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A! 'J rapid as that of the armored crslseri above nientlMied. but they displace only 9,700 tons, and carry none of the eight-Inc- h I guns, such as constitute the mala battery of iach armored . ? r-- shin-yard- s, tfr fcp"sW On the stocks In New England but less than half finished, are 5 three thoroughly unique that are to be christened, respectively, Chester, Bir- mingham and r?alem. Thene are to be known as "scout ," from whlch -- 3 v name their function In ma; readily be guessed, and the Idea of having-suc- h ships In the fleet bufl been borrowed by Uncle Sam from Great Britain, where several such craft have recently been con- structed for the purpose of keeping tab on an enemy's fleet. Since a scout cruiser upon discovering the approach of a hos- tile squadron must not ouly be agile enough to evade capture, but must also be qualified to race home and give warn- SsW ing. It goes without saying that speed Is a prime requisite In such a vessel, and accordingly the trio of new Tankee scouts will each be fitted with engines of 16.000-horsepowe- r, capable of dr!vlng her through the water at a clip of 28 mile per hour, or better. The new scout cruisers wl!l be doubly Interesting, from the fact that the Ntvy ikJttiiL,,..jr Department will try an innovation la the meaner of obtaining speed. One of the ships the Birmingham will be J3Z772?G-jBUTZ.Tj- T 3 4 with triple-expansio- n 5 equipped ordinary engines of the same general pattern as those Installed In all our for 0 years past, but the other two scouts will be fitted with steam turbines, the newest wrinkle In power producing machinery and apparatus, such as has gained credit for tbe exceptional speed of the new trans-Atlanti- c passenger steamers of the Cunard Line. Two different styles of tur- bines will be tested In order to determine ..4.' their comparative merits.. The scout cruisers will have a uniform length of 420 feet, but their light construction can be from the fact that each k & fV' .VIA appreciated r- - will have a displacement of only S.750 W I' tons. Such a is to ma 5 fl (I expected away rather than fight, and this type of V" cruiser's only means of self-defens- e will V4 be found In a doaen three-Inc- h rapid-fi- t pi guns. Inasmuch as the cruisers will draw only about 16 feet of water, tbey will be able to navigate In shallower water than other warships of large sire. Yet another tendency lately manlfer In the new policy for the developmetwf of the United States Navy Is found In the. Increasing attention Jtieiug paid ta "A H Lf' t!le cadIntf nat!on3 of tbe svor!l torpedo-boats- . Yankee In to seized 8$ l! njjpoar have been during . MP ventors, with tbe proverbial Ingenuity y B recent years, with a perfect mania of the race, have produced decidedly tbe lor adding to their fleets of fighting ships. best under water fighters that have been Nor has national patriotic ambition In evolved anywhere in the world, but Unci ny case been satisfied by mere Increase Bam, for one reason or another, has net In the number of floating fortresses. paid as much attention to these new ter- Larger, more powerful and more heavily-arme- d rors as have European nations that barn warships have been demanded. un- not nad available anything like each good til the tam. expended upon new naval examples. Latterly, however, there baa craft are such as would have appeared been an awakening. Four nnbelievable a few years ago. are well on the way to completion at tba The United States has not been one big shipyard at Qulncy Point, Mass., whit behind her sister nations In pursu- and It Is now proposed to devote fully ing this policy for the upbuilding of a $1,000,000 to further construction In thla powerful naTy. If anything, she has been same as men- line as soon as our naval can de- where- er the latter a first cousin of the battle- the length the ships Just experts ahead of her European rivals, for. ' ' Wash- termine Just which one of tbe several Old World ship and pretty nearly as capable of. W' tioned, though the Tennessee and as some of the powers hare In a Inventors In tbe field Is offering tbe best navlea than the one to be found taking care of herself prolonged, ington each displace 14,500 tons of water, larger close-rang- e of craft for work nnder the waves. under the Stars and there Is no contest of arms. To pursue or as much as any but the largest battle- type Stripes, the further it may be added that The autumn of 1906 sees the The recent tremendous Increase In tbe the Atlantic that Is snbject ships. of- government beyond of the 28 at this at News, Va., of two United States Navy has caused tbe now to Its steel-cla- d warriors of warships uncompleted launching Newport adding 17 are or armored more of this class, the ficials at Washington to be sorely put tn the sea so as Is Uncle Sam. writing 1 huge protectors ' rapidly Is to submit and Montana. also It to provide officers and men for alt Hum was, and not so many cruisers, whereas It proposed North Carolina These very years n these fortresses. It Is not mere- when the United States was at the next session of Congress the plans are 14,500-to- ships. Each will cost when floating ago,' either, new to the much as a battle- that there has been a heavy Increase near the foot of the list of prin- for a Intended be completed almost as ly pretty most machine ever de- in case of new In tbe number of ships, but almost every naval powers, but the phenomenal powrful fighting