Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I BATTLE EFFEd'ON SHIPS LESSONS LEARNED IN THE GREAT FIGHT WITH CERVERA’S VESSELS It Ha* Determined Rome Que«tlon« That Will He of Value to iiull.lere of War- ehlpa—The Advaiitaicr* of Rmokelce* Powder—I’tillty of Torpedo Boat*. An officer on the Iowa during the re cent fight off Santiago with Cervera’s ships has written a resume of the ef fect upon the ships and men of the shooting during a battle, which was published in the New York Commer cial Advertiser. He gives his views: This battle will be accepted by some naval experts as the only one of mod ern times that could be counted on for theoretical conclusions of value to the builders of warships. In the Yalu River the inequality of the two sides in character caused students to hesi tate about drawing many inferences from it. It is true we have only em phasized the Yalu lessons in many re spects, but I think we can go ahead with the two together, one checking the other, to say positively that we have learned something. To go back a bit, the ineffectiveness of a fleet against land batteries is de monstrated, I think, by our bombard ment of Ban Juan and Bantiago. We failed to reduce their works. We si lenced them all right enough. As we gained in skill we were able to drive the gunners away very quickly. Rut their silence was only temporary, even when the batteries were weak and the conditions all favorable to our ships; when our guns numbered twenty to one. Everybody knows by this time that the batteries guarding Bantiago harbor are on the bluffs, some of them 200 feet above the water lino. • This unquestionably makes them harder to hit, but it likewise increases the diffi culty of their aim. We found out the difference in the latter respect when the same gunners (probably) came out in the ships. The first broadside from Cervera’s squadron was much more effective than the fire of the shore bat teries, and this despite the fact the range during the bombardment ivas often less than at the opening of the sea fight, when the Spaniards fired so well. The ability of a watchful and effi cient fleet to ward off hostile torpedo boats has been fully brought out. Here we have remained for months blockading a port in which there were always two torpedo boats. Our ships lay sometimes as close in as a mile off the entrance. And several attempts were made by the destroyers to at tack us. None of them got out with out being seen and always they were driven back. Our readiness was the thing. In South American wars tor pedo attacks have been successful several times and the torpedo boats were nowhere near as swift and pow erful as the Spanish destroyers Furor and Pluton. It is safe to say that we have shown that if a man-of-war is to open up instautl, le or nothing to fear from torpedo boats. With the rapid-fire guns a modern vessel can throw a storm of shell into an enemy. A torpedo boat, with her *‘paper" sides, might as well sink her self before starting, so certain is she of destruction. There must be swarms of these boats to have any prospect of success against a modern ship of any size, even when the cir cumstances are most favorable for the attack. Bearchlight tactics were well brought out off the blockade and the great service that they can do. With out the searchlights our fleet could not have* kept the Spaniards penned up. Illuminating, as we did, night af ter night, the entrauce of the harbor by pwingiug the light slowly from side to side over all the water, nothing could have escaped unseen by the picket boats. Then, too, the light was of great service in indicating to the crews .manning the guns just where to direct'the fire. Since it was an invariable rule never to throw the beam of a searchlight on one of our own vessels, there could be no doubt left in the mind of the gun poiuter ns to the hostile c .vter of the ap proaching vessel It eliminated nil the delay and liability of etror to which any verbal orders are so liable. The necessity of a secondary fleet, as it might be culled, was also shown. The number of important and hazard ous missions was so great for these smaller vessels that they were more constantly on the go then the proverb ial fashion butterfly in the height of tne season. The work of these dis patch boats was most exhausting, and care should be taken that they be given great credit for their efficient and valuable services. Indeed, these smaller craft are noted for the lack of space aboard for “idlers." It is obvious, of course, that a large supply fleet is indispensable. A ship can’t run without fuel, and in war times the boilers seem to eat up coal. Nor can a crew, no matter how brave, fight as well hungry as they can on a full stomach. “It is hard work fight ing on cracker hash,” so let there be plenty of supply ships. Our repair ship Vulcan was au indispensable ad junct, and so, of course, was the am munition supply ship. After each en gagement every ship, no matter how little she used, brought her ammuni tion