fHE : OREGON STODAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1916.
EFFICIENCY OF NAVY
1146 MERCHANTMEN
SUNK IN 22 MONTHS
EXPRESSES PRIDE IN NAVY
r SAYS
No Advance
in Prices
RECORD DISCLOSES!
j
Tonnage Destroyed Since War:
Began Totals 2,306,230; !
More Than Half British,
This Is Triangle's
Greatest War Story
ADMIRAL GEO. DEWEY
Head of General Board De
clares Charges of Demor-ii - ''";::
auz.cuiuu nic nuouiui
PROGRAM IS INDORSED
NEUTRALS' LOSS IS 218
jswxr Benaie navy jsiu o b amwt
Of tb STilpB Xrttroyd Mora Than
600 Wore Victim of Sabmarin
Attack and 300 of Via.
ETir Fuiil and Qlvea
Kttioni Why.
EVER
HIGHER
1 1
-5.' r" '.'? svr ' -ft.' ' -s'a in
1 1:--; jiy
I ?S ' ' M -
1 "Sxl
liy (ieorp Creel.
For two years and more the United
States navy has beeii the subject of
HscusNion as biter as It Is contused.
The people of the United Stuti's are
entitled to the truth, and lie who
peaks authoritatively must bo free
from the slightest suspicion of political
bias or peieonal prejudice. Ons man
vimj lumcui iza lu i nrr n pi.i n iv '
tlon. That man Is Admiral George i
I"ewey. , He has been In the navy of
the United States since 1854, serving j
mrougn iw. wars, wine iu3 ne nas
been" head rl the general hoard, pa icing
11 ixri naval dife'tn, nnval needs and
naval plan My law h is exc-:ipted
from the Uhiial retirement pro virions,
and If he ooe.i decide to retire. It will
be of his pwii volition and at fu' pay.
Admiral Deway Speaks.
I found him In Atlarftlc City, In a
Krwi wtria swciji room mui iuuhcu uui
over the sea. His hlr has whitened, :
but otherwise he Is but little changed
by the years that have passed since
the wonderful day he returned from
Manila t0 hear the shoute of a nation.
The same clear, steadfast eyes, the
ame tremendou simplicity, itie same
faith In America!
"The attacks that have been made
linnn lha nouv " li a maA "urn u f U I di
i many of them are shameful. It Is
not a Junk heap. There la no demoral
ization. Both In material and person-
nel, we are more efficient today than
ever before. Our ships are a.s xcod as '
any, our officers are as good as any,;
and our, enlisted mn are the fin- j
est In the world.
"It Is true that we have not enough j
htps or enough men. But navies are j
not built in a day. It was between i
.. 1 ;.l . J lng that this expenditure of millions on
a naval power. This is in no sense a j
criticism of administrations. Congi ess, i
after all, expressed public sentimtnt In
Admiral George Dewey, head of the general board of the
States navy.
western and middle west states a feel-
the navy was a departure from Ameri
can traditions, a hysterical sunender
to the mad nets that has had liold on
ir,r, rrrt. nnri tua rn urvn r -tr innAi I Kings, His fine head nodded appre-
was heenns'e the r,ennle wnl,l the elation of every point
drop. The t commendations of the gen
eral board went unheeded because they
were not backed up by public op.nion.
Until 1914, people were thinking tn
terms of world peace. It Is different
today, and it is today that should con
cern us."
JTavaJ BUI Warmly Praised.
He walked over to his deBlt and
taking up copy of the snat2 navy
bill, (this Is the bill that passed the
house Wednesday) and spread It over
before him. For a moment, as If
to measure his words, he tapped
It with a big brown forefinger and
then be continued:
"This la the best hill ever passed
by cither hotiso of any congress. It
takes the fife-year program o' the
general board and changes It Into a
three-year program. Its passage will
i rtatore us to second place and enable
In the world save
the United States
terms ajy power
one."
1 asked him then for a consideration
of the bill, or, rather, some such analy
sis as would permit a civilian io do a
little thinking for himself. FV.nently
enough he went over each Hem:
"Four battleships at once, and six
more within three years." Now he was
firmly on his own ground, hi words
came like bullets. "The great clash at
the mouth of the Skagerrack ge a
test to evrry theory. Aa a result, naval
authorities are now agreed thj-l the
battleship is avtlll the principal reli
ance of navies. -As never before, it la
proved that victory or defeat rests, with
the dreadnought.
