the Mayor of Charleston as his leading au qnestion very much whether the proposal to use the Royal a naval station which was selected and approved thority on the advantages of the proposed change, Ad 5-inch gun in the secondary battery of these ships was by various COlli missions which, after an examination miral Endicott has shown a flattering opinion of the very seriously entertained, and it is probable that an of the locality, pronounced emphatically in favor of judgment of the lay gentleman who holds that distin (>rror was made as to the caliber when the figures were this site as being the best adapted to meet the require guished municipal position. �iven out by the government. Atany rate, it i:scer tain ments of the case. One of these commissions was pre In view of the high authority upon which Port that the day of the 5-inch rapid· firegun in the second sided over by Admiral POl·ter, who was strongly in Royal station was originally selected, we think the ary battery of our large battleships and cruisers is over. favor of the site. and a later commission authorized by subject is of sufficient importance to place it before In esti mating the po wer of the armament of our latest Congress in 1888. and presided over by Commodore , our readers at considerable length, and in the current ships, it is necessary to bear in mind what an enor McCann, recommended the establishment at Port issue of the SUPPLEMENT we give several views of the mous advance has been made in the ballistics of our Royal of a dry dock, a depot of naval supplies, and a yard, together with a history of the selection of the naval guns. If our correspondent will turn to the coaling station. In the spring of the present year, the site, and the legislation which has led to the appoint SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN of January 20. he will find a Naval Appropriation Bill, as passed by the House ment of the present ComTilission. diagram showing the increase in length and weight of of Representatives, contained an appropriation of • ••• • the naval 6-inch gun during the past few years. If the $100,000 toward the rebuilding of the dry dock at this CURIOUS FACTS REGARDING MOSQUITOES. 6-inch 'gun carried by the " Baltimore " be compared station in concrete or stone. The bill went to the In the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN for July 7, 1900, ap with one of thc new, rapid-fire, 6·inch guns of the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Naval peared an article by Dr. L. O. Howard, in which the secondary battery of our armored cruisers, it will be Affairs. While under consideration by this committee, distinguishing features of malarial and non-malarial found that the weight has increased from 4'8 tons to the Secretary of the Navy submitted a letter from Ad· mosquitoes were clearly pointed out. The Department 8'2 tons, while the length has increased from SO cali miral Endicott, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and of Agriculture has now issued a monograph by DI'.