supply up to the limit. The hos pital ship has to a fleet not only the obvious use that makes it a necessity; it gets out of sight the wounded men, and is a comforting thing to know is near at hand. Perhaps one of the most important lessons is the advautage of smokeless powder. With the incessant firing of our ships there was always smoke banging round some part of the ship’s batteries, though we had a gentle breeze and the enemy was to wind ward of nr. Fire from the guns had to b« slackened a.ain and’again, and I doubt if the Colon cacdd have es caped with so liltle punishment if the smoke from the few minutes of firing at the leading ships had not left a cloud which, combined with the firing of the smaller quick-fire guns, pre vented the pointing of the heavier guns. Of course, with a quick fire gun, any temporary lifting of the smoke will give plenty of time to deliver a fire, but with the slower firing turret guns the view must be unimpeded for some time. The smoke from our guns did the enemy no harm either, as some part of the ship was almost bound to protrude, and with this assistance his guns could be laid. Both sides were even in this, however, since, with the exception of the Colon, none of the Bpanish ships had smokeless powder. The Colon did not have any heavy guns in her turrets, as they had not been completed. Wash deck gear, it is said, filled up their turrets, but the turrets could not have been so small as that would imply. The teachings of Mahan about men were fully borne out. The great lesson of the war is the importance of the personnel. Poor men make poor ships. No matter how brave and efficient the officers may be, they cannot fight well with a poor crew. Thirty men, how ever alive cannot infuse their knowl edge and enthusiasm into 550 others. The officers may make the men stand up at the guns and prevent them from jumping overboard by closing the half ports and by other means, but they cannot cause other than real men-of- war’s men to put up a good fight. No wonder that the crews of some of the Spanish ships wanted to jump over board on coming out of the harbor. All the men were conscripts, and 600 had been impressed just before the departure of the fleet from the Can aries. It is said that all the jails there were opened and the malefactors taken aboard the Bpanish ships. Yon can force a man aboard ship, but you can’t force him to fight. lt«al Oem of the Antllle*. It Cuba be the “Pearl of the Antil les,” which is open to doubt, Porto Rico is its diamond, its ruby, its Koh- i-noor, the most precious stone in the carcanet which Bpanish luck and en terprise plucked from the misty, mys terious regions of the West four cen turies ago. It is inferior to Cuba only in the attribute of size. In fer tility of soil, iu salubrity of climate, in strategic position and in the char acter of its people, which, after all, is the most serious condition confronting any country which desires to annex or govern the West Indies, it is far su perior. It is, indeed, well worth hav ing, which cannot be said of every colonial possession on the rent-roll of Bpain. Porto Rico lies at the Windward end of the Antillean chain. it is 2000 miles distant from some parts of Cuba, which shows that it runs a long way to the east. It affords an excel lent vantage for control of the Carib Sea trade. It is so far out into the Atlantic that the establishment of a in its stoil wonld be * of immense advantage to our ships hi case of' further troubles with Euro pean nations. It is capable of grow ing sugar, coffee, fruits and other tropio staples in the greatest abun dance. In proportion to size it has paid Bpain more money than any other one of its colonies. Its climate is tolerable in summer, delightful in winter, and healthful always. Its air lacks the enervating quality common to the atmosphere of lands farther to the weit. It has lain for eons smiling iu a setting of blue and waiting only a touch of Northern energy to make it the fairest island of all the seas.— Chicago Times-Herald. The Or<*K<>n'* Speed In Battle. With every gun, except one thirteen- inch in the after turret, blazing forth, the Oregon is represented iu a letter received in Washington as rushing for ward out of the bunch of ships, and, in ten .minutes after the start, taking the next place to the Brooklyn in the big race. From that time on she was under forced draught all the time, and mak ing higher speed than she had ever recorded while in the service. At some periods of the race the big vessel is be lieved to have been going according to her engineers, over sixteen knots, which tallies with Captain Eulate’s statements that no battleship making only fifteen knots could possibly have kept up with the fast Colon, with her high-powered engines. Raymond Rodgers, the executive of the Indiana, writes that when the Ore gon came racing across his bow it was the grandest sight he ever witnessed. She charged right down, he says, on the Spanish fleet, letting go first at one vessel and then the other, and all the time carrying a great white bone in her teeth that told of her engine power and great burst of speed. All the time she‘was running men were work ing on one of the after thirteen-inch guns, while the other was being fired right alongside in the turret.