Image provided by: Yamhill County Historical Society; McMinnville, OR
About The Yamhill County reporter. (McMinnville, Or.) 1886-1904 | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1898)
i IF WAR SHOULD C0ME.| HE recent terri ble occurrence in the harbor of Havana, which resulted in the destruction <> f millions of Fed eral property in the shape of the battleship Maine and the i death of nearly I 300 sailors, 1 startled a great deal of specula tion as to the real value of our navy and its relative importance among the naval armaments of the world. It has revived the discussion of what the re sult of a war between the United States and a foreign nation would be. ami brought forward th«« three opin ions concerning such matters, viz.—tin* tht*ory which holds that we have no more use for a navy comparable to that ot the great nations of Europe than we have for a standing army like that of Great Britain. Germany, France or Russia: the stand Hint the money put into our navy would lietter have been expended in coast defenses; and lastly that opinion which demands that ou land and sea we should be equally powerful to any nation ou earth. It is now over half a century since the guns of this country were turned upon a foreign foe, and this long period of peace has Inclined a very larg«* pro portion of American citizens to the first named course of reasoning. The mid dle ground position is held by th«* coast defense theorists. They believe that with our coast defended by modern fortifications and guns we can almost dispense with a heavy navy altogether. The third party believes in the widest possible display of our naval power. At the present time tin* only country with which w<* ar«* likely to become embroiled In strife is Spain, and as a war with the Spanish would lie largely u naval one it is therefore* of Interest to consider what the possibilities of such a war might be. Since the Maine went down numer ous reports have been spread broad cast that Spain is now superior to us as a naval power, and many persons have grave fears as to the* outcome of a conflict. Let us see. Since 1883 Congress has authorized th«* construc tion of seventy-seven war vessels, at a cost of $134,43!),70tt.lt». Sixteen of the vessels havi* not yet been com pleted. Th«* vessels authorize«! sine«* 1883 are as follows: Battleships, first- class, nine; battleships, second-class, two; crulseis, IS; gunls«ats, 15; harbor defens«* ram, bn«*; monitors, six; dynn- mite cruiser, one: torpedo boats, 21; submarine torpedo boat, one; training ships for cadets, two; dispatch boat, one. Of tin* sixteen ships of war now un der construction, tin* Secretary of the Navy estimates that all will b«* com- | pleted during th«« present year except I Till'. GUN tightlng as the United States has on the Atlantic coast, eliminating torpedo- boats, which can operate, by the na ture of things, only In home waters. But what about the ships themselves? Spain has only one first-class battle ship, the Pelayo; we have in the East the Indiana, Iowa, and Massachusetts. Spain strictly has no battleships of the second grade; we have only one now, the Texas, sister ship practically of the Maine. Spain has one iron and use- less monitor, the I’ulg-C'erda; we have four of them, matchless fighters—the Puritan, Terror, Mlantonomah, and Amphitrite. Spain has six armored cruisers, all of them practically in splendid fighting trim—the Almirante, Oquendo, Carlos V., Infanta Marla Ter esa, Prlncesa ,1c Asturias, and Vizcaya. We have two such vessels—the New York and Brooklyn. For defensive fighting our four monitors are superior to tin* three armored cruisers which we seem to lack in comparison wWh Spain, but, allowing that they are only equal, it may be said that in that class tie navies of the two nations are of equal strength. That throws the comparison back to battleships, of which we have four available, three first-class and one sec ond-class, and of which Spain has only one available, the first-class Pelayo. The armament of the monitors and ar mored cruisers on both sides is practi cally equal. The armament of battle ships Is four to one in our favor, and it is the kind of armament that tells ten to one in a naval battle. So much for strictly fighting ships. We have ten, Spain has six. In protected cruisers Spain has not more than fifteen ami we 1 have ten available on the Atlantic I coast. The armament of our ten, care- [ ful calculation shows, Is a little more i than equal to that of Spain's fifteen. ' common sense came <o my aid. I fig ured it out that it was a parasite under til«* skin, ami to cur«* th«* pig the para sit«* must Is* destroyed. So I mixed up some turpentlni* and coal oil, half and half, and added «illite a bit of sulphur. Then, while the i«Jgs were at the trough, I squirtetl th«* mixture all over them, from nose to tail, by means of a machine oil can. Have not lost a pig since, and hav«* not been obliged to re prat the dose.” tor wonk! immediately touch a button. «ae explosion which followed would completely wr«*ck tin* warship and would doubtless kill all on board. Tae work of prelMirlng these mines has been done very secretly, and no one outside of those in charge of the har- txir defenses knows where they are. The sunken casemates, too, have hpen built with caution, ami their situation Harley aa Stock Food. A New Ornamental Asparagus. One of the best and most attractive house plants of recent Introduction is Asparagus Sprengerl, whleh is rapidly superseding the once so popular smilax for floral decorations. Our engraving shows its graceful form ami habit when grown as a pot plant, but it is equally well suited for planting in hanging bas kets. Its fronds an* frequently four feet long, of a rich shade of gteen and UNITED MATES PROTECTED CRUISER COLUMBIA. very useful for cutting, retaining their Modern gunnery and armor-making . is not known either. The necessity for freshness for weeks after being cut. have kept such steps together that no 1 this caution is apparent when it is re- sooner has a plate been invented which membered that any interference with would resist the most penetrating the wires by the subject of some for projectile of that time than a gun was eign nation might disturb the work so speedily devised or an explosive discov that none of the mines could be used. Another great means of defense is in ered which necessitated the invention of a plate of still greater resisting ■ the big disappearing guns, which work power. This game has gone on, until i as if they have human Intelligence. No the modern ship is a gigantic floating fort is necessary for these guns. The hulk, the propulsion of which through gunners are absolutely protected by a calm and known waters is no easy big parapet. When the gun is at rest, task, to say nothing of its manage- it, too, is concealed behind the parapet, ment ln heavy seas or during an en- where it is loaded. When firing be gagement, where rapid action is neces comes necessary ponderous machinery raises the big cannon so that its mouth sary. But besides the things visible with points over the parapet. In thirty sec- THE “DEVIL OF THE SE V’—HOW THE TORPEDO DESTROYS. ASPARAGUS SPHENGERI. As a bouse plant it has exceeded expec tations, as it stands dry atmosphere better than the older kinds of ornamen tal aspargus, and is not particular as to any special position. It delights in a well-enriched soil, rather light in com position, with plenty of drainage, and grows very rapidly. It is decidedly pretty when in bloom, its little flowers 5eing pure white on short racemes, and lie anthers are of a bright orange color. -American Agriculturist. tTtfu- ■ • < '.O',. COTTON COT TOM COTTON COTTON DISCHARGING a T û RPE ùû c 'Jr ton KXrkOJlON OF A U- 4IT«NtAO Ana ruse meao OF A vuhivchxao Toaeioo was . A Whitehead torpedo tired from an overhead tube and its progress through the water. On striking the water the tor pedo is propelled nt tremendous speed by its own engine. In the forward portion of the torpedo is carried an explosive charge of 150 pounds of gun cotton. The mass is exploded by a percussion fuse fitted into the nozzle of the weapon. The torpedo would wreck the strongest ship afloat. Of gunboats Spain seems to have twenty; we have not more than twelve on the North Atlantic coast. Nearly one-half of Spain's gunboats, according to Lord Brassey, the great English au thority, are “small steamers from 8t> to 348 tons.” In the matter of unar mored ships, tlu* commerce destroyers, Spain 1ms a slight advantage in num bers; we have a slight advantage in strength. We could us«* our torpedo- boats; Spain couldn't get hers over here. We could use our ram Katahdln and our Holla ml submarine Inuit ; Spain has no such v«*ss«*ls. In the matter of ships and guns, de- THAT GUARDS HAVANA HARBOR. the five battleships, which will prob