UNITED SERVICE GAZETTE.
February 7, 1891. Naval notes.
“The fractured strengthening hoop on the muzzle of the no-ton gun of the Sans Pareil has been replaced. ... It has been ascertained that the gun droops more and more after each firing, and also inclines to one side, this latter defect not having been noticed in the previous guns. . . .”
“The Argentine cruiser 25 de Mayo, which was built and armed by Sir Wm. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., has just completed her gunnery trials off the Tyne. Her armament consists of two 21-centimeter B. L. guns on center-pivot mountings and capable of firing over an arc of training of 300 degrees, eight 4.7-inch quick-firing guns, twelve Hotchkiss 3-pounders, and twelve Hotchkiss I-pounder guns. Four rounds were fired from each of the 21-centimeter guns, thirty-four rounds from the 4.7-inch, and ninety-six rounds from the smaller guns, without the slightest hitch.”
The use of electric motors in warships. The magazine rifle. February 14. The tactical value of the electric light. Naval notes.
“A proposal is under consideration to set apart one of the modern cruisers for the purpose of training stokers for the navy, the necessity of such a step having been advocated for years by naval engineers. The vessel named for this purpose is the Iris.”
Smokeless powder.
“Mr. Heideman, a German powder-maker, has produced an ammonium-nitrate powder, possessing remarkable ballistic properties, and producing little smoke, which speedily disperses. It yields a very much larger volume of gas and water-vapor than either black or brown powder, and it is slower in action than the latter. The charge required to produce equal ballistic results is less, the chamber pressure developed is lower, but the pressures along the chase of the gun are higher. In an ordinary dry and even in a somewhat moist atmosphere it has no great tendency to absorb moisture, but when the air approaches saturation it rapidly absorbs water, and this will greatly restrict its use.”
Torpedo-gunboats for the Argentine Republic.
The Rosales and Espora, two torpedo-gunboats built for the Argentine Republic by Messrs. Laird, are soon to be sent to their destination. They are each 200 feet long, by 25 feet beam, by 13 feet 6 inches moulded depth. At a draft of 8 feet the displacement is 520 tons, and the freeboard amidships about S feet. Steel is used in the construction of the hull. Two bilge-keels take the place of a keel proper. There are 42 water-tight compartments. Considerable protection against gun-fire is afforded by the coal-bunkers, which can carry 130 tons. The normal amount of 100 tons at 11 knots gives a radius of action of 3000 knots. The armament consists of two 14-pounder Nordenfeldt guns on the forecastle mounted en echélon, one 8-pounder, two 3-pounders, and two Nordenfeldt revolving cannon. In the waist are four tubes for 18-inch torpedoes; in the stern is one fixed Whitehead torpedo-tube, also 18 inches. A mean speed of 19.823 knots with moderate air-pressure has been obtained. At a speed of 10.86 knots the coal burnt was 66 pounds per knot.
February 21. Attack formation. Anti-fouling experiments on the Orontes. Liquid fuel.
February 28. Launch of the warships Royal Arthur, Royal Sovereign, Tribune, and Spartan. Navy estimates, I.
March 7. The navy estimates, II. Naval Defense Act.
The number of ships to be built under the Naval Defense Act was 70, of an estimated displacement of 316,000 tons, and carrying 540 guns, exclusive of machine-guns and guns of small caliber. These vessels with their armament and equipment were to be completed and ready for commission before April 1, 1894. There is every reason to believe that, with the exception of one contract-built ship, the remaining 69 will be completed before the date named.
The total number of new breech-loading guns completed during the year ending December 31, 1890, is 240, viz:
[TABLE]
Tests for the rapidity with which heavy guns can be fired were made with one of the 67-ton guns in the Trafalgar’s turret at her gunnery trials. Four rounds were fired in 9½ minutes.
The most important advance made in naval ordnance during the year, was the completion of the new 6-inch 100-pounder quick-firing gun and mounting. As many as six rounds a minute have been fired.
March 14. Launch of the Indefatigable and the Hawke. The navy estimates, III. Mobilization and manning requirements of the fleet. Battalion command.
March 21. Institution of Naval Architects. Musketry in India.
March 28. Naval notes. Official trial of the Pelayo’s machinery.
With natural draft a speed of 16.2 knots was attained. The coal consumption at 12-knot speed is 45 tons per 24 hours. At normal draft the Pelayo carries 800 tons of coal, a supply sufficient with a speed of 12 knots to cover a distance of 4500 to 5000 miles, and at 10-knot speed a distance of 7500 miles.
Naval Reserves.
April 4. Naval notes. Trials of 6-inch quick-firing gun.
Further trials of the Elswick 6-inch quick-firing gun and mounting were made on board the Kite at Portsmouth. This time the mounting and gun represented the conditions when used for upper-deck armament. One hundred rounds were again fired in series each of 10 rounds, and on this occasion a considerable number of rounds were fired with the percussion arrangement. The change from electric to percussion, and vice versa, was effected without any pause being necessary in the firing, and not a single missfire occurred. Everything was found to be most successful. Two hundred and sixty rounds have now been fired from the gun on the same mounting, and there does not appear to be the slightest sign of wear in any of the working parts, and very little mark of firing in the gun itself. The rapidity and ease with which one man can elevate and train the gun and mountings, the weight of which complete is seventeen tons, is surprising. Of the last series of ioo rounds, 80 cartridges were fired for the second time. With a similar 6-inch gun at Shoe-buryness, cartridges have been fired as many as 16 times.
Successful trials of the Fiske range-finder in France and Italy. April ii. Infantry militia officers. Naval notes.
The horse-power of torpedo-gunboats of the Sharpshooter class has been reduced to 3500, and the steaming capabilities of the boilers increased.
April 18. Naval notes: Launch of the Wattigneis; launch of the Falke; naval manoeuvres of the Austro-Hungarian fleet; experiments with laying out submarine mines in Toulon. The Reserve question.
April 25. Heavy guns. Coast defense. H. G. D.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.
February, 1891. A proposed method of training naval stokers and otherwise increasing the efficiency of the steam branch personnel, by Chief Engineer J. Langmaid, R. N.
After calling attention to the present defective system of training, and that about 600 men are recruited annually and sent to sea without any preliminary instruction in engine-room duties, the author proposes that all newly-entered men be sent to a central training-ship, to be trained there for three months. This course is to be followed by three months’ experience in a modern cruiser at sea. Assuming 600 recruits annually, this would place 150 men in the harbor ship and 150 in the cruiser. The proposed course of instruction in the training-ship is then laid down:—1. Names and uses of principal parts of boilers and engines, of tools used in stokeholds; how to read pressure-gauges, trim and fill lamps, close stop-valves, etc. 2. Duties of a stoker in managing fires; how to use a shovel. 3. Knotting and splicing; howmto sling and lift weights; use and reeve off tackles, etc. 4. Boat exercise, swimming drills, gymnastics, and miscellaneous duties of stokers.