ship, and as the of all tbe cipal ' will one of these newcomers' almost of the American dur- vised and that will outdo John Bull's - 1A : ' ' "1 armored cruisers, rival battleships requires development Nary master of the seas, the tar " In the number of men carried, the ship's twice as many bluejackets v were need- ing the past decade has enabled the re- lately completed In . company comprising 40 officers and up- ed on the biggest battleship we had public to advance beyotid Japan. Italy, Spanish-America- n Building battleships to keep the peace ward of 800 men. As may be Imagined, service at the time of the Russia and Austria, and stand In fourth, To matters In contest. Is, however, rather an expensive luxury. the engines are a most Important consid- Wsr. remedy the Navy place this International Great Is every means with a to the com- The general public appears to have an eration In vessels so speedy as are these Department nsing possible Britain, navy equal the to encourage enlistment In tbe Navy, and bined fleets of any three other nations, impression, probably dating from the days new armored cruisers, and. Indeed, before the that a first-clas- s machinery Installed In these the enlarged Academy at Annapolis la would to be secure first Spanish War, propelling I appear la place horse- new officers ahead of time. Is for a long time to come; Franc la Bceond battleship costs, complete and flyers ranges from 23,000 to 28,600 graduating ' to with the demand. Al- - and Germany third. ready for service, about $3,000,000. power in the various ships. order keep pace In Howerer, the of battleships, like Tbe powers that be In Congress and the most equally serious Is the need for flag But making this comparison the price command the statistics take account of the war- almost every other" commodity, has Navy Department at Washington have officers ef experience to only fleets and Into which our grow- ships that are completed, ready for use, advanced during recent .years. To be not been giving much attention of late squadrons reason be , or In commission. If all the vessels build- sure, the hull of such a ship the years to the construction of the lighter ing Navy must, by of Its slse, cruis- divided. One result of the for mors ing for the various navies could be com- framework, without armor or armament class of ships known as protected cry and a new census costs less In proportion than formerly, ers, although two such vessels the St. officers will be that In future, promotion pleted simultaneously re- will be more and officers of fighting, the status of being available In most Instances at less Louis and Milwaukee have lately rapid younger strength taken, are will be the of responsibil- things would be changed, for the United than $4,000,000. but more guns are carrld ceived their finishing touches. They given positions te WALDON FAWCETT. States would, then be In third place and on the battleship than were capable of maintaining a gait quite as ity. not so very far behind France whereas provided In days gone by, and this In- Germany would drop back to fourth place. crease, together with the other added The secret of this Is found, of course. In frills that are considered essential, runs the number of new warships Miss Co- the cost up to $8,noo.OOO or thereabouts. Uncle Sam's fleet In being. This group These are also ships that measure 450 resented by the inhabitants of one of Is lumbia has under construction. Measured The Ufa of usefulness of the average composed of the Virginia, Nebraska, feet in length and each of which, when the new battleships is a much more pop- Curious Seaweed Farms. In Is much more was New and Rhode tons, the standard currency of naval battleship brief than Georgia, Jersey Island, afloat, will displace 16,000 tons of water. ulous floating settlement than It was a end shipbuilding parlance, the United formerly the case,- - and this furnishes and they are bigger and heavier than They are quite as heavily armed as the few since. The years pioneer battleships 111 wind times when beach Is small States has under way at the present time another interesting factor in the recent any vessels that have heretofore had two ships described. After these of our new as It is an old saying that "it's an the harvest in our The just navy, such the Indiana blows and this Is some of the farmers out banks of a considerably greater aggregate of new development of tbe United States Navy. rlace navy. Virginia and her come the Mlsfilsippl and Idaho, ships that In each In- that nobody any good," go 'to are each 435 In and Massachusetts, carry, in of seaweed which seaweed, which are submerged naval construction than Great Britain, Thus a large proportion of the public sister ships feet length are Identical lu every respect. They are 580 men and 30 to 35 evidenced the harrest scarcely com- was and have a of 15.000 stance, officers, on of Chan- at low and It with hooks and as much as France and Germaay surprised the other day by the displacement nearly building at the famous Cramp shipyard whereas the Louisiana and several of the is thrown up the shores the water, reap long bined. that the battleship Texas, tons, whereas the biggest of their prede- at and each Is more than nel Islands and in places on the Cornish maa unug iae rr3it asuort ja usrgri. , In cessors a of 3SS Philadelphia, other twentieth century masterpieces of It is not the nuntbe; of new Cut'.ug uLlth played b rather prominent part have length only feet