ably not be ready for service until the latter part of the coming year. It is, therefore, obvious that the United States is not so powerless ui>on the seas as some would have it umlerstood. During the past ten y<*ars there have «been exp«*nd«*d yearly on seacoast for tifications ami their armaments nn«l for submarine mines and torpedoes the sum of $40,009,900; our principal sea port towns have thus been put In con dition so that, with th«* aid of the navy, the country could easily resist the attack of any one of tne great naval powers of the world. There Is no doubt ns to which of the two nations. Spain or the United States, Is the stronger from a naval standpoint. In ships and armament we have by far the superior navy. While Spain has more men tn her navy, we outnumber her In ships, although she Includes some splendid cruisers in her list. Like us. she Is adding to her navy, replacing the boats slie lost In J895. She Is obliged to have this done, however, abroad, as she has no ship yards of her own. Her limited credit has kept back tliis work, and It Is not likely that th«* Isrnts now under way would lie completed even on “rush” orders liefore two years from now. Then, too, the classifications made In the tables favor Spain, placing boats in the second class of battle-ships which, although heavier than our sole remaining specimen of that class, could not cope with It. On paper Spain has about the same number of warships available for i range. The deadlines« of these arms is great enough under those circum stances, as China and Jai«an know to their cost. What th«* result would Ik* if several Spanish and United States bat- tl«*shlps met in closer quarters may eas ' ily be imagined, ami it is no exaggera | tion to say that the chances favor the I destruction ot nearly everyone engag- , I spite the loss of the Maine the United States has a decided advantage. Bat tleships are the ones that count In real fighting. But naval battles are not won solely by ships and guns. They are won by men—valorous men, patriotic men—on board the ships. Our ships are maimed by seamen nine-tenths of whom are American seamen. Span iards, of course, man Simin's ships. There you are as to men; Americans on one side and Spaniards on the other. Need more be said? Stronger than any reason yet given as to the result of a tight between us and Spain is the one to be deduce«! from th«« scene of action of war. Th«* war would take place in and around Culm. We could get coal easily and Spain could not. It's the coal tn the bunkers as much if not more than th«1 powder and shot in the magazines that decides naval contests to-day. The man at th«« stokehole Is Just as import ant as the man Iwlilml the gun. Spain can't whip us on this side of the Atlan tic. that's sure; we shall not fight on the other side. which modern cruisers must contend is the problem of submarine warfare. The invention of Ericsson has been im proved upon, both as regards the abil ity of warships to eject the deadly tor- pedo itself and the torpedo-boat capa ble of submerging itself wholly or in part Inventors all over the world are working upon the submarine torpedo- boats and rams, and, while they have not attained the success of Jules Verne's fancy, it is believed that if they have not already solved the prob lem it is a matter of a short time till we shall have a l»oat capable of sub merging itself for a time sufficient to do terrible damage to the largest bat tleship and still not be in sight during the engagement. This is not speaking of the establish ed practicability of the sunken torpedo or more to be used in harbors ami dis charged by electricity from a distance. These last can I m - utilised for coast de fense and are very effective. They could destroy any cruiser anchored or sailing over them, but are only useful under those circumstances. The war department has guarded with absolute secrecy the plans for all its coast defenses. It is scarcely known outside of army circles that New York is one of the most strongly defended towns in the world. No vessel could got within fifteen miles of the battery without meeting a worse fate than that which befell the Maine. The entire harbor is thoroughly mined and wires run to underground casemates where the operators work. The harbor is divided into sections and squares each of which is known by a letter or figure. For Instance, In case of war, if a Spanish war vessel were