On joining the cruiser, after the first three months’ instruction, the men might be divided into four watches. The first fortnight spent in harbor with instructions in the uses of the various parts of the boilers and machinery, working the pumps and auxiliary engines. The ship then to go to sea for short trips of about four days each week, beginning at slow speed and gradually working up faster as the men become used to their work. Stations should be changed each week, so that each man takes his turn at trimming coals, firing, looking after the engines, main and auxiliary, sweeping tubes, repairing defects, etc. If qualified at the end of the 6-months’ cruise, the rating of stoker to be given; if not qualified, to be given a three months’ further trial; to be discharged, if hopeless, at the expiration of this time.
The same cruiser might be employed as a useful school for instruction of junior engineer officers before joining sea-going ships. Besides learning engine-room duties, they might be taught to keep an engine-room log, engineer’s store accounts, to arrange watch and station bills, and various other duties.
The measures proposed in this able paper cannot fail to attract attention, and the discussions evince the interest taken in a subject of such vital importance. In ships of the present day, where steam has supplanted sail, and speed is the desideratum, the necessity of an efficient force in the engine-room is indisputable. The benefits to be derived from a course of systematic preliminary training of recruits for the fire-room are invaluable.
Steel as applied to armor-plates, by Charles W. Smith. Red Indian warfare.
March. On the present system of enlistment and pay of our soldiers, and its bearing on recruiting. On army cooking and messing. On the advantage of forming collections at Greenwich.
H. G. D.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION, WOOLWICH.
Volume XVIII., No. 7, February. Homing pigeons, by Captain Malagoli. Ranging a battery.
March. The R. A. mess at Woolwich. Fire discipline. Notes on the equipment and services of our mountain artillery, from the Pyrennean campaign, 1813-14, to the Abyssinian expedition, 1867-68. Translations: The employment of artillery in siege warfare (according to the theories of General Wiebe); Études de tactique, par le général Luzeux.
April. Imperial federation and the defense of the empire. Some of the more recent developments and applications of explosives. The R. A. mess at Woolwich. Translations: Transport of parks of artillery, ammunition supply of armies; The last days of the Malakhoff. H. G. D.
JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
Volume II., 1890. The defense of a protected harbor, by Lieut.-Col. Boddam (with 12 plates). Harbor defense by guard-boats, and their duties, by Commander Bosanquet.
Contains description of new form of protective boom, and method of mooring.
Round about Apia, Samoa, by Captain Castle, R. N. The Australian soldier, by Captain M’Cutcheon, 1st Regt. Vol. Infantry. Reprints: The sighting of small arms; Acclimatisation of Australian horses in India; Smokeless powder (extract from Sir F. Abel’s address). H. G. D.
FRANKLIN INSTITUTE.
February, 1891. The Olsen testing machine.
Description of the machine, accompanied by plates, with an extract from the report of the Committee on Science and the Arts, as follows: “The committee recognizes that the increased complexity of this machine over others requires a more careful handling. They have not sufficient experience to say whether a greater number of tests can be made in a given time than with other machines, but their opinion is that this testing method is a long step forward toward making such machines thorough instruments of precision, and it introduces instead of the numerical the graphic record, the advantages of which are universally admitted.
“In view of the great ingenuity displayed by the inventor in arranging the several parts of the machine, notably in the mechanism, which produces a graphic record of the test, similar to the indicator of a steam engine, and thus brings to perception at a single glance the variation in the strain of a number of specimens, as well as the work required to break such specimens, the award of the Elliott Cresson medal is recommended.”
Electricity; its past, present and future, by Ralph W. Pope, Secretary American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Some properties of confocal ellipses and their application to mechanism, by Horace B. Gale. High explosives in warfare, by Commander F. M. Barber, U. S. N.
March. The system of house and underground wiring of the Interior Conduit and Insulation Company. The continuous girder; variable moment of inertia; fixed points; graphic method, by C. H. Lindenberger. The aluminium problem, by Jos. W. Richards.
The lecturer, after reviewing the etymology of the word “aluminium,” states that of all the many problems connected with this metal, he has “singled out the one which is, par excellence, the aluminium problem, and that is the extraction of aluminium from the materials in which it is found in nature."
The lecture is divided into two parts: I. The isolation of aluminium; 2. the production of aluminium cheaply.
The first part gives an interesting history of all recorded experiments and efforts made to bring the metal to view, covering a period of 94 years, from the time of M. Baron in 1760, who first proved aluminium a metal, down to the time when Deville, in 1854, succeeded in making the first button or pencil of this metal.
The second part considers all subsequent methods of reduction, the cheapest raw materials to use, and the cheapest way to extract aluminium from these materials.
Electricity as the rival of steam, by Dr. Louis Bell.
April. The progress of chemical theory; its helps and hindrances, by Dr. Persifer Frazer. Riveted joints in boiler-shells, by W. B. Le Van. Analytical discussion of the tidal volume, by L. d’Auria. On a maximum steam-jacket efficiency, by R. H. Thurston. Chemical section: The electrolytic method applied to rhodium; the electrolytic determination of mercury and gold, by E. F. Smith. Electrical section: A note on some dangers in electric lighting; a new accumulator plate; a new form of megohm resistance.
May. The progress of chemical theory, by Dr. Persifer Frazer. Riveted joints in boiler-shells, by W. B. Le Van. The law of variation, by L. d’Auria. The limits of scientific inquiry, by H. Hensoldt. Phenomenal friction, by J. H. Cooper. Chemical section. Electrical section: A new form of standard cell, by C. Hering. H. G. D.
THE MILITARY SERVICE INSTITUTION.
March, 1891. Our experience in artillery administration. The power of the Senate. Musketry. Military gymnastics. On the increase of the number of cadets. The oath of enlistment in Germany. The funeral ceremonies of Washington.
April (Extra Number). Gun-making in the United States, by Captain R. Birnie, U. S. A.
A history in eight chapters of gun construction and gun trials in the United States. It begins with the early inventions, the Rodman method of casting, and follows the progress in gun-making in this country up to the present time, giving descriptions of the various forms of guns and their official trials, breech mechanisms, etc., ending up with a review of the past three years, including short accounts of steel-producing plants and gun manufactories in the United States.
May. Cavalry in Virginia during the war of the rebellion. Theory of drift of rifled projectiles. Artillery difficulties during the next war. The recent Indian craze. The new German rifle and fire regulations. The Red river dam. H. G. D.
THE UNITED SERVICE.
March, 1891. Pulaski and Charleston. Moltke. History of the Mormon rebellion of 1856-57, Chapter XI. Knots and miles.
April. The Indian problem. General Sherman. History of the Mormon rebellion of 1856-57 (conclusion). The Persian army. Old regiments of the British army. Admiral David Dixon Porter. The difference between military and martial law. Ship-steering.
May. The measure of the strength of steel armor, by E. M. Weaver, First Lieutenant Second Artillery, U. S. A.
