Show L = = eacspoa oe na oreuod Ot0000000 OAOHOOO tl40AirOnns0u0n0 OvAA4r O qO OM110 1 Y i TERRIBLE FIGHTING FORCE 1 i o I i TO SUPPLANT WARSHIPS n p 1Jy RVSSELL WOOVAR7 l i BRITISH HISTORIAN J II t Expert Discourses I gj 31 Courses ont on-t Japans Navy Increase and 1 the Probabil Probabil ities which of Airships IIoid r Forth for the 9 Dogs of War 4 a AIAN Is doubling Its fighting fight-ing strength on water J Tho eyes of tho whole fJAPAN are on the oriental ori-ental kingdom for the A Japanese admiralty has started a decided Innovation Inno-vation In accomplishing that purpose An almost unbelievable amount ol ash Is not expended In this movement move-ment but tho Russian vessels cap tured In tho KussoJnpaneso war are being reequlppcd roarmored more Sims aro being Installed and the general gen-eral appearance and strength of the entire navy Including tho craft which were under the mikados jurisdiction before the war is being heightened into Japans plans aro being thrown tho most modern of Ideas and every possible weakness rioted in tho recent war Is being banished In tho strengthening strength-ening process Since tho recent In ntallatlon of a now Japanese cabinet n part announcement of plans has ben I > i i < > t < VJ > VvAV > 0 4 u I v 1 1Ec t < 1 > A i 0 > < t j 1 > > II I f1 1 f iV a r S f SantosDumont and His Airship ads i + w a mont Hut the Monitor camo along t with ItsVovolving turret Ironclad and I northerners say bested tho Morn mac IHght In that battle were two + c r or steps In naval progress and Capt n xrr ° Ericsson whose family Iree dates Prof Carl Meyers Electrical l Aerial Torpedo back to the times of the Norseman given to tho world nnd by tho exertion exer-tion of bits 1 at Imagination hero acid there naval experts declare they foresee fore-see one of tho strongest navies whichever which-ever kicked up spray In tho Pacific Heros tho way its being done this being tho olllclal announcement given out by the Japanese admiralty bureau bu-reau nt Tokyo The Japanese admiralty has do cldcd upon n largo scheme of rearma mont Instead of building now ships the firmaments of the old will bo altered so as to bring them Into line with the most modern Ideas and with tho requirements Indicated by tho war with Russia Thus vessels of the Mlkasa typo which have hitherto carried car-ried four 12Inch guns and 11 six Incli will henceforth carry four tonInch Instead of 14 six lnch so that their principal armament will bu brought up to eight pieces of heavy caliber In fact their lighting strength will bo doubled Similarly In the case of vessels ves-sels like tho Ret Isan taken during tho war their now aramcnt will consist con-sist of four 12 inch nnd four ten hmch pieces the latter being substituted for the 12 six Inrh which theso vessels originally carried When tho programme Is carried out It will have tho advantage of creating a thoroughly homogeneous lighting rorce Firstclass cruisers are to bo added to tho navy These ships will have a displacement of IS050 tons with n horse power of 41000 and a speed oft 25 of-t knots They will bo 450 feet long over all with 80 feet beam and a draft of 25 feet Their armor will ho seven Inches and their armamont will consist con-sist of ton 12Inch guns some six Inch and ten 4 T Inch Ono of theso chips Is to bo built at Kuro Every l year naval clllclency Is reaching a higher piano and experts declare it to bo a physiological cor taint that a moro powerful mode of warfare on tho water must come That has been tho trend of events from lino memorial Ono may go back Into history to tho time when tho Norse 7 4 l i ml mII I GI t w 1 4 l I k + V AA t 5ti i Je H i rte k Capt Baldwins Airship I men fought from rafts Later came their crudo canoes and then the I Vikings Several hundred years elapsed and big nations fought from behind bulwarks on wooden ships Efforts Ef-forts were then mado to put speed Into tho sailing vessels The discovery of the steam engine helped this Then came tho eventual discarding of wooden vessels This was brought about In America when the battle between limo Monitor and Merrlmac was fought and tho fight In Itself marked a stop in naval warfare Tho Morrlmnc embodied em-bodied an Idea up to that time tin thought of In Its armor of stool rails laid half a foot or moro thick on Its Bides and top No shells of that time wero found able to pierce tbls arrange was tho Inventor of tho biggest move towards a high standard of efficiency when ho perfected tho revolving armored turret What