—Boston Journal. Prim* MlnUtfm of the Onltirr. There have been nineteen Primo Ministers of Britain in the present century. Of these two only are now living—Lord Salisbury, who is 6-, and Lord Rosebery, who is 51. Sr v Prime Ministers, including Mr. Glad stone, have attained 80 years. t,or | Sidmouth died at 87. tho Duke oj Wellington at 83, Earl Grey an d Gold Palmerston at 81 and Earl U.i a 86. Four died iu»the’70s—the Duke of Portland at 71, Lord Ripuu at 77. Lord Aberdeen and Lord Beacon*.i > ,i *t 76. Three in the ’60s—Lo .1 Gieu- ville at 76, Sir Robert Peel at 62 au-l Lord Derby at 69. Three i-i the '.ills —Mr. Percival at 58, Lord Liverpool at 58 and Mr. Canning at 57; a id one in the ’40-- Mr. Pitt at 47. **efc*GoeieieieieK GOOD ROADS NOTES. Good Country Hoad*. “The great secret of success in road making and road-keeping is to drain the roads, and keep the roads drained by keeping the ditches open,” writes John Gilmer Speed on “Howto Have Goed Country Roads,” in the Ladies’ Home Journal, “The old method was to run a plow through the side ditches and throw the disturbed soil, sod and all, in the middle of the road. There it would stay till a heavy rain came to wash this soil back into the ditches and fill them np again. If there were money enough this kind of thing would be done over and over again, as often as four times in a year. Where there were wet spots broken stone or gravel would bo placed in the road and left for the passing wagons to wear this metal into ruts. The money spent was absolutely thrown away. “By the new process all the road- mender needs to do is to provide ditches and outlets for them, and then so shape the road that the water falling in rainstorm will run off at once into the ditches. The water must not be suf. fered to run in the road, but off the road. The rainfall, being thus simply and effectively disposed of, becomes a most beneficial instead of a destructive agent; it cleans, and shapes, and hard ens the roadway, instead of washing it away and deepening the ruts. When there are wet places, such as springs, in the roadway, gravel and broken stone will not cure such things. The water mast be drained off underneath the roadway and into the ditches by means of pipe or blind-drains. The whole thing is so simple that any one can easily master the principles and put the details into practical opera tion.” The Coat of Hill Taxea. The tax we have to pay becaase the original cattle tracks and paths led abruptly up and down over hills seems to be as immovable as the hills themselves which cause it. Immense sums would be eventually saved if many hill roads were re-located. In learning how to improve our high ways and to construct new ofies, it is well to learn where lines should run, in order to ensure economy in grades and reduce the tax on time, strength, wear and tear and maintenance caused by hills. Writing on this subject in the Port land Industrial Journal, Mr, 8. D. Gray tells of roads over hills which “must not be gone around because our fathers traveled them and we may as well be foot-sore as they." He cites a case “in which both town and county commissioners refused to act. This road was two miles in length with eight ragged hills, four of them unsafe to ride up or down. All these! hills could have been avoided and a I level road made for less than $1000. that would pay for itself in ten years. The old hills a till remain. What wei need js an understanding pot how build our roads ITnt to say where roads can an4 should be built.” To Improve Koade In Loutalnna. The new constitution of Loniaiana allows the Police Juries “to set aside at least one mill per anuum of the taxe levied by them, and to impose a p capita tax of uot more than one dolli per annum upon each able-bodied mail inhabitant and to levy au annual li-^ cense of not less than twenty-five ceuts nor more than one dollar per anuum upon each vehicle, including bicycles, kept aud used for locomotion” for the purpose of “constructing, maintaining aud repairing the public roads and bridges of their parishes.” Wonld Increase Driving;. An officer of a carriage company ex presses himself iu favor of four-inch tires as the narrowest that should he used for a wagon carrying more than 800 pounds and says, “we think it would be very hard, indeed, to esti mate the benefit to bo derived by the vehicle industry from wide‘tires or good roads. We believe that anything that would add to the pleasure of driv ing wonld benefit tbo carriage indus try, and the improvement of roads would certainly add much to this pleas ure.” The castle of Heidelberg i« lir?est ia Antl-Kut I’nrnzrnpha. , Eight-inch tires are to bo put on the sprinkling carts which will be used to water the new speedway