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MARINE REVIEW. M1 SPEEDY BATTLESHIPS. "TVERSAL DISPOSITION ON THE PART OF FOREIGN POWERS TO ACQUIRE WAR UNIY VESSELS OF THIS DESCRIPTION. The decision on the part of the board of naval construction to give reference in the consideration of the bids for new battleships, opened ee (Thursday), to firms guaranteeing to vessels a speed of 18 knots or more, has by no means lessened the ardor of the discussion among naval architects and officers. The relative merits of the slow and speedy battle- ships are argued with no little vigor. A new series of arguments for both sides has been found, too, in the engagement of the American vessels with Cervera's fleet. The advocates of the less speedy battleship have not as yet made public many iof the reasons which have influenced them in their adherence to this type of fighting ship, but certainly their opponents have not been lacking in hte vigor of their argument. Stress has been laid, for instance, on the speed qualities of battleships building or recently com- pleted for other nations. 'Great Britain has building the Canopus, Goliath, Ocean, Albion, Glory and Vengeance, all of which are expected to attain speeds approaching 19 knots. France, it is claimed, has eight battleships that are speedier than any in the American navy, among the number the Charles Martel, which on a four-hour speed trial in May, 1897, made 18.13 knots with 15,000 indicated horse power. Germany has in the planning of her new vessels also made speed a requisite. The Kaiser Friedrich [II., launched in July, 1896, is a triple screw battleship with engines de- signed to give 13,000 indicated horse power and a speed of 18 knots. The new Kaiser Wilhelm II., launched last year, and the Konig Wilhelm, un- der construction at Kiel, are sister vessels with the same displacement and speed as the above. Italy last year launched the Ammiraglio di Bon, a battleship designed to attain 18 knots. The Emanuel Filiberto is a sister ship, while the Sicilia at her speed trial in 1895 is claimed to 'have made 19.3 knots. Russia has three battleships, the Poltava, Petropavlosk and Sevastopool, each with engines of 13,500 horse power, designed to give a speed of 17.5 knots. The new Russian vessel on which the Cramps are at work is to have a speed of 18 knots. The two Japanese \battleships, Fuji and Yashima, launched in March, 1896, each have propelling engines of 13,500 horse power and call for 18.25 knots. The advocates of the swifter type of battleship therefore point to the fact that there are in commission, or building, fifty battleships with speed capacities from one to three knots in excess of that of any battleship in the United States navy. From the standpoint of the accomplishments in years past the advo- cates of the speedier boat would seem to have the best of the argument. Paul Jones, it is pointed out, 'had a speedier vessel than any of the old British frigates, and won many of his victories 'by the possession of this speed. In the war of 1812 this country won because it followed the policy of constructing a class of vessels of moderate size that could outsail the British frigates, although outmatched in size and weight of metal. The President, Essex, Chesapeake, Wasp, Peacock, Enterprise, Adams and Siren, with finer lines and more canvas, outsailed and outmaneuvered the hostile ships. ; In this connection, too, it is most interesting to note the view of the situation taken by William Laird Clowes, the English naval critic and for many years a contributor to Lord Brassey's Naval Annual, who, in his treatise in a recent number of the Engineering Magazine on "Sea Power at the End of the Nineteenth Century," says: "We may be sure that the unscientific method of preparing for war and of waging it is always, in the end, the most expensive way; and we may take it that, while no factor of sea power can be neglected with impunity, the neglect of no factor is so fraught with danger, suspense, anxiety and waste of money as the neglect of that group of elements constituting mobility, and at the head of them stands, undoubtedly, speed--locomotive speed--with, as its complement, coal endurance. We are told that every warship is, of need, a compromise. But there are 'wise compromises and foolish ones. The compromise which, in any serious degree sacrifices speed to guns, armor and magazine capacity, seems to me to belong to the latter category. The lesson of all recent naval wars is that the point upon which it is most perilous to make concession is the point of speed. You cannot afford to compromise on the element of speed to a greater extent than your neighbors have compromised or are compromising. Some powers have already begun to realize and act upon this truth. The Argentine Republic --though in common estimation but a fourth-rate state--has spared neithe: pains nor expense to acquire the fastest cruisers in the world. Speed will tell more than any other single factor in the naval warfare of today and tomorrow; and we may, I think, rest assured that although speed is one of the most expensive requirements of a navy, it is, in the long run, the most economnical, because it is the most time saving, anxiety saving and money saving quality with which we can endow a warship." Mr. Clowes compares the British cruiser Terrible and the Argentine cruiser Buenos Aires much to the disparagement of the former. The Ter- . tible has a displacement of 14,200 tons to 4,500 of the Buenos, and an indi- cated horse power of 25,000 as compared to the Argentine vessel's 13,000, yet the mean trial speed of the Terrible was only 22.4 knots, compared to 23.2 knots on the part of the smaller vessel. The Terrible, therefore, though three times as big and three times as costly, is nearly a knot slower, carries less than 50 per cent. more coal per horse power, and throws less than double the weight of broadside. Bids were asked this week on the institution of an important naval coaling station at New London, Conn. It is the intention to erect here the most extensive coal shed, piers and facilities for loading vessels with coal yet built for the navy. Congress, at its last session, appropriated $200,000 for the work. Designs for sheds provide that they shall be erect- ed on the end of a long pier in order that vessels may tie up