sighted, word would be telegraphed onds the gunners have trained the can non properly, and an enormous projec tile is sent flying ten tnlles over the sea. Woe to the vessel it strikes! Ar mor has not yet been made strong enough to stand against the shot tired from these enormous machines. At present the Inner liarlor of New York is guarded by two 12-inch, three 10-lnch ami five 8-:ncn disappearing i ' I The Razor-Back Bog. R«*cently the Dallas News had from its Fort Worth correspondent tlie fol lowing: “Certain prominent hog rais ers now in tlie city claim that use has at last been found for tlu* hitherto use less razor-back hog. They state that after these hogs have been allowed to run in th«* bottoms for tlie summer months, subsisting on mast anil roots, they can be easily fattened in the au tumn by being turned into corn fields where the black-eye pea lias been plant ed between the corn rows, and that al though they do not acquire any very great size or weight, their meat, owing to tlie wild diet during the summer, gives the ham a flavor that equals, if not excels, that of the celebrated West phalia hams of the Black Forest in Germany.” A Safety Pig Tronixh. The pig will get into the trough when on«* wishes to clean it out, nnd he will put Ills head under the spout when one wishes to pour in the milk. The device herewith shows how the pig can be kept away from the trough until every thing Is in readlnes for him to eat. The swinging door Is closed until the trough lias been cleaned and tlie milk or other food poured in. Then it is raised and all the usual bother obviated. Have a ring on the rope to avoiil the necessity W o<l Ashes for Potatoes. Of the fertilizers that can be secured on the farm unleached wood ashes make one of the very best that can be used with potatoes, writes N. J. Shep herd, in Nebraska Farmer. They can be applied in the hill or in the furrow broadcast, but it will be an exceptional case when a sufficient quantity can be secured to apply broadcast over the surface. For this reason applying in the hill will prove most economical. The ground can be prepared in a good tilth all ready for planting and the furrows run out and then a small quan tity of ashes droppetl where eacli hill is to be planted and stirred in the soil, and upon this the seed can be dropped and covered. Potatoes require potash and phosphoric acid, anti this can be supplied with unleached wood ashes, (tone dust or bone meal or in a commer cial fertilizer with less waste than in almost any other way. if farm or sta ble manure is us«*«l it should always be well rotted and fined and then thor oughly incorporated with the soil. My experience is that applying fresh ma nure to the soil just before planting furnishes conditions favorable to the development of scab and also in many cases produces a fungy growth of tub ers. THE SAFETY PIG TROUGH. of having to tie it whenever the swing ing door is raised.—Orange Judd Farm er. Water Over Under«!rains. It sometimes happens when severe «cold cfmes before snow nnd rain that the ground freezes so hard over drain ed land that when the snow is melted the surplus water cannot at once make its way to the drain beneath. Some times in winter these sheets of water will be frozen over, during some cold spell, and while thus covered with ice, the water beneath it will find its way through the tiles and disappear. No harm comes to grass land thus left cov- ered with ice for two or three days. To Bridle a Colt. The horse that has been properly But winter wheat is sometimes winter bridled when a colt will rarely forget killed by Ice on the edges of the pond, the lessons learned in youth. The way where the freezing of the water catches to do this is to smooth out the foretop the wheat plant in its icy embrace, and so It will not be in the way, grasp the often snaps tlie stem where it is joined to the root at the surface of the ground. SUNKEN MORTAR PROTECTING NEW YORK Skim-milk Chees**. guns, as well as thirty-two 12-inch mortars. These are all completed and put in position. Work Is now going on for other disappearing guns which will be finished this year. The southern and eastern entrances to the harbor are more fully protected than the inner harbor itself. Here Is an armament of 21 12-inch guns on lifts, 15 10-lnch and 9 8-inch guns on disappearing car riages, 176 12-inch mortars an«l many submarine mines operate«! from five mining casemates. Most