From observations, it is “assumed that the resistance of a steel plate of the quality made by Schneider Company, when attacked by projectiles whose diameters are less than the thickness of the plate, is, for all practicable purposes, confined to a cylindrical disk of the plate about the projectile in its passage through the plate, the radius of this disk being about 2.5 calibers, and its thickness the thickness of the plate itself.”
The weight of such a disk of about 28 inches diameter in the nickel-steel plate as tried at Annapolis is 3.2 tons. If now the total energy required for perforation of the plate alone be divided by 3.2, we find the inherent resisting capacity of the metal. A comparison of trials in which Creuzot steel plates were attacked leads to the conclusion that the inherent resisting capacity approximates to 1828 foot-tons per ton of the disk. Taking this as a standard, formulas are derived for the strength of any plate, viz. E = WC, in which E = the energy in foot-tons required to perforate the plate, W = the weight of the resisting disk in tons, C = 1828; or in another form, E — .7312 n2d2t.
n = ratio of the radius of the resisting disk to the diameter of the projectile.
d = diameter of projectile in inches.
t = thickness of plate in inches.
Formulas for the striking velocity to give perforation of the plate, or plate and backing, are also derived.
A comparison, based upon the above formulas, is then made between plates at various armor trials.
Coal endurance of Her Majesty’s ships. For what it is worth. Attack upon a railroad train. Du Guay-Trouin, of St. Malo. Under the southern cross (conclusion). National legislation required on weights and measures. Recent army legislation. The last victim of the gauntlet. Among our contemporaries. Service salad. Military order of the Loyal Legion. Rear-Admiral T. H. Stevens, U. S. Navy. H. G. D.
THE ELECTRICAL REVIEW.
No. 7. April 11,1891. Tell-tale compass. Westinghouse automatic circuit-breaker. Induction. Queen ammeters and voltmeters.
No. 8. April 18. A new form of megohm resistance. New electric-light switch.
No. 9. April 25. Electric light on the Suez Canal.
No. 10. May 2. Aerial navigation. Electrolytic deposition of nickel.
No. 11. May 9. The Packard vacuum pump. Telephones on shipboard.
No. 12. May 16. Air navigation. Improved electric-light signal. New form of standard cell. H. G. D.
THE IRON AGE.
April 2, 1891. Air-compressor for U. S. monitor Terror. Aluminum in railroad work. Modern navies. Matchless repeating air-rifle.
April 9. The great forge at Cleveland. Construction of boilers for forced draught.
April 16. Forgings for big guns. Circulation of water in steam boilers, II.
April 23. Quadruple expansion-engine for a tug. Armament for the new ships. A Boston-built steel bark.
April 30. Electrical forging. Electricity as a motive-power. May 7. An assistant cylinder for marine engines. Our battleships.
Description of the ships, with illustrations of engines and deck plans, and elevation of the Indiana, Oregon, and Massachusetts.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.
Volume XXIII., No. 1. The Great Amazon, by Courtenay De Kalb. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, by Rev. H. C. Hovey. Geographical notes, by Geo. C. Hurlbut.
MILITAR WOCHENBLATT.
February 11, 1891. A new cavalry bridle. Changes in the organizations of the Austro-Hungarian army.
February 14. Extracts from the correspondence of Frederick the Great. Minor notices: Cordite.
“England. The manufacture of the smokeless powder, which on account of its stringy appearance has been called Cordite, has been commenced in the royal arsenal, but hereafter is to be continued by the powder works of Waltham Abbey. The charges for rapid-fire guns up to 6-inch calibers, as well as for the 12-pounder field-pieces, have already been fixed. The general introduction of this powder will, however, not take place for some time, awaiting tests which will be especially directed towards discovering the effect of exposure to different temperatures. According to Dr. Anderson, the general director of gun works, it has stood the chemical tests very well, but is yet to be subjected to prolonged influence of the heat in India and the cold in Alpine regions. According to the same authority the powder is characterized by its exceedingly brilliant flame, and the report of explosion is stronger than that of black powder.”
Fortifications of Bucharest.
February 18. Artillery-fire Spiel. The attacks of General Margueritte’s cavalry division at the battle of Sedan.
February 21. The French reserve squadron.
In connection with the fleet manoeuvres of the French navy which take place every summer, Admiral Krantz, Minister of Marine, has required, since 1888, the mobilization of the ships of the reserve at Toulon. This rule has proved successful as far as the material was concerned, as the vessels, armaments and equipments have always been found ready for service. The fault lay with the personnel. Small details were destined for the respective ships; these were, however, not kept intact, owing to constant changes being made by the chief of the station, in consequence of which it was found that these details were not sufficiently familiar with their vessels; and it was even worse with the naval reserves ordered from at large, who knew little or nothing about the ships.
It has now been decided to fit out, early in the spring, a reserve division, consisting of three armored vessels and two cruisers, at Toulon, under Rear-Admiral Puech, with the Trident as flagship. A second division is to be fitted out soon after, the two to constitute a reserve squadron under the command of a vice-admiral. So that France will have two vice-admiral’s commands at sea. The chief of the shore station at Toulon is no longer to have authority over the reserve vessels, as his projects and requirements would always conflict with the importance of having the reserves ready for service at all times. The squadron is therefore withdrawn from his control and will form part of the Mediterranean fleet. It is probable that the vessels will be entirely removed from Toulon and rendezvous at the Hyères islands, with half complements, except in summer, when they will be fully manned to take part in the general fleet manoeuvres.
This is an important advance in the war establishment of the French fleet. The admiral commanding the Mediterranean fleet will have five divisions under him, comprising 15 armored vessels, with their accompanying cruisers, avisos, etc., thus being superior in strength to the English Mediterranean fleet of 10 battle-ships.
This step will not pass unheeded in Italy, whose exposed coast-line invites a sudden fleet-attack in time of war; besides it has this additional importance, that it makes the regular French Mediterranean squadron of 3 divisions available for service in other waters without leaving the southern coast of France unprotected.
The Mediterranean squadron is constantly strengthened by the newer battleships, the older ones being withdrawn and consigned to the reserve. Thus at the end of January the armor-clad Hoche, of 10,650 tons, joined the squadron after having completed her trial trips. Under forced draught, with 11,000 H. P. and 82 revolutions, a speed of 16 knots was attained, and under natural draught, with 70 revolutions, she made 14 knots. The third-class cruiser Fronde will also soon be assigned to the squadron. Of only 1880 tons, this vessel, during a two hours’ run under forced draught, reached a speed of 20.9 knots, and during a twelve hours’ run under natural draught, a speed of 17.6 knots.
February 25. The yearly report on the Turkish navy, 1889 to 1890.
Contains a list of vessels of the Turkish navy, with table of dimensions, speed, coal-capacity, armament, dates of launching, etc.
February 28. Minor notices: Prismatic powder.
