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 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 oe 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 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.