Mora Xyaa for the rieat.
"Four battle cruisers at once, and two
more within three years. Th! will
remedy oni of our chief weaknesses.
Nothing Is more neces,ary than au
adequate information service to pro
vide early and continuous intelligence
of an enemy'a movements. This Is the
function of the battle cruiser. Also, In
addition to sreed and endurance, she
has great offensive power, so th9t, if
called upon, she can fight for infor
mation and break through a hostile
acreen. Aside from offering security
and Information to the main body of
battleships, the battle crulaar can be
used to protect ea routes, both mili
tary and commercial, and can aid the
battleships In general action by taking
up a favorable torpedo position where
her 'speed and heavy guns will be ef
fective. The Skagerrack proves con
clusively, however, that the battle
cruiser cannot glva and take with
dreadnoughts'.
"Soout crulaera four, and six mert to
come. More eyes for the fleet. Abso
lutely necessary."
After placing a matter of fact "O.
K." on the three fuel ahlps, tho two
ammunition ships, the hospital ship, a
repair ship and a transport, alo the
two gunboats and various tender, he
moved to the submarines.
"Like the battla cruiser," ha aald.
"the submarine haa been permitted to
gain a very exaggerated value. It la,
of course, a most "useful auxiliary,
whose importance will no doubt In
crease, but at present there la no evi
dence that It will become supreme. The
bill provides for nine fleet subm-iines,
three coast submarines, 800 ton type,
and 65 submarines, smaller typo, pro
visions that are in line with the rec
ommendations of the genral board.
"A feature of the Skagerrack engage
ment," ha continued, "waa the convinc
ing demonstration of the usefulness of
the destroyer. These tiny aihlpa. pri
marily designed to serve the purpose
of a acreen, to be outriders for the big
ahlps. have been regarded aa Incapable
of attacking first-class shlpa in the
daytime. Under cover of darkness or
fog. the destroyers were intended to
creep in on the dreadnoughts, fire
their torpedoes and then dash for safe
ty. The German destroyer descended
upon tha British fleet In broad day
light, and tha destroyers of both fleet
played an Important part in tha light
ing;. We feel that tha bill's provision
for 60 destroyers la amply Justified.
So!" ha turned In tha chair and clapped
bis hands together. "It la a bill that
dreg us strength and, best of nil, a
. bill that give us balance. A great
navy and truly proportioned!"
t' JTaad for Ifaval Xaereaae.
;i Granting all that," I said, "but
What about tha need of It?" Aa careful
j If , and - fairly as , possible, I presented
, tha feeling of many peopla In many
but at the end
he spread wide his hands In a sweep
ing gesture of dissent.
"I know that I am not a militarist,"
he said. "Those who have never seen
war, or who have only played at war,
may talk in" terms of Jingoism, but men
who know what war is, and what war
does, are the last in the world to ap
proach It In any swashbuckling fash
ion. I hope the day will come when
peace and Justice rule the wor'd. but
that day Is not yet here. Not ail our
Idealism can brush away facts. If
we are to dwell in peace, we must bt
able to protect that peace."
He walked to the open wlndiw and
pointed to the shining stretches of the
sea. "Look at our coast line? From
Maine to the canal; from the canal to
Alaska! Russia has had to maintain
two distinct fleets, one In the Baltic,
one In the Black sea. Our problem is
much the same. We cannot be said to
New York, Aug. 19. In the first 22
months of the European war there was
destroyed by submarines, mines, cruis
ers, and other war craft a total of 1146
merchant vessels of a total tonnage of
2,306,230, and to this toll Great Britain i
contributed 1,381,126 tons.
The story of what the war has meant
to the sea traders of all nations is
told In a little book recently compiled
In Holland by Blom & Van Der Aa, i
Amsterdam marine underwriters. This
j dook is saia 10 contain me name hi 1
every ship of the merchant class j
known to have been destroyed In the ,
first 22 months of the war. Since the,'
book was printed ships totaling an I
additional 100,000 tons have been de-
Careful Record Is Kept.