The Artillery Commission (commissione permanente) of Italy has determined, after prolonged experiments, that only two kinds of prismatic powder are necessary for navy guns, that of less density to be used in the smaller calibers up to 6-inch guns, and that of greater density for all heavier calibers (10, 13½ and 17-inch guns).
March 4 and 7. Infantry target-practice under warlike conditions; a contribution towards the solution of a vital question.
The writer calls attention to the necessity of a change in the present method of target-firing, which affords no knowledge of troop-firing as would be demanded in battle. The importance of the present system, or precision practice, for schooling of marksmen is, however, not disparaged. It is only by this system that the marksman is taught the handling of his weapon so as to obtain the best results in view of the purpose for which it is designed. This familiarity and education can only be obtained by firing over such distances and against such targets as will permit the control and observation of each shot fired; that is, at distances up to 300 yards and at ringed targets.
The regulations governing this school-firing are the result of years of experience, and are admirable, so that it is to be questioned whether the scope of this system can be reduced to permit the education for firing under warlike conditions. It must be admitted that those troops which have received the best instruction in school-firing will do the best in the warlike-firing. It is necessary, therefore, to adhere to a thorough course in the present system, but it should be limited so as to allow some time and ammunition for the more important field-firing.
It is proposed as a means towards this end to abolish in connection with the school-firing all practice at distances greater than 300 yards and employ only the ringed targets, which, by the way, should have elliptic bull’s-eyes and rings instead of the circular ones. The number of rounds per man is to be fixed, and an extra allowance is made for field-firing. The latter is reduced to three forms of practice: 1. skirmish-firing; 2. firing in connection with sieges; 3. firing under conditions of operations in the field.
Under 1 and 2 the rules to be followed are laid down. Ranges will be from 300 to 700 yards at low targets. Instruction in estimating distances will form part of the education. Under 2, firing at night should be practised. Some of these rules also apply to 3, firing in the field proper, under various conditions, and at ranges from 300 to 1200 yards. The subject has evidently received the writer’s careful attention and is exhaustively treated.
Wolfram projectiles.
March ii. Examinations for admission to the Staff College. Minor notices: New Japanese fleet.
March 14. Observations on engagements of infantry. The study of war histories. Minor notices: France—A submarine boat. Austria—Wounds from bullets of the Mannlicher rifle.
March 18. The English fleet manoeuvres of 1890.
March 21. Proposed changes in the periods of instruction of the infantry and thejagers.
March 25. Programme of the manoeuvres for this year of the Austro-Hungarian armies. The Victoria torpedo.
March 28. Discussion on the article, “Infantry target-practice under warlike conditions.” Minor notices: Heavy guns for Japan.
April 1. Minor notices: Visit to the powder works at Ochta.
April 4 and 8. A word on the carrying out of attacks by larger bodies of infantry. Heligoland and the German fleet.
April 11. A word on the carrying out of attacks by larger bodies of infantry (concluded). Minor notices.
The experiments with a newly invented smokeless powder by a French chemist, St. Marc, have proved its superiority to the powder of Vieille used in the Lebel cartridges. The experiments were made with a Lebel gun at distances of only 20 meters. The targets were increased in thickness during the trials. One bullet penetrated 1.27 meters of poplar wood and was recovered intact. The powder was exposed for 5 minutes to a water-bath, dried between two linen cloths, and then fired, sending a bullet through 7 millimeters of sheet-iron. Firing for accuracy at 200 meters also gave splendid results. There is scarcely any smoke developed. The pressure is said to be very low. The initial velocity was 700 meters. The dangers of spontaneous ignition are very slight. The grains are cubes, sides about 1 millimeter long, of greenish color.
April 15. A final word on the fortification question.
April 18. The English fleet manoeuvres of 1890. Minor notices: Filtering of drinking water; Army manoeuvres in Russia.
April 22. New naval guns. Entrance into St. Cyr.
April 25. Officer’s patrols. Increase of French cavalry.
April 29. Needs of two years’ enlistment. H. G. D.
MITTHEILUNGEN AUS DEM GEBIETE DES SEEWESENS.
Volume XIX., No. 1. On the law of storms in the Eastern seas, by W. Doberck, director of the Hong Kong observatory. The North Baltic sea canal. Budget of the Italian navy for the year from July 1, 1890, to June 30, 1891. Budget of the Imperial German navy, 1891 to 1892. Royal decree on the Spanish fleet material. The Argentine cruiser 25 de Mayo. Torpedo-boats for the Argentine Republic. Launch of the Maine. Triple-screw cruiser for the United States. Harbor-defense ram for the United States. Armor tests at low temperature. The Manchester ship canal. Lights for lighthouses. Life-preserver with automatic inflation. The engines of the American cruiser No. 12. The Imperial Turkish yacht.
No. 2. Practical geometric innovations (lecture by Fr. Schiffer, professor at the Naval School at Pola).
Practical method of measuring angles without a protractor. Description of Edler’s measuring sheet, and its application in obtaining trigonometric functions. Bing’s sector and its application in measuring the area and circumference of a given circle. Description of Le Bon’s telestereometer.
Method of determining the center of displacement, by W. Abel, naval constructor. The French torpedo-launching gun, system Canet. Estimates for the United States navy, 1891 to 1892. The protection of iron and steel ships against danger of sinking from injury to the hull. Experiments on the application of cellulose for stopping leaks. Hydraulic boat-hoisting apparatus. Yarrow’s water tubular boiler. The use of the aerometer on board ship for finding the specific gravity of sea-water.
No. 3. On sea-marks. Howell torpedo. The deep-sea explorations of H. M. S. Pola in 1890. Resuscitation in cases of drowning, strangulation, freezing, or unconsciousness arising from alcoholism or exposure to excessive heat. The French torpedo-boat No. 128. The latest oceanographic expeditions. The Argentine gunboats Rosales and Espora. French armored ship Jauréguiberry. A reserve squadron in France. Armor of the U. S. monitor Puritan. Use of oil at sea. Liquid fuel on board the Italian ships Castelfidaro and Ancona. Electric signalling apparatus of G. Conz in Hamburg. New school for naval architects in the United States.
No. 4. Results of some tests for stability of Austrian torpedo-boats. The automobile Buonaccorsi torpedo. On manning of English ships of war. New electric log, invented by Granville. English mail steamers in the Pacific Ocean. Trials of the guns and their installation on board the Argentine protected cruiser 25 de Mayo. Tests of the 6-inch Armstrong R. F. gun. Graydon’s dynamite gun. Petroleum as a fuel in ships’ boilers. Organization of French naval officers for the reserve. The schiseophone. Vessel-building in England. Tests of anti-fouling paints in England. Education and training of stokers. Budget of the Russian navy. Fortification of New York. American armor plates. H. G. D.
ANNALEN DER HYDROGRAPHIE UND MARITIMEN METEOROLOGIE.
