| OCR Text |
Show lng, as heretofore. Admiral O'Nell believes that the ordnance equipment of United States naval vessels is fully up to the highest standard maintained abroad for vessels of corresponding age and class, and says he knows of no guns afloat, or soon to be put afloat, equal In energy to those manufacturing for the United States navy. The manufacture man-ufacture of gun mounts and other ordnance ord-nance fittings for the new vessels of the navy, he says, is well in hand, and he has every reason to believe that the outfits will be ready when the vessels are ready to receive them. During the past fiscal year 143 guns for the navy were completed, and 256 are now partially finished. In regard to the Smokeless powder. Admiral O'Neil says there is no doubt that the grade of this powder made today Is considerably superior to that of a year ago due to the natural processes of development, not to inferiority in th powder formerly manufactured. The ordnance bureau considers the powder question in a very satisfactory state at the present time. Admiral O'Neil believes that the subject of submarine boats is being given undue prominence. promin-ence. If these boats are shown to have any value, he says, it will be as an adjunct to the system of coast de- CAMPFIHE SKETCHES SOME SHORT STORIES FOR THE VETERANS. Bon. John D. Long-, Secretary of the Na-ry Writes of the Personal Characteristics Charac-teristics of the Late President Mo-Kinley Mo-Kinley Projectiles and Power. . THE BRAVE AT HOME. The maid who binds her warrior's sash With smile that well her pain dissembles, dis-sembles, The while beneath her drooping lash One starry tear-drop hangs and trembles, Though heaven alone records the tear, And Fame shall never know her story, '.. Her heart has shed a drop as dear As e'er bedewed the 'field of glory. The wife who girds her husband's sword, 'Mid little ones who weep or wonder, won-der, And bravely speaks the cheering word, What though her heart be rent asunder, fense. They can not and will not, he continues, take the place of naval vessels ves-sels of the regular type and render a less number necessary. Submarine boats, says the Admiral, have not yet emerged from the experimental stage. The use of torpedoes on large vessels has been practically discontinued, no provision having been made for them in the last battleships and cruisers. Like the other bureaus of the navy department, de-partment, the ordnance bureau also has suffered much delay in getting steel castings for gun carriages. New carriages for her 5-inch guns were supplied sup-plied the Brooklyn, as a number of these mounts were considerably injured in-jured after the battle of Santiago. Experiments Ex-periments at Indian Head with a 3-inch 3-inch gun have shown that, firing at the rate of one and one-half shots per minute, such guns are rapidly eroded, though this rate is below that required re-quired in battle! Admiral O'Neil says that the latest armor contracts are extremely advantageous 1 to the government, gov-ernment, the price being lower than that paid abroad, and the armor being be-ing the best that fan be produced. As president of the board of construction, he sets out at length the details of the plans for the new battleships and cruisers called for by congress and heretofore made public. Incidentally, Admiral O'Neil says the real issue In the board was not double versus single turrets, but 7-inch versus 6 and 8 inch guns, and he argues strongly in favor of the 7-innh weapon, - The estimates accompanying the report' aggregate $10,902,000, the largest items being for armor and armament, $6,000,000, and navy yard plants and ammunition, $2,423,000. There are also items for replacing the present foreign made guns on the New Orleans and Albany and for a new battery for the Newark. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Doomed nightly in her dreams to hear The bolts of death around him rattle, rat-tle, Hath shed as sacred blood as e'er Was poured upon the field of battle. The mother who conceals her grief While to her breast her son she presses, Then breathes a few brave words and brief, Ki6sing the patriot brow she blesses, With no one but her secret God To know the pain that weighs upon her, Sheds holy blood as e'er the sod Received in Freedom's field of honor. T. B. Read. MB. M'KINLF.Y'S KINDNESS. In an article in the Century on "Some Personal Characteristics of President McKinley," the Hon. John D. Long, secretary of the navy, tells of his late chief's unfailing kindliness. He was considerate toward everybody. His first thought seemed to be" to make all with whom he came in con tact or had political or private relation happier and more at ease. As he drove through the street or along the ( country road, he never failed to recognize recog-nize a salutation, even