"When the war broke out in 1914."
says the book, "we found it desirable
to keep a special record of those ves
sels which were lost or sustained
heavy damage In consequence of the
war. W'e give copies of these records
to some of our business friends at their
request, which requests have gradually
become so numerous that we decided
to have all our lists printed, after a
thorough revision."
Of the ahlps destroyed more than
600 were the victims of submarine at
tacks, over 300 others went down as
the result of contact w.ith submarine
1 1 and floating mines, one, the British
freighter Franz Fischer, was the victim
i of a Zeppelin, another, the British
trawler Nimrod, was destroyed by a
United bomb dropped from a German aero
I plane, 20 others were set on fire as
a result of shells fired from deck guns
i on German submarines, scores were
years, he said at last, rising to his Eunk by reKular and auxiliary corn
feet and holding out his haul. "But ; merce-destroying men-of-war, while in
I want the people of the United States i mor(, than . of casea the vessel
simply disappeared somewhere at sea
and was never heard of again.
Lualtania Xeads the 1,1st.
to know that it is all right wi .h the
navy. There Is no demoralization, no
lack of discipline, no absence of en
thusiasm. The navy has never failed
America, It will not fall."
As I went away I stepped more
proudly than at any other tim- In my
whole life. I had shaken the bind of
Admiral Gorge Dewey.
ANGLO-FRENCH DRIVE
THREATENS KAISER'S
HOLD ON 5 VILLAGES
(Continued From Pi (re On.)
to meet on equal i have met our defensive needs until
we are able to maintain a fleet i.i the
Pacific ocean as well as in tho ..tlan
tic. Our geography, the Immensity of
our coast line. Join to make the senate
navy bill a minimum requirement. No,
no!" he exclaimed. "We must ac
cept conditions as we find them, al
though this does not mean that we are
to give up hope of changing the condi
tions. "Given this Increase," he de lared,
"given the t-hips and men that this bill
provides and the United StaUs, as
never before, will be a peace power,
able at all times to protect and io ad
vance Its standards. Kvery cent op
proprlatod 1 y this bill is payment on
an Insurance poUcy."
Demoralisation Charges Untrue.
"Tell m?. Admiral Dewey," and I
braced myself for the momentous
question: "Has Secretary Dan:e,s de
moralized the navy?"
"Bosh!" 'ihe exclamation waw one
of disgust and Indignation. "Fic" and
figures tell their own story. Tn navy
was D000 short of the number ot en
listed men allowed by law; over 6000
have been added, although more rlgfd
examinations have forced the 'ejec
tion of flvo out of every six. Only
52 per cent of honorably discharged
eamen were re-enlisting. For mofe
than a year about 90 per cent have
re-enllsted. Desertion. have beon cut
In half and discipline has been im
proved to an extent that has permitted
the restoration of a prison ship and a
disciplinary barracks to normal uses.
No, sir, the navy is not demoralized
and those who make the charge are
guilty of falsehood and misrepresenta
tion. "
"What about the famous drinking or
der?" "A good thing." His answer was In
stant. "There was some feeling about
It at first, because the papers made
fun of It, and there was also an at
tempt to make It appear that Secre
tary Daniels waa charging ofiicers
with intemperance. I think that the
feeling has disapepared completely.
Every railroad, every great corporation
has long had an Iron clad rule forbid
ding men to drink while on duty. Isn't
a ship as Important as a locomotive?
Practically every European power has
copied the order, by the way.
Efficiency Zs Declared.
"As I told you, I have been in the
navy since 1854. Against the slanders
that have been heaped upon the service
thot I love, I want to say again that
never In my knowledge has tiie mate
rial and personnel been so efficient. The
last few year have been very wonder
ful years for the United States navy."