in New York. Since Massachusetts began to build State highways, over one hundred steam-rollers have been purchased by towns in the State. Adjustable iron tires for heavy wagn^s can be bad in suitable widths and be easily put on, thereby con verting the ordinary road destroyer into a road improver. A road that receives little care soon shows wheel tracks and rats. It it was constantly swept and frequently scraped both of those would be oblit erated, and drivers would not follow so constantly in the same tracks, to the great detriment of the road. There has been much complaint re garding tho poor condition of the country roads about Lebanon, Penn , aud now Colonel A. Frank Seltzer, acting district attorney, has notified all the township supervisors that un less they place the roads in first-class condition and place in position suit able sign-boards he will have them in dicted. Three essentials of modern road building are the road-machine, for grading, shaping and preparing the road-bed; the stone-crusher, which may often advantageously be portable, with outfit for breaking the stone, and an efficient road-roller, preferably a steam-roller of about twelve tons’ weight. These are at the bottom of economical macadam road construe- lion. SHOWED HE HAD NERVE. The Sealer Went to Piece* Bat the Ch: Bo'oan'* Mate Didn’t. An American sealing vessel bo for Japan and thence to the A leu sealing waters, got onto the P™ Frigate Shoals, a couple of miles off the Hawaiian Islands, years ago, and began to go to An American man-o’-war, J soundings down in that neig^ sighted the wrecked though the sea was terri r/< ing hood, and, a boat’s crew, under the leadersb^^of the chief bo’san’s mate, was put/bff from the warship to succor th# sealer’s crew. The chief bo’sun’s m/te was not a man notable for nerve, lie had, in fact, shown the white fimher in two or three mix-nps he Mad with other chief petty^officers of hia ship, and he had lost prestige among the men forward for this reason. When the man-oPwai* boat got within a hundred feet or so of the sealer, which was rapidly going to pieces, the crew of the succoring boat saw, with considerable disgast, that all hands aboard the sealer, including the skipper, were boiling drunk, and were standing maundering to one an other, waiting for the last lurch of their ship, instead of making an effort to clear the life-boats of the davits. It wasi^possible for the warship’s boat to 4^t alongside the wrecked sealer on account of the giant seas. The chief bo’sun’s mate, who had hiterto lacked the nerve to take his own part in fo’e’sle squabbles, didn’t intend to let it go at that, however. He leaped suddenly into the sea, and he had a navy pistol stuck into the bosom of his mustering shirt when he leaped. When he drew near to the distressed sealer the seas slammed him against the ship’s side time and again before he was able to clutch at a rail chain to pull himself aboard. He succeeded in chmbing aboard finally, however, and then he made a race forward to where tho crew, including the skipper and mates, were hudled around a rum cask, soaking themselves. Tho chief bo’sun’s mate hopped into the middle of the gang of drunkards, whipped out his big navy pistol, and made the bluff of his life. The bluff went “Cat away the boats, ye sots, and take a chance or I’ll put an ounce of lead into every dog of ye!” he yelled. He covered the crew with his gun as he spoke, and his attitude sobered the men. They lumbered out of the fo’o’sle, and, despite their half-help- condition, they got two longboats clear of the davits, and all hands, nineteen men iu all of the sealer’s crew, got at the oars in the nick of time. The bo’san’s mate went along in one of the longboats, and, followed by the man-o’- ^ s boat, they all made for the merican warship, which was hove to qnarter of a mile away. The sealer ent to pieces ten minntes after the irew had left her. The crew was taken Honolulu by the warship. The chief I’suu’e mate was afterward regarded iy his shipmates as a man who could inly be carried along a certain num- »er of knots.—New York Sun. !T Mexico in Pamfraph*. The population of Mexico is 12,- >)9,949. A total of 749 trade marks have been egistered since 1890. One hundred and fifty patents were ssued daring the year. The number of marriages in Mexico iverages a little over 50,000 a year. ‘In the last twenty years the exports Mexico have increased 400 per nt. There are over 66,000 kilometers of egraph wires and nearly 20,000 kil- imeters of telephone wires in Mexico. There is still room for a few more settlers. The average number of population per square kilometer is less than seven. The republic boasts of seventeen museums, eighty-three libraries with 457,431 volumes, and thirty scientific and literary societies. Seven hundred and sixty-two kilo meters of railroad were built during the year, making the total length for the republic 12,157 kilometers. The value of the gold, silver and copper coined by Mexico during the last seventeen