Show THE NEW GUNBOATS They Will Be Constructed of a Composite Type WASHINGTON May 27Secretary Herbert Her-bert has directed that two of the three 1200 ton gunboats authorized by Congress Con-gress be constructed of a composite type This means that frames of vessels and part of the structure above the water line will be made of steel but the hull will be covered with wood planking This wood planking in turn will be sheathed with copper and thus vessels will be enabled to make long cruises in tropical waters without going through an expensive process pro-cess of docking and scraping |