For an hour ha swept through a rec
ord of amazing achievement, rarely
pausing to look at his notes, never let
ting down for a second. The invention
and Installation of anti-aircraft guns,
the utilization of the discarded Unvy
yard at Pensacola as an aeronautic
statlonr and training school; the crea
tion of a definite division of mining
and mine sweeping; the reorganization
of the radio service and the ut of
wireless telephony; the Increase of the
navy's powder, output from. 3.000,000
to 8,000,000 pounds a year; the Instal
lation Of electric propulsion on the
three new battleships; radio equipment
for submarines; the unprecedented In
crease in the navy's stores of ammu
nition; the new emphasis put upon the
war college with Its study of strategy;
experiments with submarines' and air
craft; so it went on until I gave up
the attempt toY follow,
"This la uiore than X have talked for
The four best known ships in the
long list are the Cunarder Lusltania,
the French liner Provence, the North
German Lloyd liner Kaiser Wllhelm
der Grosse, and the Arabic of the
I White Star line. The Provence and
XVrll&CI vv iiiieixii uci U1UBOC cic i
the naval service when destroyed and
more than 1200 French soldiers went
to their death on the Provence. The
loss of non-combatant life was, of
course, greatest on the great Cunarder
Lusltania, and among the victims were
more than 100 American citizens.
The ships of more than 8000 tons
which have been destroyed or serious
ly damaged as indicated in the Dutch
records are as follows:
Name and Nationality. Tonnage.
Alcantara. British 15,831
i Ancona, Italian 8,2 11
Arabic British 15,801
I Armenia, British 8.825
Can Trafalgar. German 18,71.1
Glengyle. British 9,393
:i,b3
and partly admitted by Berlin, a few
hours after Petrograd officially re
ported the beginning of a new Rus
sian drive on Kovel. The Russians
broke through the enemy's position on
the Stochod northeast of Kovel and
made a considerable advance, captur
ing the village of Toboly. The Ger
mans, howevpr Annnnni'Ari tHo Hafaa, i Hesperian. British
of the Russians in the southern Pripet - Wllhelm der Gross. German. . 13.95 J
, . - ,, .7 'Koenigin Emma, Holland 9.181
J."c "i JMajica i La (-orrentlna, British 8.529
La Province. French 13.753
hill, and the Russian war office ad
mitted a slight retirement in the ex
treme northeast of the Bukowina
frontier.
News of the British successes on
the Somme front electrified London
tonight. The official reports from
General Halg last midnight carried no
idea of the Importance of the fighting,
though they recorded gains in the di
rection of Guillemont and Ginchy.
Victories Coma aa Surprise.
This afternoon's official statement,
reporting British advances on several
sectors of a six mile front, the cap
ture of the western outskirts of
Guillemont village, and an advance on
a two mile front southwest of the 1 et tne ships
Foureaux wood, came as a distinct sur- I were repaired
prise.
In preparation for the advance the
whole German front from Ovillers to
the Somme was bathed In a steady
nine hour downpour of explosives and
shrapnel. The bombardment attained
its greatest violence In the region of
Foureaux wood, where the largest
Lusitania. British .In. 396
Maloja. Bnitish 12.431
Minneapolis, British 13,543
Noordam, Dutch 12.531
Norseman. British 9,543
Oceanic, British 17,274
Royal Edward. British 11.117
Ryndam. Dutch 12,527
Tubantla. Dutch 13,911
Van Dyck, British 10,328
Wayfarer. British 9.59J
Yasaka Maru, Japanese 10,932
Of the above sh!ps the Dutch liners
Noordam and Ryndam, both of which
were in the New York-Rotterdam serv
Ice, struck mines In the North Sea. In
both instances the crews managed to
into port, where they
The cause of the sink
ing of the Dutch liner Tubantia '
given In the record as due to a torpedo
attack, a charge that has been repeat
edly denied by the Berlin government.
American Vessels Destroyed.
The American vessels destroyed in
the course of the war are given as
follows :
number of German guns are said to1 Name and Date. Tonnage.
be concentrated. lUarib. Feb. 23. 1915 2.807
The advance began on the British ! Fvelyn. Feb. 19. 1915 1.93
left wing, with Australians and units ! "reenbrier. March 4 191 n 3.331
of the new army charging the German ! 'f!"8-!1. on ini? n1
I W. P. Frye. Jan. 28. 1915 3,374
The recapitulation of total losses by
trenches north of Ovillers
The Germans were thrown back on I
a front of at least half h mile at this'
point, straightening out the British j
line and pressing In the ring being i
drawn around Thlepval village, whose
fortifications have held up the British j
advance.
