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12 THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1911. IF WE HAD TO FIGHT Could Onr Navy Withstand Attack from First-Class Power? Henry ReuterdaiJ writes in Collier'! for Thanksgiving: Unless, a utj is maintained s the highest possible state of aclency, U Is a needless extravs.7a-nc- President TaXt. Beneath the palisades of the Hudson river the nation's fleet swung at an chor the strongest array of warships ever assembled In home watars. From Fifty-ninth street to Spuyten Dayvil these Coating forts swung with the tide gray masses of turreted steel with great guns. Surely a superb spec tacle! From the wooded heights of Riverside drive, from the windows of the giant apartment houses that line its elope, and from the palisades mil lions of citizens proudly reviewed the nation's bulwarks of battle. They saw the navy of the United States, their first line of defense against old world aggression; and their bef-rts swelled at the power and majesty of the Amer ican armada. Let us see what we had there: The 1C ships of the Atlantic fleet formed the nucleus; two armored cruisers, peme of the elder battleships. srna'Ier cruiser types', pins destroyers and tor- SWEATEES REPLACE COATS I L. S. ARMY New MUX J : Sweater. V f I - fJZftft. V, ' , 1 1 Coats will no lunger the uniform of L'liiter In the Held. Tlie war de decided that a 11 tit w 'just us cumiortuLiie aud tlcal carmen t hun the Th sweater win ai. supplement the tiaxtket 'Ins carmeat. form part of States troops parlment iias eater will be a ti. ore prac prertent coat. be used to tts a s.ee(- pedo boats, submarines and auxilariea. formed the lines? To make the review more Imposing, two of the newest dreadnoughts were pushed out of the r-avy yard, la -parts incomplete. It actually was a mobilization cf the greater part of the nation's naval force, and who can deny that as a spectacle It was grand? Appearances are sometimes decep- . tive. You are proud of the American armada what if I tell you that should this fleet go to war tomorrow, the big gest part of it might be crippled, per haps sur-k, before It got very far? It might be torpedoed by the enemy's de stroyers before it had even met its main force. If it escaped torpedo at tack by the sheerest luck, these splen did ships, meeting the enemy, might easily be outmaneruvered. Why? the ! enemy's admirals, younger and more experienced, have learned the art of war in the school of graxd maneuvers, which involve the strategic and tactical handling of ail the ships cf a complete fighting fleet. No such maneuvers ! have ever been practiced In our navy. And so the enemy would have the ini tial advantage in tne action. 1 hey know their business. LOOK AT THE FACTS. An alarmist, you say we have a great navy we have seen it in the HuGson; we know our men are as brave and probably keener, man for man, than those of Eng'and or Ger many or France or Japan. Look up the marksmanship record the steam ing efficiency nonsense. j Be patient. A fleet is a weapon of j de' nse, isn't it? Well, the true method of defense in war is attack. Naval battles are not fought in har bors, tut far out at sea. Before they, meet the enemy our vessels may have to cruise thousands of miles. They will need coal. What about colliers? For want of a FuSicient number of colliers this great American fleet of ours Is tied to its coal piles What .about repair and ammunition ships? '. Suppose In its first action The fle t supply of ponder ar.d she' is exhaust ed it must run to base. This hap pened to logo ctmng the battle or Aug. in. isot. in the Hudson there was just one ammunition ship, the old roliW Iebanon. and it lacks the re frigeration equipment to keep the fmokp!f?s powder at stable tempera ture. And the Lebanon is enpab'e of replenishing the ammunition supply of one dreadnought. "How can all this be?" asks the man in the street. "Have we not paid for a creut navy?" The answer is con gress. Congress s-ill thinks that bat tleships alove make a fighting fleet. ! I One hundred and two ships of war ! swung to their anchors; there were salutes and hurrahs; the eagle j bcreainc d and the press proclaimed the J review as the greatest thing ever. The 6 Two ted ae Fer Quid nrv J L.ij Ik-ccham's Pills, they are just the thini? as a family medicine. Nothing to be compared with them has yet been put before the public. For over half a century this medicine has been easy First Favorite in countless households i.nd the name and the fame of Beecham's Fills have spread all over the world. The reason for the enormous popularity of this