if it were only the wistful face of some child or the kindly interest of the wayside laborer. There was no school boy or girl who had the happy fortune to be admitted to the cM"t chamber that did not ' f receive from his hand the' -flower J which be was wearing in the lapel of his coat. How many times I have seen J him break from an important task to receive a call from a visiting delegation delega-tion of teachers or excursionists, and that, too, without the slightest " impatience im-patience or expression of irritation, wh'ich almost any other man would ROOSEVELT'S OPPORTUNITY. I wonder if many of us attach due importance to the fact that Theodore Roosevelt Is the first president we nave had in forty years who has not come under the influence of civil war times and prejudices. Roosevelt belongs be-longs to a new era. He is of the present pres-ent and future. He comes upon the stage of national action at a time when the country is united and he has no sectional prejudices to hamper him. To him the civil war is a matter of history, to be read by the student with interest and profit, but not to live over In memory or to canker the mind through vain recollections of bitterness bit-terness and strife. Roosevelt has a great opportunity to s':amp his administration admin-istration with the spirit of nationality. On his mother's side he is connected with the South and his father's family is identified with the North. He has nothing of fratricidal strife to remember, re-member, nothing of hostility to forget. He also has the advantage of having fought side by side with Southern men in the Spanish war. The work of unification uni-fication was done for him by the war with Spain and the broad catholicity of his predecessor. He is free to pursue pur-sue a truly national policy. If he avail himself of the splendid possibilities possi-bilities of the situation it will be well for the country and for his own fame. What he will do remains to be seen. No president ever had a better chance to ma"ke nationality the guiding principle prin-ciple of ' his, .policy. Pennsylvania Grit .. With Confederates at Gettysburg-. Major General Sir Arthur James Lyon-Fremantle, G. C. M. G., C. B.; lately governor of Malta, who died re cently was much talked about in this country about the time of the battle of Gettysburg and his name is frequently fre-quently mentioned in the histories of our civil war. He was the colonel of the famous Coldstream Guards and came Over to see how American soldiers sol-diers did their fighting. He was with the Confederate army at Gettysburg. have uttered in conferring the same favor. It was in this spirit that he went among the people of the south, and did more than any other man has done since the civil war to restore among them, the fraternal spirit He acted in this no doubt from a wise policy, but he also acted in the genuine genu-ine spirit of his own generous nature. In the long railroad journeys which I made with him over the country his latch string was always out If his fellow countrymen could not come it, he went out to them, fearless, frank, confiding. Who will attack me?" he would say. "I haven't an enemy in the world." He had a fine sense of humor. He remembered incidents in-cidents and narrated them with effect Twice a week.1 on cabinet days, It was a delightful thing to go into the cabinet cabi-net room at 11 o'clock in the forenoon. The president would be standing near the window, looking fresh, with a white waistcoat and a rose in his buttonhole. but-tonhole. A few people left over from the morning callers would be lingering linger-ing for a word, each getting a pleasant one. In due time the cabinet would be left with the president. He would take his seat at the table, but before settling down to business was more than likely to entertain us for ten or fifteen minutes with some story ' of the war, or some anecdote about pub-lie pub-lie men, or some experience of his in old campaigning days. OUR NAVAL EQUIPMENTS. Increased efficiency in our big naval guns must be looked for from the use of the heavier projectiles and the production pro-duction of powder possessing high ballistic qualities, rather than from an Increase in the weight and dimensions of the guns themselves, says Rear Admiral Ad-miral Charles O'Neil, chief of the naval bureau of ordnance, in. his annual an-nual report. The last types of guns are so large and heavy, he says, that It Is inadvisable to make an increse In either respect, and the bureau will now confine ' itself to ' developing weightier projectiles and powder of greater energy. The only material change In the system of gun construction construc-tion last year was a provision that guns of and above 6 inches in caliber for greater safety shall have an Inner i and outer tube instead of a solid forg- ! |