years averages about $26,000,000 a year, quite evenly dis tributed during this period. There are 531 periodicals published it Mexico. Forty-eight are daily news papers, 223 are weeklies and ninety- two are published monthly. Seven are printed in English, two iu French and one in German. There exist iu the republic thirty- four colonies; thirteen established by the Government containing nearly 7000 colonists and twenty-one colonies es tablished by companies or authorized persons with colonists numbering over 4000. There are in Mexico 11,512 schools. Of these 5852 are sustained by the States, 3212 by cities and 2442 are pri vate schools. Of the total 6027 are for males, 3104 are for females and 2381 are mixed. The actual attend ance at these schools was 490,746, and the amount appropriated for the sup port of public schools nearly five aud a half million dollars.—Modern Mex ico. A Porcelain Honse. Japan, it seems, intends sending to the Paris Exhibition a huge house, hexagonal in shape, and composed en tirely of porcelain. It measures sev eral' yards in circumference, and its weight will not be less than 'seventy tons. From the artistic point of view, according to the several models al ready finished, it will be exquisite. It is estimated that the cost of making it will be about $10,000.—London Chronicle. One Way to Protect Pratt. To protect fruit from birds the use of ordinary chimney soot is recom mended. It should be plentifully dusted over the bushes and boughs, aud the birds will not touch the fruit. Overfeeding Before Working. Whenever a working team has an unusually hard job it is the habit of some farmers to feed it extra, thus giving its stomach an additional labor, and thus lessening available present strength. It ought always to be re membered that it is the food eaten the day before, and for days and weeks before that, which is available for present strength. No animal ought to be expected to work on an empty stomach. But a light feed before au extra bard job is better than loading the stomach with more than it re quires. Value of Bee* to OrchardDU. Some years ago a great hue and cry was raised iu certain sections of the country over the assertion that bees ate holes in the fruit aud caused it to decay. Experiments innumer able have been made proving the folly of such a statement. In one instance bees were kept in a room where there were dishes of all sorts of fruit, in cluding grapes, peaches, plums and pears. It was noticeable that the fruits that had the skin broken were visited by the bees, but in no case was there any evidence that they troubled the whole fruit. The value of bees to fruit growers can scarcely be overestimated. Some years ago a place was leased to a tenant who kept a few colonies of bees. In one corner of the yard was a large and thrifty- looking apple tree .that always bore an abundance of blossoms, but no fruit. A number of colonies of bees were placed underneath this tree, and much to the surprise of the owner of the place, the tree was loaded with ex tremely fine apples, something that had never occurred before within the ttemory of the man who had owned the place for twenty-five years. The next season the bees were distributed under trees that had not been in the habit of bearing freely. The most aurprising results followed, the trees being full of very fine specimens of fruit. If the blossoms on an apple, plum or pear tree are covered up and the bees are kept away from them un til the blossoming season is past there will be no fruit. This has been tested again aud again. —New York Ledger. A Detachable Poultry-Coop. The top can be used early in the sea son for the hen and chicks, setting the top right on the ground, one end be ing boarded np. The four sidepieces go together with two screws at each corner. With the top hinged on with leather hinges it becomes a coop for the chicks as they become large in late Giagcr in Mexico. Ginger is a tropical production of Mexico, where it grows wild. It has been cultivated from an ear y period in tropical Asia. summer. It &n be taken apart and stowed away for winter. A great many make the mistake of keeping the chicks through the summer in the same small coops they were placed in when hatched. These small quarters soon become crowded, the air becomes poor at night and the chicks cease to thrive. Have good substauial coops into which the broods can be placed when weaned from the hens, keeping fresh loam upon the floor, and later patting one or more fiat roosts across from side to aide, thus getting the yonng things familiar with goingtoroost by thetime they are put in the winter poultry quarters.