half completed. These are somewhat each Coast. The higher tbe gales the greater The result of this industry Is the gather- had been from and a of little more battleship building boast a ship's seaweed of In the ships which Uncle Sam Is building, but the Spanish war, retired displacement than smaller vessels, being of but 13,000 tons 840 men and 41 the harvest reaped by the gath- ing thirty thousand carloads Is the line as obsolete and would 12,000 tons. company comprising erer. The weed is carted from the shore course of a and the bulk of this is their weight and power that sending fighting displacement, but the guns they carry officers. - year, this nation in the scale of naval henceforth be used only as a station ship However, this quintette of battleships will compare both In size and number and taken Inland, where It is calcined used as manure for land. Tbe weed can upward were to wear A note has ben sounded In the or Importance. To Illustrate, It may be ex- at one of the navy yards. The three permitted their laurels for with the armament of any of the other our and used both In England and sent to tbe either be ploughed Into the land direct, sister the Massachusetts but a short time, for the autumn of recent development of Navy by the Crst in a kiln plained that there are 1c the United ships, Indiana, new fighters. Introduction of a number of armored continent for manure. Another product burnt and the ashes throM States like 270 vessels fit and Oregon, are pretty near as old as the 190G witnesses the entry Into service of The New big which is taken from the seaweed is Iodine, on the ploughed fields. In the former Xavy something Hampshire, another new bat- cruisers. To be sure Uncle Sam has had off for service, whereas the new ships build- Texas, but by liberal expenditures for the Louisiana and the Connecticut, the which is half to which Is distilled by the chemical manu- process the seaweed rots, giving any- bat- most have ever tleship, way the point for 10 years or more the handsome crui- but a odor. Many farmers ing number less than SO, yet these un- overhauling and reconstruction these formidable craft that of completion, stands In a class Itself. facturers on the Island of Guernsey. thing pleasant Star-Spangle- d by sers New York and Brooklyn, which were3 run their own kilns, and after allowing men-of-wa- r, have been and hoisted the Banner. These n ! completed together with the tleships kept She Is a 16,000-to- ship and carries much of The gathering of this harvest of the the seaweed to kiln It themselves. finished the same Is true of the Iowa, the last champion battleships, one of which was long paramount objects national pride on of dry lately craft which have gone Into the same, sort of array of giant "shoot- because of their to race sea has been carried for hundreds but those who are not so well provided j commission the few battleship to be added to the Navy prior built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, while sea ability through and the old customs its can It reduced in a during past months, the other was constructed a ing irons' as the warriors lately the water at express train speed, bat for years regulating either have public well nigh equal in aggregate tonnage the to the outbreak of the war with Spain. at private enumerated. Alike to most of the newer collection are curious In many Instances kiln at a small charge, or can sell It to - Whereas Uncle Sam's In are each 450 feet In and years our naval authorities had shown a t couple of hundred armed craft which up- experience shipyard, length she has three or but still In force for governing those who a more wealthy farmer as It Is gathered, covers a have a of 16.000 tons. battleships, funnels, disposition t look with scant favor upon seaweed-gi'.herer- s i held our rights on the high seas after building battleships only about displacement smokestacks,' Instead as the benefits thrown up by the rolling The generality of the a recent These two newest of the line pos- of two, in the armored cruisers vessels that combine reap are men In and most the close of the Spanish-America- n War. quarter of century, the develop- ships first-clas- s ocean. a man desires to become a engaged agriculture, aroused sess an added element of interest "from older fighters, bat, then. It something of the gunpowder of a battle- If of the results of any seaweed The United States, alike to most other ment of the Xavy, which has must be remembered seaweed farmer for the spaces allotted particular such enthusiasm on the part of President the fact that one of them will convey xthat tbe 16,500 ship with the speed of less cnmbersome; farm finds Its way on to the gatherer's; progressive nations, U firmly committed of New tbe beach are called farms he own In fine j Roosevelt and thousands of other patri- President Roosevelt to the, Isthmus of horsepower engines the Hamp- craft despite the fact that foreign pow- along land to help him getting early to the policy of building of the shire or the 19,000-horsepow- er must to the council, which con- After the end of the winter j warships otic cltlxens, dates only from the year Panama for his forthcoming Inspection engines of ers were building them In great numbers. apply potatoes. heaviest w men In a kind of class, carrying guns of the great- each of the battleships ia the Virginia-Ne- The to class sists of all the leading the season, generally about May, 1900, when those magnificent twin fight- of the