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Show B SEA-FIGHTING CRAFT. B The achievement of the Japanese navy in B front of Port Arthur in disabling two battleships B with four or five torpedo boats has opened again B the old debate as to which was preferable, a few B battleships, costing $5,000,000 each or a good B many torpedo boats costing $200,000 each. It is B not a very profitable subject for landsmen to dls- B cuss, but it is right to consider what seamen say B about it. It is curious also to note that the light- B haired races go in for the big bruisers while the B Latins prefer the smaller craft. The fighting cap- B tains, both of Manila and Santiago, favor the B battleship. Their argument is that if a battleship B Is on ts Suardf as it always should be in hostile B waters, it can sink three or four torpedo boats B before they can get near enough to do any dam- B aBe Dut admit that two or three torpedo boat B destroyers should, in dangerous waters, accom- B I)anv battleships. On tho other hand the advo- B cates h other system ask why a nation should B expend $3,000,000 or $5,000,000 on a craft that a B torpedo can sink in a moment, when for the same B money fifteen or twenty-five vessels can be built B any two or three of which is equal to the task B of sinking the big thunderer? Or, as they some- B times illustrate, "Why stick to whales, when so B many sword-fishes are available?" They cite the fact also that in case of disaster to a torpedo boat only about thirty lives are involved while when a battleship goes down it moans ten times . that number. There are strong arguments on both sides, but had one of the shots of the Japanese Jap-anese battleships exploded the arsonal at Port Arthur the other day, how would the balance stand? Or had five Russian torpedo boats run over to Nagasaki and tried to surprise and sink two or three Japanese battleships, how would they have fared? It is pointed out that our battleships were in-potent in-potent to silence the shore batteries at Santiago. That is a mistake. No attempt was made to do any such thing, except that tho little dynamite ship Vesuvius fired a few shots at long range at the shore batteries. The Vesuvius was fired by compressed air and no accurate sight could be taken on her single gun. Moreover the men aboard of her knew that were she to be struck by an enemy's shot, they would all be in kingdom come in thirty seconds. But the commanders of the fleet had positive orders not to endanger their ships in a contest with fortifications, while the Spanish fleet was still afloat. After that fleet was destroyed there was no occasion for an attack at-tack for the fortresses at once surrendered. Admiral Ad-miral Sampson wanted the army to land near the entrance to the harbor of Santiago and try to take the forts by assault, he agreeing to entertain the garrisons with his fighting ships while the assault was going on, but he was overruled by the Washington authorities. It would seem as though the right craft to fight land defenses would be the Monitors, for they have little surface sur-face exposed; are invulnerable against any guns yet invented, and while their fire is slow they discharge dis-charge tremendous missiles. However, the complete com-plete navy ought to include every advantage of large and small ships, not forgetting the submarine subma-rine craft; but after all, the men behind the guns are what count, when they are all right some- i H thing happens when they go into a fight whether fll on large or small ships. Think of the Oregon's flB part at Santiago, and think of Wainwrlght on the H little Gloucester, hot after the Spanish cruisers H until called off. By the way two torpedo boats H accompanied the big Spanish ships out of San- H tiago harbor, but they did not last fifteen min- - H utes. One was sunk and the other took the back , H track. That gitnncr who on the Indiana the other H day made six bulls-eyes at 2,000 yards with eight H shots of a turret-gun in seven minutes would H make a fleet of torpedo boats weary before they H ever got up to him. When men are like that M gunner on the Olympia who, when told to cease H firing, that the fleet was going to draw out of the M light long enough to eat breakfast, answered, M "To hell with the breakfast; let's do 'em up first," B will always give a good account of themselves M when a battle is on, whether on a battleship or a M B |