19TH Annual Series, 1891, No. I. From Australia to the west coast of North America and return, by L. E. Dinklage. Notices on the Azores, especially on Ponta Delgada. Notices on Port Natal. Soundings in the North Atlantic Ocean. Soundings in the South Atlantic Ocean along the Brazilian coast. Corrections of chronometers for temperature and temperature-coefficients. Damages by lightning to vessels while at sea.
Enumerates fourteen cases, from 1879 to 1889, in which vessels were struck by lightning.
Contribution towards knowledge of the Corean climate. Compilation of storm-signals.
An enumeration of the storm-signals of various countries.
Minor notices: Daily weather reports; Winds in the Indian Ocean; Fresh-water supply in the Straits of Sunda; Notices on some islands and shoals in the Bismarck Archipelago; Notice on Apalang (Gilbert islands); Notices on some of the Marshall islands, the Island of Jabur, and Prince William Sound.
No. II. On a new method of determining magnetic declination, by Professor Dr. C. Börgen. From Australia to the west coast of North America and return, by L. E. Dinklage (concluded). Report of Captain Pliiddemann, of H. M. S. Leipzig, on the voyage from Amboyna to Finsch Harbor. Current observations on the Nord Hinder banks. Deep-sea soundings in the Pacific Ocean. Mean barometric pressures between the Channel and the Cape Verde Islands in November, by Dr. W. Köppen (with plate). Two remarkable night thunderstorms in the summer of 1890, by Dr. W. Köppen (with plate). Minor notices: A remarkable light seen in the heavens; The east coast of Upola, Samoan islands; The town and island of Zanzibar.
No. III. On a new method of determining the declination of a magnet, by Dr. C. Börgen (concluded). Report of Captain Niejahr, of the German bark J. F. Pust, on harbors on the Brazilian coast. Soundings in the North Pacific. Soundings in the South Pacific Ocean about the Samoan islands. The storms along the German coast from 1878 to 1887. Quarterly weather review, fall of 1886. Minor notices: Storm signals along the German coasts; Currents in the inland sea of Japan; Currents in Macassar Straits and sailing directions during SW monsoons; Cabaret Bay, St. Domingo (with chart). H. G. D.
DEUTSCHE HEERES ZEITUNG.
January 17, 1891. On the active military writers of the army. The Russian strategy in the first half of the Seven Years War. New tactics in the French army. Firing tests with the Marga cartridge.
“Lieutenant Marga is the inventor of a rifle of 8-mm. caliber, which possesses some remarkable properties as to simplicity, durability, accuracy, and rapid loading. This weapon was subjected to experimental tests at Brussels, December 2d, 1890. Lieutenant Marga obtains an initial velocity far surpassing anything heretofore reached, not by any especial construction of the weapon, or by the employment of stronger powder, but by a better utilization of the powder-gases in their action on the bullet. ‘ He obtains by this means,’ says la Belgique Militaire, ‘ instead of an initial velocity of 600 to 620 meters, one of 720 meters.’
“Lieutenant Marga directed his experiments toward obtaining an increase in velocity without increase of pressure in the bore. This he succeeded in doing by inventing his cartridge, which, with a pressure not exceeding 1800 atmospheres, imparts to the bullet of 14½ grams weight an initial velocity of 750 meters (2460 feet).
“The firing tests were made against one-inch pine planks, separated from each other by about one inch, against sheet-iron and wrought-iron plates. At a distance of 30 meters the bullet penetrated the ninth and tenth planks, or about 11½ inches of wood, without being in the least deformed. Against iron the results were remarkable: 7 sheet-iron plates, each of 2 mm. thickness, were penetrated, the bullet being reduced to powder against the backing, a cast-iron plate of 15 to 16 mm. thickness. However, when this cast-iron plate was placed in front of the sheet-iron plate the bullet passed clear through and penetrated two of the sheet-iron plates behind, striking with force against the third plate. Repeated trials always brought the same results. The firing was also directed at a smooth rolled-iron plate, of same resistance as steel, thickness 16 mm. This plate was very much indented, while through a plate of the same material of 12 to 13 mm. thickness the bullet passed clear, making a smooth hole.”
January 21. The normal attack. On the active military writers in the army (continued). The Russian strategy in the first half of the Seven Years War (continued).
January 24. On the development of our infantry. On the active military writers in the army (concluded). The Russian strategy in the first half of the Seven Years War (continued). Naval notes.
January 28. The Russian strategy in the first half of the Seven Years War (concluded).
January 31. Mounted infantry patrols. The firing trials of the Gruson works.
The official reports, in detail, of the trials of the 22d to 27th of September, 1890, at Tängerhütte. The report gives the tabulated results of the various trials, with remarks.
February 4. Our navy in the eleventh hour. The firing trials of the Gruson works (continued). Military notes: Signalling with Very’s signals.
February 7. The firing trials of the Gruson works (continued). Military notes: The fortification system of France.
February 11. The strangers in France. French battery-guards. The firing trials of the Gruson works (continued).
February 14. The war of 1806 and 1807. The firing trials of the Gruson works (continued). Military notes: Electric signal-lamps.
A new electric signal-lamp has been constructed by John Price Rees, in London, which may be useful in the army and navy. For the purpose of signalling by flashes, an incandescent lamp of great candle-power is placed in the axial line of a system of lenses. There is a contrivance, by means of which the current of the battery, which is placed in a box below the lamp, can be turned on or shut off, and a screen conceals or exposes the light. The lamp and lens system can be trained in any direction, aided by a sighting tube, and regulated according to the distance to which it is desired to signal. By means of long or short flashes the Morse code can be used.
Fittings to magazine rifle.
A contrivance has been invented in Holland, which may be fitted to any repeating rifle, and by means of which the loading from the magazine is accomplished without bringing the rifle down from the position of aiming until the magazine is empty.
February 17 and 21. The firing trials of the Gruson works (continued).
February 25. Regulations of l’École d’instruction aérostatique. The firing trials of the Gruson works (concluded).
February 28. The fortification question. Trials with the Lebel gun. Budget of Russian navy and army. The port of Rochefort.
March 4. The value of the captive balloon in naval warfare, its use in coast defense and on board ship. The fortification question (continued).
March 7. The value of the captive balloon in naval warfare (concluded). The fortification question (continued).
March 11. The fortification question (continued). Naval notes: Electric training and firing gear lor heavy guns.
March 14. The fortification question (concluded).
March 18. Naval notes: Launch of English men-of-war. A new patent log.
March 21. Remarks on the fighting tactics of infantry, in accordance with the spirit of the times.
March 25 and 28. Our navy. Naval notes: Summer manoeuvres of German war vessels. Regulations concerning ceremonies and salutes in connection with flag of governor of German East Africa. Jurisdiction of the head of the Navy Department in Germany.
April 1 and 8. Heligoland and the German fleet. Garrison drills. More firing in the attack.
April 11 and 15. Field mortars and field howitzers. More firing in the attack (continued).
April 18. More firing in the attack (continued).