Martinpulch Zs Shelled.
Other detachments, cooperating in I
this attack, carried German trenches
east and southeast of Moquet wood,
despite heavy concentration of Ger
man infantry at this point. As the
battle sprtad toward the Somme, Bjit-J
Ish troops east of the Bapaume-Albert
highway leaped out in an attack i
against the German lines defending'
Martinpulch. They stormed and cap-
countries is as follows:
Country.
Great Britain
Germany
France
Russia
Italy
69
, 67
, 35
24
Brlgium 12
Japan .".
A ustria-Hungary 6
Turkey 12
Portugal 1
No.
Ships. Tonnage.
.. 684 1.419.58J
177,530
162,41
42,349
49,197
22.931
19,2;7 i
10.824 '
11,381 i
620
Holland 43
Norway 90.
Sweden 4 5
Ienmark 33
Greece 10
United States 6
Spain 4
Roumania 1
Persia 1
tured several hundred yards of an ! aunk or destroyed.
enemy trench before they were
checked by German fire. The advance
brought the British lines within easy
striking distance of Martinpuich,
which is being shelled from the
heights of Pozieres.
Kast of the Foureaux wood the
whole British line rushed forward,
driving the Germans from first one
and then another line of trenches un
til the western outskirts of Guille
mont were firmly hld and the Ger
man positions at Ginchy and Mau re-
pas made almost untenable.
The German war office, in admit
ting a retirement between Maurepas
and Guillemont. paid tribute to the
valor of the German troops who re
ceived what was described as a "stu
pendous effort" by the combined
forces of the allies on a 12 mile front
north of the Somme.
Beals Will Reveal
'Weather Secrets'
Totals 913 1,916,096
Of the above ships only 36 remainod
afloat long enough to reach port, wh-re
they were repaired. All others we.e
The toll of neutral shlpa, lost as ;t
result of the war, Is as follows:
Country. No. ships. Tonnage.
131,333 i
131.4SS I
49,999 i
35,605 1
1 7,4 77 !
14,583 j
8,60'j i
283 !
.758 !
Totals 233 390,134
Of the neutral vessels 15 were towed
into port and repaired, the total ton
nage of the rescued ships being 64,575.
Aadraaa to Be (Mvam Before Rotary
Club XToon ZiOnchaon Sext Tuesday;
Work on Vtw Fountain Under Way.
How does the United States weather
bureau forecast the weather know
when it will rain or when the skies
will be clear? EM Ward A. Beals, United
States district forecaster, will tell the
Rotary dub all about It at the club'a
luncheon in the Benson hotel next
Tuesday noon.
. The club announces that work on the
' Rotary fountain, to be erected at Wah-
keena falls on the Columbia river
' highway, has been started and that the
fountain will be ready for dedication,
I September 4, Labor Day. On that day
all Rotarians are to have an outing
on the highway, will give the finishing
touches to the fountain and will turn
on the water for the first time.
W. C. T, U. Protests.
The Multnomah County institute on
August 17 adopted the following reso
lution: 'That we, the members of
Multnomah County Women's Christian
Temperance Union. enter protest
against opening the schools on Labor
Day, a national holiday."
fcefcyW)U
II
ITS l combination of mystery love and war.
Big thrilling scenes introducing late scienti
fic inventions tense situations and a
beautiful love story are wonderfully worked out
in this super feature Enid Marlcey co-starrea
with Warner
Mack Swain in a
Mack Sennett Keystone
"MADCAP AMBROSE," is the title of this two
part riot of Keystone comedy "take-offs" on
the old-time Western "mellerdrammer" hero
with a soft heart (and head) arm of iron
pretty girl impossible feats of valor and they
live happily ever after.
Have you heard the
Manhattan Trio?
The boys from Harmony Town in
the new song successes
II
n
j
: .. t M
Coliyimfeia
Sixth at Washington Continuous 10:30 to 11
Matinees 10c Children 5c Evenings 15c
U N DAY
4
DAYS
ONLY
- Jf J -ifc-W.i mil"
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41
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