—New York Tribune. Rye For Pasture. Rye may be sown for pasture either in the fall or in the early spring. Its Inaction as a forage plant is to re place or supplement the dry fall pas ture grass, and to afford snocnlent forage in the early spring before the grass is ready to be pastured. For this purpose it is best sown in the fall. If sown about September 1 it will afford good pasture in the late fall when most of the other forage plants have saccnmbed to frost. To obtain the best results with milch cows this pasture should be supplemented with other feed. In the spring it affords more luxuriant forage and may be pas tured as soon as the land is fit to torn the cattle on (T. L. ;Lyon, Bulletin S3, Nebraska Experiment Station.) It ia eaten with relish by stock np to the time of blossoming. After that time the stalks are too woody to be relished by stock. If it is desired to nse it for pasture later than this, it should be sown in the spring. By sowing rye it is pos- Bible to use land for er.rly pastnr plow it up and use for a summer cro or for summer pasture with anoth forage crop. Seed at the rate of ox and a half to two bushels to the acr either with a press drill or broadcas After the plants are up, keep the su face of the soil loose with the barrov Do not pasture in the fall until ti plants have become well eatablishec Many dairymen object to rye pastui on the grounds that it gives an ni pleasant taste to the milk and buttei It seems possible to remove this ot jection by taking the cattle off the ry two or three hoars before milking an by feeding something in .addition t the rye.—American Agriculturist. Keeping Well Water Cool. In view of the comfort wkic] comes from a well of cold water dur ing the hot weather on farms when ice is not put up, it is worth thi while to do all in one’s power to keei the sun’s beat out of the well. Fev realize the amount of heat that goet down into a well of water through th« platform that snrronnds the pump. It can be partly realized by going up into a close attic under the roof, some hot day. As a matter of fact, closed air spaces beneath boarding that is exposed to the bright sun be ll P 1 * * * ^ is:: A PROTECTION FOB THE FARM WELL. come fearfully heated, and in the case of wells this heat is soon trans mitted to the water. A double plat form, with an air space between, will help greatly, but best of all is a sum mer house, or regular closed well house, built over the platform, aud this in turn covered with vines. Not only will such a little house serve an excellent purpose in keeping the well cool, but it will be an ornament to the place, as well, and as a ^wmnater- ’ house” may become a most agreeable place to spend an hour on a hot day. Woodbine is one of the best vines to use in covering such a house, as it provides abnndant shade very quick ly, and is hardy even in the coldest climates. A few little things like this done about the farm each year will soon greatly improve the looks of the farm surroundings, and will de cidedly increase the comforts of farm life. A suggestion for such a house is given herewith. Weaning Pig*. The highest success in growing pigs requires care as well as suitable feed and breeding. There is no more criti cal period in the life of the young ani mal than when it is deprived of its moth er’s milk. This is nature’s ration that so exactly meets the wants of the young animal that the problem of furnishing a substitute for it is most important aad difficult. So long as* the young things have an ample sup ply of milk from a dam that is in good health and well fed we find the growth is fapid and the form shows a harmoni ous growth of muscle and bone. As soon as the supply of mother’s milk falls below tho amount required tt> meet the increasing demand of the growing pigs we note a change in the hair, the form and proportions of the pigs showing that the supply of feed from the dam and other sources is not complete in kind or quantity, The problem of the skilful feeder ' now is to supplement the mother’s milk with such food as will insnre natural growth and not overtax the stomach or digestive powers of the pigs. Overfeeding is a common fault when extra feed is furnished young pigs. They have been in the habit of taking their milk warm and often. But we cannot afford the time or expense to imitate the dam’s supply, so we can only approximate and take the hint of supplying food as near like the mother’s milk as we can, and as often as con venient. Most of us can feed three times a day and in such quantity as will be eaten up clean. The stomach is easily deranged by too much feed or by that which is unsound and fer mented. It is easier to prevent de rangement of the stomach than to cor rect it. If a little judgment is used in always having the troughs clean, free from filth or stale, leftover, sour feed, and the feed is sound and sweet, we can gradually bring the pigs on to snob feed as the farm supplies. Almost every farm has at this season of the year a surplus of skim milk. This of itself is not a complete substitute for sow’s milk, but if we add to it corn- •meal or wheat middlings we have a ration that so nearly meets the wants of the growing pig that if fed sweet and sound ib clean troughs and in ju dicious amounts we will find the feed aoeeptable and not followed by de rangement of appetite or digestion.— Breeders’ Gazette.