alongside and load direct, _ From Sept. 5 to 10 there will be a great gathering of the boys of '61 at -Incinnati for their national encampment. The Nickel Plate road sells tickets to that point at very low rates. For complete information address any agent of the Nickel Plate road. or B. F. Horner, general passenger agent, Cleveland, O. =) Sept. 2,182 Around the Lakes. a 'Dr. W. D. Carmichael, who has been in charge of the marine hospital at Cleveland, has been appointed superintendent of the marine hospital service of the Hawaiian islands, with headquarters at Honolulu. Capt. Levi Hunt, who died last week at Eden, N. Y., began sailing on the lakes as a boy of fifteen, and continued for upwards of thirty years, during the latter portion of which period 'he was in command of some of the best known steamers on the lakes. & Assistant Secretary Howell of the treasury department has written to collectors of customs at Marquette and Duluth, and the deputy at Superior, informing them that they have been wrong in charging a fee of $2 for (Canadian vessels clearing at the ports mentioned. 'Cleveland dry docks, which are all owned now by the Ship Owners' Dry Dock Co., will hereafter be known by numbers. The larger dock at the west end of the old river bed will be No. 1 and the dock adjoining it Ne. s ae ot that was formerly known as the Cleveland Dry Dock Wi e '0, ° Another light is announced for Lake Michigan. About Sept. 15, a fourth order light, showing flashes alternately red and white, will be es- tablished in the structure recently erected at the North Manitou fog signal station, on the point making off to the eastward from the southerly part of North Manitou island. Capt. M. M. Drake of Buffalo presented at a meeting of the board of trustees of the 'Buffalo Merchants' hxchange, a few days ago, a resolution thanking Mr. Harvey D. Goulder of Cleveland for the successful manner in which the represented the vessel interests of the country in the matter of war tax on charters. The resolution was unanimously adopted. H. W. Hubbell & Co., while dredging, last week, in the channel about a mile above the Sault canal, raised the remainder of the wreck of the old steamer Independence, which was the first steamer to ply on Lake Supe- rior, and which was blown up early in the fifties. Capt. Geo. P. McKay of gece was wheelman on the Independence when the accident oc- curred. The passenger and freight steamer Wisconsin will be withdrawn from service on Lake Michigan about Sept. 25 and will go to Ferrysburg, Mich., for a general rebuild that will fit her for winter service. New Scotch -- boilers and 'considerable new steel work between decks for strengthening purposes are the main features of improvement. The work will be done by Johnston Bros. of Ferrysburg. When the steamer Thomas Cranage was docked at Milwaukee, a few days ago, for a new wheel, it was found that her bottom was badly dam- aged as a result of striking above the Canadian canal last spring. 'Tt was thought when the accident occurred that the damage was of little account, but the Cranage will probably be in dock for fully three weeks. It is prob- ably well for the owners of the vessel that circumstances have caused the work to be done at the Milwaukee yard, as reports of late regarding repair jobs on both steel and wooden vessels have been very favorable. When Buffalo coal shippers have 'hard coal to move, they do not make -- a great deal of fuss over 5 or 10 cents advance in freights. Although hard coal shipments from 'Buffalo to Sept. 1 aggregate 1,242,000 tons, against $52,000 tons ion the same date a year ago, the Buffalo shippers hhave for several days past been paying 5 cents a ton over Ohio port rates on Lake Michigan cargoes. The margin on which hard coal is sold is not, of course, as large as that which prevails in the soft coal trade. But there is another reason for paying advanced rates out 'of Buffalo. Hard coal. shipments this year will exceed those of 1897, and the Buffalo shippers, anticipating activity in other lines later on, are trying to move the great -ulk of their coal as soon as possible. Engine Work in Detroit. Detroit, Mich., Aug. 31--No arrangements have as yet been made for repairs on the side-wheel passenger steamer Greyhound, whose engines were demolished while in regular service on the river route a short time ago. 'This engine wreck is so complete and will involve so much expense to the owners of the Greyhound, with no possibility of getting further service from her this season, that they are considering some alterations and improvements in the vessel in connection with the engine repairs. The wreck, due to the connecting rod breaking about 3 feet from the crank end, probably when the piston was at the top of the cylinder, is about as complete as anything of the kind that has occurred on the lakes of late; cylinder, condenser, air pump and other parts are demolished. The accident to the engines of the freight steamer Iron Age is also a bad affair. In 'her case the stop on the crank pin broke, letting the pistons shoot up, breaking everything above the bed plate and crank shaft. The Dry Dock Engine Works thas begun the construction of another engine, using only the old bed plate and crank shaft, and Supt. C. B. Calder says ° he expects to have the steamer in commission again in about six weeks. The engine works has been unusually successful with repair jobs under Mr. Calder's direction, and he seems to have the confidence and friend- ship of vessel men in Chicago, Cleveland and other places as well as De- troit. This friendship is, of course, of advantage to the Detroit concern. Cylinders of the steeple compound engine in the Iron Age were 24 and © 44 inches diameter by 32 inches stroke. In the rebuilt engine the sizes. will be 20 and 44 by 32. : "Anglo-Saxons, Onward," is the attractive title of a novel just written by Mr. Benj. Rush Davenport, who is well known in vessel circles around the lakes. Two or three vessel men of 'Cleveland are interested in the publi- cation of the book, among them W. H. Becker, who holds the copyright. Mr. Davenport is the author of several works that have had a very large sale, and it is thought that this one will also meet with success on account of tthe popular interest just now in everything with which the term Aniglo- Saxon is connected.