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26 MARINE REVIEW. [June 5 VALUE OF SUBMARINE BOATS. One of the questions now agitating the navy is the value of the sub- marine boat as a weapon of war. Nearly all of the chiefs of bureaus are opposed to the purchase at this time of any considerable number of them. Some officers extend the feeling to opposition to any submarine boat of any type. Possibly the fairest statements of the naval expert's view of the new engine of warfare are those made to the house committee on naval affairs--one prepared by Rear Admiral Charles O'Neil, chief of the bureau of naval ordnance, and the other by Rear-Admiral Bowles, chief constructor of the navy. Admiral O'Neil prepared his statement before sailing for Europe and it goes into details far more than that of Admiral Bowles. _ In it he says: : "T know of no reason for changing the opinion expressed by me be- fore this committee on Jan. 15, 1901, with reference to submarine torpedo boats of the Holland type. I still regard them as experimental crafts, whose utility for efficient service has yet to be demonstrated, and I am fully convinced that the government would not be justified in contracting for any new boats of this type until those now under contract have been completed, accepted, and thoroughly tested, and until the navy department is thoroughly satisfied as to their utility and recommends the building of additional boats of this type. In my opinion, the Holland boat does not fulfill all the necessary requirements of an efficient instrument of warfare. I believe that the science of submarine or sub-surface navigation is yet in its infancy, and that considerable further development must take' place before it can with propriety be said to have passed beyond the experi- mental stage. Apparently the so-called Holland boats have about reached the limit of development to which boats of this type are susceptible, and if we are to progress in the art efforts should be made: to produce sub- marine or sub-surface boats having fewer limitations than the Holland boats, and this can only be done by throwing the door open to other in- ventors. I think we do not need to do more at present than to give such encouragement as will awaken an interest in the subject, and induce designers and builders to compete with each other in producing the best type of submergible or semi-submergible boat. The possible value of sub- marine boats in driving off a blockading fleet is frequently referred to, but it should be remembered that the surface torpedo boat has already altered the character of blockading operations, and the submarine boat, on ac- count of its lack of speed and its limited scope of action, is less to be feared than a well-handled torpedo boat of ordinary type. Even if I be- lieved that the boats of the Holland type fulfilled all the necessary require- ments, I would not advocate the building of any more of them at this time, as, when all boats now under construction are completed, we shall have fifty-seven torpedo boats of various classes, costing about $10,000,000, exclusive of guns, mounts, torpedoes and torpedo tubes; and it is a well- known fact that we have not officers or men to place them in commission, and that at present we have no adequate means of taking care of boats already completed, to say nothing of those which are to follow. If we should build thirty additional.submarine boats.of the Holland type, as is proposed in house bill No. 13,474,-we should not know what to do with them, and there is every reason to believe that in a few years they would be practically useless. I would suggest that, in order to give a stimulus to the art, the sum of $500,000 be appropriated for the express purpose of enabling the secretary of the navy, in his discretion, to contract for or purchase such submarine or sub-surface torpedo boats as in his judgment are best calculated to meet the requirements of the navy, the object of such appropriation being to encourage builders and designers to compete with each other in the further development of such craft." The statement of Admiral Bowles is of particular interest in that it is embodied in a bill introduced in the house on Wednesday of last week by Representative Capron of Rhode Island; and. indeed, is practically a rough draft of the bill. Admiral Bowles is decidedly opposed to the ac- quisition of submarine boats by the navy, but if congress insists upon making such.additions, he is anxious to limit the departure to experiment. To that end he submitted to the committee the following written sugges- tion: "The secretary of the navy is hereby authorized to procure, in his discretion. four or more submarine torpedo boats of the most approved design, either by purchase or by construction under contract, or in navy yards, at a cost not exceeding $500.000\for all of such boats: provided, that not more than one thereof shall be procured from, nor built upon the designs of, the same individual or companv; atid provided, further, that' the secretary of the navy shall, before purchasing or contracting for any boat in accordance herewith, be satisfied that such boat is. or willbe, sub- stantially more effective as a weapon of war than any of the submarine 'boats heretofore procured or now. under construction for the navy; and the sum of $500,000 is hereby appropriated for this purpose." - _ SUCCESSFULLY USING OIL AS FUEL. : _ Mr. C. H: Ellis, manager of the New Orleans division of the United Fruit Co., writing to the Review regarding the use of fuel oil on the com- August, or as soon as we can spare them from the service. pany's steamships, says:. . _ "We are successfully using oil as fuel on our steamship Breakwater, which has made four trips to Central America, and we contemplate con- verting several more of our steamers during the months of July and Our experi- ence has been that our saving in the cost of this fuel as compared to _ coal, including the amount saved in dispensing with firemen, will reach about 50 per cent. We are burning about four barrels of oil to one ton of coal, and the cost of our oil, delivered at steamer's tanks, is 50 cents per barrel. We expect to reduce this quantity by further experiments and will acquire sufficient knowledge before converting our other steamers to make 'even a greater saving than we are at present." __ We don't quite know what it means, but this is what the Mouvement _ Maritime of Brussels thinks of the Atlantic steamship combination: "In America a. Pierpont Morgan is making use of the dangerous and ultra- modern weapon of a trust to build up for the United States the mer- cantile marine which they have lacked up to now. This brutal, financial BE ete: policy seizes upon and astounds the frogs 'which ¢rodk th the parliamentary.swamps and the mute.white mice of diplomacy, but, whatever may be the future of it, it attains its end in the present, which is" | NEW YORK of course, the essential thing. The frogs and the white mice are very far from comprehending such up-to-date proceedings, and it is perfectly useless to talk to them on the subject." The submarine boat Adder, first of her type in the new series, made her initia! run last week on a course opposite Mt. Vernon. She went over the course several times, both on the surface and submerged. The longest of the submerged runs was about 1% miles. COMPAGNIE GENERALE TRANSATLANTIQUE FRENCH LINE--UNITED STATES AND EUROPEAN MAIL ROUTE. New. York to Havre-Paris in less than one week. Steamers sail from New York every Thursday, at 10 a. m. Company's own yestibuled train from Havre to Paris in four hours. FLEET 70 STEAMERS. In New York service the following gigantic Twin Screw Steamers: "LA LORRAINE" (new) Twin Screw 15,000 tons 22,000 H.P. "LA SAVOIR" new) "o> 1b,000:: "< 22,000. ** "LA TOURAINE" {modern} og "* 10,000 * 12,000 - "L'AQUITAINH"'? (modern) " ee 10,000 16,000 Naval officers command above steamers, insuring the same strict discipline as on a man-of-war. These ships all have double bottoms and water-tight compart- ments, and prescribed routes are taken to avoid fogs. The above steamers contain every modern twentieth century equipment for safety, most luxurious accommoda- tions, and the cuisine is famous. The favorite route of the elite of both continents. For rates, plans and other particulars apply to EUGENE DE BOCANDE, General Agent for United States and Canada, 32 Broadway, New York. MAURICE W. KOZMINSKI, General Western Agent, 71 Dearborn St., CHICAGO, OR TO LOCAL AGENTS. Cabins and + Staterooms of modern vessels especially those in the passenger service should demon- strate the supreme possibilities of the wood finisher's art. | , This demands a special varnish however, as atmospheric conditions are more destructive to varnish afloat than ashore and the ordinary article 'is of but little use. 7 The varnish best adapted to with stand the deleterious influences of wind, wave and weather is "BERRY BROTHERS' SPAR VARNISH." Further particulars and a unique ma:=. rine puzzle sent free for the asKing. Write' us. 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