Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 December 1888 — A POWERFUL WAR SHIP. [ARTICLE]

A POWERFUL WAR SHIP.

The New British Iron-Cl»<i Launched at the Pembroke Dockyard. The latest British iron-clad, the Nile, just launched at Pembroke dockyard, is the most powerful ship of war ever con strutted in England, if notin all the world. The.only others comparable with it are the British ship Trafalgar, built from nearly the same plans, and the Italian Doria, Lauria, and Morosini, and these are not superior to it, unless possibly in speed, a point yet to be determined. The Nile may be briefly described as a twin-screw steamer, 345 feet long and 73 broad and of 274 feet draught. Her displacement is 11,940 tons, and her indicated horse power 12,000. It is expected that she will steam nineteen miles an hour, and her 900 tons of coal will take her 6,000 miles at more than half speed. Her external steel armor is from 14 to 20 inches in thickness. Her offensive weapons comprise four 67-ton guns in turrets, eight 5-incli in the box battery, and six 36 pounder aatreight 6-pounder quickfiring guns. There will also be eight torpedo tubes,' for each of which three Whitehead torpedoes will be carried. She is divided into 120 water-tight compartments, and her pumps have a capacity for 3,000 tons an hour. She can disharge simultaneously 5,749 pounds of shot, including four missiles of 1,250 pounds each. Finally, her total cost will be about ss.ooo,ooo—the most expensiveship ever built. It is an interesting circumstance that the launching of [this huge i ghting machine has left not another warship on the ways in any. British yards; a st'te of affairs not seen before by 1 this generation.

A Peculiarity .of American Eye?.’ The efforts of the war department tc secure a field glass of greater power than the one they now use has discovered the fact that the eyes of the average American are closer together than those of men in foreign countries. The double glass, known as the field glass, now used, is weaker than that used-in the armies of Europe It is of'only from five or six powers—entirely too weak for the pur posa The only glass they can get of suflicient'eewer is a single spy. glass, which is defective in that it/noenrottake in abroad enough field. This is a very serious defect in -the equipment of the American army, but there seems to be no immediate prospect of its correction, because on, eves are too close together. Some of the c<;l >red troops may .be able to use a different glass. Hut tlic white - Yankee sold’et < an not overcome 1 his national peculiarity. T’li- heM glass in use is tb.at v.-tli whic h the German armyL.suppi ed. A n attempt was made to adopt t|icm by the war department, but it was found that 11-- eves of the glasses wen- so far apart t.n! tiiey could not he used by Americans The department is studying how to over etime tics diiH'-'ilty.