lnteroceanic canal. . This type of granting this of fighting harvest-hom- e held est power and protected by the thickest -- class would cause to locality who are engaged In the Industry, procession used to be ers, the Kearsarge and Kentucky, went battleship is distinguished for Its terrific Jersey appear ships of adequate representation In our at which all marched carry- armor. The war 11.000-horsepow- er he be allotted a the with Spain taught our commission. vessels were gun power. It can turn an en- rather weak by comparison tbe Navy began wltn toe coustructlon of the and. if a native, may gatherers batt'e-shi- p into These against their tools, but In later years this men 12-inc- beach which will be marked ing professional fighting that the four of the monster h engines that sent the Oregon cruisers West Virginia. Colorado, Penn- stretch of duly sea- nt novelties among the fighting ships of the emy guns has died out and the of tbe is pre-emine- all cfl boulders. closing easily among naval world, in that the Idea with which or newer battleships are on that memorable trip around Cape Horn. sylvania and Maryland, the four graceful with large weed season passes quietly now- - and lessons Russo-Japanes- e they Inaugurated decides farming craft, the of the two-stor- y no means in so much The council all questions and of the superimposed turrets or provided In preference to v the former Last, bat by least, the list ships that attracted attention at oouvlc-tio- u. conflict but confirmed this 13-inc-h now - to the of tbe armor-cla- d shelters for the heaviest guns, favorite "barkers." eight of the of battleships under 'construction the recent monster naval review at Oys- ; disputes referring gathering SIGXAL-BO- X OCCUPATIONS. ' The h eight-inc- h de- ' now and either on Sundays dead'y torpedo craft and the four eight-Inc- guns being stationed lu guns and a doeen of the are the twin fighters, Sonth Carolina and ter Bay and. which, are on their way seaweed, collecting Ceet In which breech-loadin- g stones in re- cruisers. nearly everything turrets on cf the tur- structive seven-inc- h rifles, Michigan, contracts for which were only to the Philippines to maintain Uncle Sam's or altering the marking any way At many railroad signal boxes In Is sacrificed placed top regular a cnurt to speed, assuredly hare rets the four 13 Inch weapons. to say nothing of 50 rapid-fir- e guns and recently awarded and one of which will naval prestige la the Far East. Each cf will be deemed sufficient to deprive mote country districts where men In containing once taken from wfcc their place the scheme of aaral exist- The Kearstrrge and Kentucky were fol- four submerged torpedo tubes. be built at Philadelphia, while the other tbee vessels Is 502 feet In length and man of his farm, and. remain on duty for long hours and ence, but It Is In the heavyweight of lowed by tbe battleships Illinois. Ala- But even the Louisiana and Connecti- will take form across the river at Cam- with a displacement In excess of 13,500 him, he will never enjoy the privilege of yet have much time on their I and, the seas that reliance must be placed for bama and Wisconsin, a trio of floating cut, wonderful as they are, do not con- den, X. J- - Taken as a whole, the new tons. Some of them have shown them- a seaweed farm again. many useful arts are employed. Includ- te decision of issues between nations. fortresses that are virtual duplicates. stitute the last word in Yankee battle- battleships are designed to be speedier selves capable of a speed of nearly 26 Comparatively light farm carts are used ing gardening. One company has a "sig- Uncle Sam's preference for the thlck-tkiune- d Then came another group of three sister ship construction by any means. There than any of the old-tim- e, heavy craft, miles per hoar, and they carry au "Impres- for conveying the seaweed from the beach nalman poet," who fills In the long hours ships that can give and late ships, the battleships Maine, Missouri are eight other big fellows that win be most of them being capaBie of a gait of sive complement of eight-Inc- h and six-In- ch to a place out of reach of the tides, and by verse-makin- g In connection with ra0-- l bard blows la evidenced by the fact that and -- Ohio, which brings the record of ready to take their places In the Ameri- 21 miles or more per hour, which Is con- guns as well as about half a hun- the wheels of many of these are made way subjects; but the generality of mf one ; - - - s. . bsk-weavin- nearly every of the numerous ships battleship progress almost down to the can fleer within the next few years." siderably, better than the average per- dred quick-firer- . extraordinary broad so as to prevent go In for fretwork, nrhlch have been added to the Xavy dur-n- g present day. It has only been within Nearest completion Is a trio of thun-dere- rs formances of the battleships that par- Rapidly nearing completion are the them from sinking Into tbe road. A long and tbe like. In some cases i the past year or two has been a tn the past year or so that the first mem- that bear the names of the states ticipated in the battle of Santiago. armored cruisers California, South Caro- handled four-pronge- d fork completes the wood carving of s really artistic klnl k or almm aa armored cruls-- bers of another battleship class Joined of YexBMAi. K n""a aad Minnesota. Tbea. too, a community as rep lina, Tennessee and Washington, all of outfit of a beach farmer, although at been executerl