April 25. Military preparations of the Russian army. Krupp’s firing trials. More firing in the attack (concluded). Military notice: Captive balloon; present state of aerial navigation. Launch of the Electric.
April 29. Obituary notice, General v. Moltke. Increase of Russia’s reserves. H. G. D.
NORSK TIDSSKRIFT FOR SOVAESEN.
9TH Annual Series, No. 3. How to examine a telescope. The storms of November, 1890 (meteorological report). On spontaneous ignition and explosion in coal-bunkers. The 12-cm. 35-caliber length naval gun, with breech mechanism. Carriage of the 12-cm. gun (with plates). Messes in the English navy. The first steam life-boat. Determination of compass deviations. New cruisers for the United States.
No. 4. The latest forms of marine compass. The first engagement of the gunboat Viking.
An account of a suppositious engagement between the Norwegian gunboat of the first-class, Viking, supported by two torpedo-boats, and an enemy’s cruiser off Lyngor, July 5, 1892. The account is followed by a discussion on naval engagements of the future, and methods of attack and artillery fire to be used under circumstances similar to those in the engagement above described.
New English battle-ships. Tests of armor plates in America and Russia. The latest cruisers.
Gives data concerning the cruisers of the year 1890, of England, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Russia, Germany, Greece, Chili, Argentine Republic, Japan, and the United States (with plates). H. G. D.
TEKNISK TIDSKRIFT.
Nos. 1 and 2, 1891. On harbor improvements in Buenos Ayres.
RIVISTA MARITTIMA.
February, 1891. Electric lighting on board Italian war-ships, by Lieutenant A. Pouchain.
Part I. Rules to be followed in the selection of materials and in the establishment of plants. Tables are appended showing the proposed installation for each vessel, with the electrical energy of each proposed plant.
The German merchant marine, by Salvatore Raineri (continued). Study on modern naval tactics, by G. Ronca (continued). The giroscope, by Lieutenant C. Corsi. A month in the Island of Ceylon (continued).
March. Electric lighting on board Italian war-ships, by A. Pouchain (continued), (18 plates). Part II. Regulation materials.
An enumeration and description of motors and dynamos, search lights and projectors.
The German merchant marine, by Salvatore Raineri (continued). Study on modern naval tactics, by G. Ronca (continued). The interior of Africa, by Ettore Bravetta (continued).
May. Leads and weights used in deep-sea soundings, tried on board the Washington. Electric lighting on board Italian war-ships, by Lieutenant A. Pouchain (continued).
Description of the incandescent lamp, switches, resistance coils, with 12 plates showing different forms of lamps, insulation, electroliers, switches, etc.
Study on modern naval tactics, by G. Ronca (conclusion). The non-combatant personnel on board ships of war, by Dante Parenti. The Fiske range-finder, translated from the Engineer by F. Vergara. Notes on the machinery of the French torpedo-boats, Normand system. H. G. D.
RIVISTA DI ARTIGLIERIA E GENIO.
January, 1891. The relationship between war operations ashore and afloat, by Lieutenant Felice Porta, 26th Artillery. Actual fortifications (general considerations, and principal requisites for a defensive establishment, with 4 plates), by Enrico Rocchi, captain of engineers. The Mannesmann process of constructing metallic tubes. The hospital Mauriziano Umberto I., at Turin. H. G. D. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES.
MÉMOIRES DE LA SOClÉTÉ DES INGÉNIEURS CIVILS.
January, 1891. Governors for steam engines, and contrivances for quickly throwing shafting out of gear.
February. A new system for electric railroads. H. G. D.
LE YACHT.
January 31, 1891.
The French marine corps (Infanterie de marine) will be designated hereafter as “the colonial troops,’’ and either will have a separate administration or become a part of the ministry of war.
The armored battle-ship Hoche. The commercial school question.
February 7. Earlier retirement of officers in the French navy. Plans of the first-class battle-ship Jauréguiberry.
February 14. The law of the French mercantile navy. Private dockyards and government contracts. The English transpacific steam-packets; auxiliary cruisers. The London Times on armor plates.
February 21. The no-ton gun of the Sans-Pareil (a comparison between gun-trials in England and in France).
February 28. The law governing the merchant marine and the national navy; premiums and subsidies.
March 7. British naval budget.
March 14. French yachts and French measurements. Trials of the Marceau.
March 21. A bill to promote the better efficiency of the personnel of the French navy. State of the naval constructions on January 1, 1891. French yachts and measurements-(concluded). The English navy, from the Devastation to the Royal Sovereign.
April 4. Our new naval constructions in 1892.
April 11. English race measurements and French yachts.
April 18. The navy; rapid-fire guns.
At the polygone of the Hoc during the trials with the quick-firing cannons, system Canet, 9 shots were fired with the 12-cm. in 45 seconds, and 8 in 1 minute with the 15-cm., whose loaded cartridge weighs 130 pounds. With the exception of some slight imperfections, easily remedied, in the minor details, these pieces of ordnance are very satisfactory.
A ministerial decree establishing the horse-power standard of marine engines (75 kilogrammeters).
REVUE DU CERCLE MILITAIRE.
February 1, 1891. No halts in the advance of the line of attack. Drinkable water and hygiene in the barracks. War and navy budgets of Germany. German military literature. Infantry fire-discipline on the battlefield.
February 8. A study of the Russian infantry. Union of the German societies of carrier-pigeon fanciers. Tactics regulations in the French and German armies. The Behring question.
February 22. The Graydon torpedo-launching tube. Halts in the advance of the line of attack (an answer to the article of Feb. 1).
March 1. The Graydon torpedo-launching tube (ended).
March 8. The infantry attack (a sequel to kindred articles in the preceding numbers).
March 15. The speed of vessels, and the sheathing of their bottoms. Firing while advancing to the attack, à propros to previous kindred articles.
March 29. The Newfoundland question (with map). Velocipedes in the army. Mixed patrols in tactical reconnoissances. The speed of vessels, and bottom sheathing.
April 5. Military industry at the Moscow exposition. The revolution in Chili.
In view of the actual events in Chili, the following extracts may be of some interest. The Chilian naval budget aggregates 4,256,000 pesos (one peso being about 92 cents). The personnel is composed of 4 rear-admirals, 8 captains, 19 commanders, 25 senior lieutenants, 14 junior lieutenants, 38 midshipmen, 16 engineers, 13 medical surgeons, 40 paymasters, 33 mechanicians, and 1888 sailors.
On the list of vessels in commission appear: 3 armored ships,* 3 cruisers, 3 corvettes, 2 gunboats, 20 torpedo-boats of the first class, 3 of the second class, 5 steamers, and 3 sailing vessels, most of which are of an antiquated type. The Chilian government, however, has been very active of late in strengthening the fleet by the addition of modern vessels of the most approved designs, contracted for in England and France. It is in regard to the latter, the only ones in fact that present any interest, that we will say a few words.