of th,* work of a defense has been don«* by the officers at the Untte«l States School of Engin«*ers at Willet's There is much more butter fat left in milk after it lias been skimmed than is generally supposed. If any one doubts this, let him hold up a bit of skim milk dices«* over a hot fir«* and see how quickly the fat will exude from it. The toasting of cheese makes it more easily digested, though skim-milk cheese is at the best hard to digest, and cannot l>e eaten except in very small quantities by persons whose digestion is weak. Bread and cheese naturally supplement each other, as bread is mostly carbon, while cheese, «*sp«*cially that from skim milk, is mainly nitrogenous or strength giving. Eating foods hard to digest, if the stomach is not at any time over- loaded, is a good means of strengthen ing that organ. Oats for Young Animals. BRIDT.TX«* A COT.T. One Serious Disadvantage. In a naval war with Simin we would have th«* disadvantage of a tremen dous coast line, east, south and west, to defend. We could «lo little damage to Simin's commerce, tiecause she lias comparatively a small amount, while some of her second, thlnl or fourth-rat«* boats« while keeping away from our cruisers, coukl <lo us almost irrepara ble* damage. Th«* power of the mod- ern ships' guns enables them to do their fighting at comparatively long I Barley Is not extensively grown, yet It is a superior stock food and will grow on soils tliut will not produce wheat. In Eugland hogs are fattened on liar- ley. and tlie meat contains more lean than that produced from corn. In feed ing pigs as a test barley gave better results than corn, a pound of growth being secured from 3V4 pounds of bar ley, at a cost of 2c per pound, which was better than from any other food. I'igs, however, grow mor«* rapidly than adult hogs. Grounil grain proved su perior to the unground. In steer feed- Ing both corn and wheat surpassed bar ley, and with lambs the results were about the same with corn, wheat and barley. Corn and barley mixed gave better results than either alone in some cases. These tests should make bar ley a favorite where it Is not now grown at all. UNITED STATES STEEL PROTECTED CRUISER CHICAGO. from one of th,* «*otining towers to the officer in charge of on«* of the under ground casemates near Sandy Hook. The message would Is* read something ,lke thia: "Vlscoya x op 23. 14 S. E." That would mean that the Vizcaya was then passing over a certain s«*c- tton of the harbor in which was lo cated a udue or a torpedo. The opera- Poiht. New York harbor. Twenty-three officers anti 380 enlisted men are sta tioned at Willet's Point, and their work Is mostly with torpedoes and high explosives. Occasionally mines are planted and exploded, just as in regu lar warfare. Vessels are sent out to try and come without lading seen, and mimic war holds full sway. brow band of the bridle in the right hand nnd the bit with the left. The bridle is thus held in position, and with the fingers of the left hand entrance to the mouth is made by pressing against th«* gums between the incisor and jaw teeth. This will seldom fail to cause him to open his mouth, and the bit can easily be put in, but it should not be done suddenly or violently. After the bit is. In the mouth the ears should be carefully and gently placed in position. —Iowa Homestead. There are two reasons why oats are an excellent fe«*«l for young and grow ing stock. They have enough bulk Ire- cause of their chaff, so that the grain in moderate amounts will not heat or rake in the stomach, and the character of the grain supplies just the nutriment require«! for growing animals. It takes very little oats per day to k«*ep a year ling calf or a colt thrifty and gr«*atly Increase its value after the winter’s feeding. Have Wheels in Their Heads. . When young men tell you they nevetj read experiment station bulletins, that they take no stock whatever in the Cure of Manse on Hog«. John Cruze, of Lee County. Iowa, farm lnstltut«*s, and. at the sAme ttm«», writes to th«* Rural World as follows: they are al>out to lie sold out under “Have just had some Interesting expe mortgag«* on a farm their old father rience with mange or scab on pigs. gave them fyee of debt, there is some Ix»t fourteen out of thirty-six. from thing wrong In the brain machinery of doping them with everything. I heard those men and uo mistake.—Heard'* or read about. Was in despair, until Dairyman.