this Invention will bo one can only guess and most of todays KUCSSOK nro poor From present Indications however tho airship Is to bo a factor and when the Inventor turna out an aeroplane which can carry men and shells in sufficient quantity to do real damage then our impressive battleships battle-ships will bo melted Into steel rails Each year tho powers aro putting more money Into their marine light Ing apparatus and Germany and Eng land moro especially aro eying each others naval budget In an anxious matter Most readers of foreign news O 0 will recall the session of parliament which dealt with the last British naval budget tho largest in tho history his-tory of the nation Emperor William of Germany It was reported at the time addressed a personal communication communi-cation to Lord Twcedmouth who had charge of the naval end of Englands wellfarc asking the latter to cut his naval budget This story was not tie nled but talk of It was so avoided by officials that the British public today believe that the letter actually was received re-ceived it aroused criticism from all Britain It Is said that tho kaiser realized that the two biggest nations of the old world must keep pace with each other In this line and perhaps feeling that a largo expenditure by Germany was not advisable realized that the only avenue of exit from such a possibility was to see tho British budget reduced President Roosevelts feelings on tho matter were amply told in tho record of the last congress when he tried to get that august body to appropriate for four new warships However thero there were too many men of peaceful and public buildings Inclinations among the wearers of the toga and they dealt a solar plexus blow to the project from which It only half recovered re-covered to the extent of two warships war-ships Both of theso vessels have already been launched With Japan the llttlo terror of the far east burnishing up Its navy tho probabilities are that tho powers may go oven farther noxt year In expenditures expendi-tures for warships and the only block to the great amount expended seems to bo the devising of some new mode v > < a fir 9rY a er Ey9n r < ° 1 ykhKst far vv Jtv rJ1 x bo < > 4 rJ1jJJI jJJI u tiI < > 0 > > c k jW = 1 1IIf4A > iJtIL W tFF vjW > I it it 1 > i Model of Englands Military Airship of warfare which will render warships useless Of course every country maintains a land force hut all realize that the best move against an oncoming enemy Is to beat them to the battlefield and as a consequence the usual approach being water the navies of the world are strengthened to their topmost point HiiKsIa has not yet recovered from Its setto with tho mikados sub jects but the scrap left the Jags with a few more battleships and a splendid plan for strengthening their navy without expending great sums of money and contracting now loans Going farther Into tho probabilities of the new style of warfare which seems Imminent wo may have battles of the alta very dangerous mode of scrapping to tho uninterested specta tor below Probably that would bo the deadliest sort of combat known for In sinking an airship every man aboard would undoubtedly bo killed by hard compact with mother earth Then on the other hand perhaps there wilt be no future wars nt least among tho largo and civilized powers Of course tho barbarians will break out occasionally but among tho blggci nations there are now so many peace bodies that one has to walk about carefully In order not to encounter doves of peace minus feathers There are dozens of International peace and arbitration societies whoso ono theme Is dont shoot nnd these hold ses sions annually It Is said that they roally content relations between coun tries and the time may comu when limy will become BO numerous that con filet will be Impossible without slaying brothers The Hague tribunal Is an other medium of the big powers al ways ready to decide little disputes which threaten to develop Into Inter national complications As a consequent it 1 looks dark for the dogs of war and Just as Inky for tho men of peace who would keep tho canines tied Hut como what will within a generation two or tho world Is to bo given Homo new fighting force which will astound the nations not In on limo secret to such an extent that there will either bo an entire tion of all hostilities cessa or some two get together and ono will bo made will such a beautiful example of that tho watching nations will decldo + that Gen Sherman v as right about war I |