Towards the end of 1887 Chili sent to Europe a mission headed by Admiral Latorre, who commanded the Cochrane at the time of the surrender of the Huascar. Plans and specifications were furnished by several engineers, some French, some English. Of these constructions the lion’s share fell to France. Two small gunboats (Almirante Lynch and Almirante Condell) were built by Laird on the plans of the English Sharpshooter. The Condell finished her trials last October, making 20 knots under 20 pounds pressure,and developing 4350 I. H. P. The Lynch has already done some good work in Chilian waters. Capitan Prat, 100 m. long and 6905 tons displacement, has an allround armor belt of 30 cm. in the upper part and 20 in the lower, with a total height of 2.10 m. A casemate with a 10 cm. armor occupies the central part from the belt to the hurricane-deck; it contains no battery, being only intended to protect the bases of the funnels and the passages below. The deck armor is from 20 to 50 mm. thick, and the supply-tubes 20 cm. All the plates are of Creusot steel. The lower deck is partitioned out by numerous water-tight bulkheads, insuring buoyancy in case of the upper works being shot away.
Her armament is powerful and distributed as follows:
- In each of the four turrets, which are arranged as on the Spanish Pelago, and have an armor of 275 mm., one 24 cm. 36-caliber gun.
- In four cupolas symmetrically disposed two by two to the rear of the heavy pieces, and on a level with them, 8 12-cm.
- Four rapid-fire guns of 47 mm., two on the bridge and two abreast the mainmast.
- Four 57-mm. encircling and almost touching the 24-cm. of the center.
- Six 37-mm., two on the gallery, two on the poop-deck, and two on the forecastle.
- Five Gatlings, four of which are in the tops, the other being intended for the launch. There are, besides, four torpedo-launching tubes, one in each side amidships, one forward and the other aft.
The Capitan Prat has two military masts with double tops. The engines, owing to the difficulties of repairs at home (Chili), are simple in construction and very strong, developing 12,000 indicated horse-power, with a speed of 17 and 19 knots with natural and forced draughts respectively. Three searchlights have been placed on the gallery and on platforms halfway up each mast.
The Presidente Errazuris and Presidente Pinto have the same speed with 3500 and 5400 I. H. P., according to draught. As in the case of the Capitan Prat, they have only military masts. They are provided each with four boilers and sufficient coal-endurance to steam 4500 miles at 12 knots, and 2550 at 15 knots. The electric lights, are placed on the bridge. They are elegantly-built steel cruisers, 81 m. long, with a displacement of 2080 tons; the decks are protected with steel plates 35 to 60 mm. thick extending the whole length of the vessel and descending 0.70m. below the water-line. Sufficient protection is afforded by the multicellular system of construction and cofferdams. A blockhouse, 70 mm., incloses the servo-motor.
Their armaments consist, 1, of four 15-cm. guns on sponsons abaft the foremast; 2, two iz-cm. on the line of the keel, one on the forecastle, the other on the poop-deck-These pieces, like the preceding ones, are mounted on central pivot carriages; 3, four 47-mm., two on the lower bridge, two on the quarterdeck above the 15-cm. aft; 4, four revolving cannons of 37 mm. in the lower tops; 5, one Nordenfelt in each of the upper tops; 6, three torpedo-launching tubes, one forward, the two others in the sides amidships.
The two cruisers were built inside of 18 months. The Capitan Prat, Presidente Errazuris and Presidente Pinto have up to the present been detained by the French government, 1, as a guarantee for final payment; 2, to prevent their falling into the possession of a hostile third party not recognized as a belligerent.
REVUE MARITIME ET COLONIALE.
January, 1891. Eclipse of the sun—a theoretic statement. The expediency of a general staff for the British navy in imitation of the German army.
“Admiral Sir Geoffrey Philipp Hornby, an authority in naval matters, is of opinion that the Bureau of Intelligence is entirely inadequate for the task set before it, and advises the formation of a general staff, which, absorbing the intelligence department, would be far more competent to discharge the duty of gathering and condensing within practical limits the enormous quantity of information at hand, which, contrary to a custom now established, should be at all times of easy access to every officer in the service as well as to the administrative authorities. It will not be very long before the necessity of a similar establishment will be felt in our own navy.”
The military marines of antiquity, and mediaeval age (2d part). A study of comparative naval architecture (continued).
February. Economical influence of lightness in naval construction. Regularizing the movements of engines; a regulator with an auxiliary dynamo. Historical studies of the military marine of France (continued).
March. Operation of raising the French collier ship Fédération. Historical studies of the military marine of France (continued). Notes on the bar of Kotonon (describing the surf-boats in use on the West Coast of Africa, and the method of landing and putting off shore). Notes on the lubrication of machinery. Foreign naval ministries, how organized and operated. J. L.
REVISTA MARITIMA BRAZILEIBA.
Hydraulics for propelling life-saving boats.
The appliance of hydraulic power to vessels is not a new thing, for it dates as far back as 1843. Two systems, if we may use such word, are in presence: one. Dr. Fleischer’s of Kiel, tried on board the Hydromotor in 1881, and the other the turbine system of Admiral Sir G. Elliot, tried on board the Water-witch. Sweden, Germany and France have also made experiments, but with indifferent success. By far the most interesting experiments, took place on board the life-saving boat Duke of Northumberland, of which the engineer gave at the time a full description. The writer sees a great many advantages in this propelling power, and recommends its adoption for the bar of the Rio Grande and other dangerous bars on the coast of Brazil.
REVISTA MILITAR DE CHILE.
January, 1891. New trials of armor-clad cupolas.
In October, 1890, experiments were made at Le Creusot, France, with an armored cupola or turret, at which were present representatives from nearly every country in Europe and from the United States. The turret, a revolving one, has a diameter of 5.40 m. and is 0.70 m. high. In the interior are two 13-centimeter guns mounted on special carriages, fitted with hydraulic checks acting automatically. The plates of nickel-steel are 20 cm. thick, and weigh 2580 kg. Five shots were fired from a 15-cm. caliber gun at a distance of 30 m. The projectile was a 15-cm. one, and the velocity at the impact 329 m. The trial was very satisfactory; still it would have been more interesting if a gun of greater penetrating power, the Canet gun of the same caliber for instance, had been used.
Opinion of the Attorney-General in regard to claims arising from the Chile-Peruvian war, submitted to the President of the Republic. A memorandum card, or handbook containing the most elementary notions of hygiene recommended for the use of the Chilean soldier. A regiment of artillery on the march (instruction and discipline). Instructions in target practice. The aliment of the soldier (translated from the French Journal des sciences militaires).
BOLETIM DO CLUB NAVAL.
May-July, 1890. Extraordinary meeting of the Naval Club on the nth of June, on the occasion of the anniversary of the naval battle of the Riachuelo. Establishment of a Sailors’ Protective Society.
“The object of the society, whose formation is due to the initiative of some members of the Naval Club and under whose patronage it is placed, is to obtain the necessary capital to compose a relief fund in favor of widows and orphans of sailors who lost their lives at sea in the performance of their duty. The ‘Caixa Pia’ (benevolent fund) is derived from the following sources: . Original subscriptions; 2. contributions deposited in boxes set up in convenient places for that purpose; 3. legacies and donations; 4. interest on invested capital, and contributions of all kinds to the society. Article fourth of the by-laws provides that the institution shall distribute help to shipwrecked sailors cast on the coast of Brazil. The above disposition is to be communicated to foreign consuls, and reciprocity solicited on the part of their respective governments. The privilege of membership is extended to ladies. Assistance at sea made obligatory in cases of distress or collision. According to the author, no punishment can be too severe for the crime of wilfully and cruelly disregarding the duty of giving assistance to fellow-sailors in distress, and calls for international legislation.
Casting oil on the sea to subdue the waves.
Several Chambers of Commerce, among others those of Dunkerque and Bordeaux, have instituted prize funds to reward the best essays written on the subject, a special committee at the latter city having been selected to work out a programme.
Denominations for masts of four-masted crafts. Notes on naval construction. Formulas of the ordinary law s of resistance of hulls. Influence of the shape of stems and sterns (to be continued).
August and September.
“The matériel of our navy (Brazilian)’’ is the title of an article giving an outline of the composition of the fleet of the new republic. At the head of the list appear the Riachuelo and Aquidaban, two armored battle-ships of recent types, possessing all the latest improvements and quite efficient for the duty they are expected to perform. But the writer thinks that although the purchase of these vessels was justified, and they are able to meet in contest crafts of the same type and armament, yet armored battle-ships are not the kind wanted by Brazil in time of war. Then follow the names of nondescript vessels, possessing neither speed nor defensive or offensive power; a list of cruisers in course of construction, or launched and finishing, afloat, among others the Almirante Tamandare, with a speed not exceeding 17 knots and a modern equipment. Then come the monitors Pernambuco and Maranhao, a very desirable class of vessels. Three sea-going torpedo-boats, type Le Coureur, are building in Europe.
Notes on naval construction (continued). Discussion on the elements of resistance; direct resistance. A few notes to serve for an elementary study of naval tactics. A plan for the distribution and equipment of meteorological stations in connection with the weather service. Naval chronicles.
BOLETIN DEL CENTRO NAVAL.
November, 1890.
“A challenge to mortal combat in mid-ocean, 1813,” is the title of a very interesting article. It does not pretend to adduce any new fact in the history of our early struggle with the mother country. Yet the author lays a certain stress upon the fact that in the fight between the Chesapeake and the Shannon, the crew of the American frigate was composed of the riffraff and foreign elements that thronged at the time our Atlantic seaports, thus lending a new force to the argument recently brought forth that American men-of-war should be manned exclusively by American crews.
Use of the natural sines in calculating the latitude by circumstancial altitudes (see previous number).
December. Of the necessity of educating the personnel of the navy. Promotion in the service. Submarine torpedo-boats. Our naval armaments.
It is hardly necessary to say that this article presents more than an ordinary interest in view of the actual events in Chile.
Speed of ocean steamers.
December. Recruiting of the personnel of the navy.
The writer expatiates upon the deplorable condition of the materiel, a condition which he attributes to the absence of trained petty officers and skilled mechanics.
Promotion in the navy. Submarine torpedo-boats.
This is a memoir upon the projected construction of a submarine boat.
Our naval armaments (Argentine).
January, 1891. Recruiting of the personnel of the navy (continued).
The voluntary service system which prevails in the Argentine Republic, the same as in the United States, although the most onerous for the treasury, is the most appropriate to the country and individuals, and the most conformable to hygiene. Apropos to the latter, the writer cites a case of 415 men drafted by lots into the Spanish navy, 230 of whom entered the hospital in two years with affections of the heart brought on through a dislike to seafaring life and the absence of the home from which they were ruthlessly separated.
El Capitan Prat. Submarine boats. A naval consulting board. The Chilian artillery (the new materiel is almost exclusively composed of Krupp guns). The navies of the Triple Alliance. The French fleet, etc. J. L.
THE ENGINEER.
February 14, 1891. The U. S. S. Yorktown. Yarrow’s new water-tube boiler. Slide-valve gear.
March 14. Repairing a broken crank-shaft. Range of temperature in steam cylinders. The trial trip of the U. S. S. Bennington.
March 28. See’s extractor for purifying feed-water for marine boilers.
April ii. The Spanish cruiser Pelayo. Results of experiments on the strength of boilers.
THE RAILROAD AND ENGINEERING JOURNAL.
February, 1891. The Panama Canal. Our navy in time of peace. Electricity from wind-power. The submarine mine and torpedo in harbor-defense. The progress in construction of new naval ships.
March. High explosives for military use. Boilers for high pressures. United States naval progress. The preservation of iron and steel structural work. The mechanical treatment of molding sand. The United States Navy.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NAVAL ENGINEERS. Steel crank-shaft forgings.
A description of the method of manufacture of the steel crank-shafts for the new vessels of the navy, and the tests to which the material is subjected.
Fitting up the crank-shafts of the U. S. S. Newark.
The method employed by Cramp & Co. in constructing the built-up type of crank-shaft.
The causes of the vibration of screw steamers. An investigation of Assistant Engineer Alderdice’s “Notes on Analysis of Engine Trials,” by Chief Engineer Isherwood. Reply to Chief Engineer Isherwood’s investigation. Register for speed trials.
A description of an apparatus designed to carry into effect Engineer-in-Chief Melville’s method of making speed trials.
The contract trial of the Concord. The contract trial of the Newark. Experiments with the Belleville boiler for marine machinery. J. K. B.
SCHOOL OF MINES QUARTERLY.
January, 1891. Examination of mines. Notes on the coal-fields of Montana. The operations of the U. S. Geological Survey.
J. K. B.
THE STEVENS INDICATOR.
Volume VIII., No. 1. The measurement of high temperature. Latest developments in compressed-air motors. Marine governors. Notes on the performance of the ferry-boat Bergen. Huge lathes and cranes operated by electricity. J. K. B.
TRANSACTIONS OF THE TECHNICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC COAST.
January, 1891. Accumulators and their applications. Notes on the behavior of steel rods at the elastic limit. J. K. B.
THE STEAMSHIP.
February, 1891. The theory of propulsion and centrifugal force. Auxiliary engines in connection with the modern marine engine.
March, 1891. The steam trial of H. M. S. Latona. Machine stoking. Screw propellers.
April, 1891. Willis’s electrical ship’s telegraph. Cylindrical boilers. J. K. B.
REVIEWERS AND TRANSLATORS.
Lieut.-Commander C. S. Sperry, Ensign C. M. Knepper,
P. A. Engineer J. K. Barton, Prof. C. R. Sanger,
Ensign H. G. Dresel, Prof. J. Leroux.