remedy is not far to seek. Experience has shown that there is nothing letter for derangements of the stomach and digestive organs generally. Taken in accordance with directions, Beeehamfs Pills give quick relief, stimulate the organs to healthy action and have a tonic effect upon the whole system. They are coYnpounded' of the best ingredients and there are very few people who would not feel better for an occasional dose of JJeec ham's Pills. If you have not tried them and have any doubt rs to their real value nd efficacy, get a box and judge for yourself. You will find Ueecham's Pills a valuable aperient and unequaled in regulating the stomach, bowels, liver and kidneys and restoring the powers of digestion. A periodical dose will enable you to keep well and "tit," ready for work or play. By elimi - rating impurities from the system, Beecham's Fills increase the appetite, promote assimilation of food and establish good health. No household should ever le without a box. Many thousands have proved Beechanvs TV T7 r-p Aji u fro At sll arif gists, in boxes, 1 Oc, ZSc- Brcthn ef mpeclal welum to mromn as mfth twmrj bo. rt, Pi hill iM& Fmnily great American public went to bed thftiiriTig that this powerful fleet was ready for battle ready to go forth upon the high seas and beat up an j enemy with superior force. This fleet as a fleet is not prepared for war, nor will it be for some time to come. While each easel of the Atlantic force is a highly trained and efficient fighting machine, the fleet as a whole is not ready and cannot be made ready until public opinion forces congress to realize its Immediate needs. This is a statement cf fact and is not a personal opinion, ther result of in digestion, pessimism, or fault-finding. Any of the serious-minded o facers of the navy, particularly the younger ones, will agree with me. On the deck of one of our dreadnoughts an ofacer. j one of the brightest men in tne serv iice, said: "ComparatiTely speaking, j we are, today, as poorly prepared for war as we were in the Spanish war." I In a word, the mobilized 6hips in the Hudson river constituted but the empty shell of an efficient fleet. And their mobilization bears about the same relation to readiness for war as does a parade down Broadway of troops who are not equipped for the I Eeld. S OUR FLEET LACKS -EYES." The destroyer Is the battleship's ' n orst enemy. On a stormy or foggy I niaht searchlights do not protect the battleship, eo a swarm of destroyers may easily get the big ftllow at their mercy. A fleet can only be protected . r.nAr attarl-c ViV lt OWT1 destroyers, which in daytime scout and search and at night maintain a screen against the onslaught of the enemy's craft. Each of the great navies has a large number of these "eyes of the fleet." But not the United States. Germany, Japan and France have practically four destroyers for each battleship. We have about one and a half. Some 50 more destroyers are needed as fast as they can be built. Surplus battleships are useless if we do cot equip them with destroyers. American policy demands a far f!'inff fleet actinc on the offensive. But ' to fight away from our base requires I an abundant coal supply. This fleet ; can steam on its own ccal about 3,00 miles; we have six colliers with fleet Upefd, an, from them the fleet could !eet coal for about 20 d?ys' cruising j speed, but only for 10 at full speed, j Should we send the American fleet ! against a foreign enemy, proposing to i maintain it for extended operations, i we positively need for a coal supply j alone more than 100 vessels. Should ' the war be in the eaFt before the opeti i ing of the Panama canal, we ehouM ! actually hate to requisition 100 more ' steamers above the number now under I American register, provided that all i the vessels flying our flag could be ob j tallied for this purpose. This would 'mean that over 100 foreign ships must !be bought or chartered as auxiliaries. ! Think what a stupendous undertaking j this would be! WHAT I . Ilfwt r,r.t.i In case of war the fleet of a modern navy strikes at once. If Germany. France or England had gone to war over the Morocco question, their fleets would hare put to sea in a few hours. Should a powerful nation decide to dispute the integrity cf the Monroe doctrine, it would at once dispatch its fleet against ns. This would be a real fleet, composed of fighting ships (bat tleships) and all the auxiliary vessels; its due proportion of armored cruisers, speedy protected cruisers acting ap scouts, destroyers, mine layers (of which we have one), mine sweepers (of which we have none), submarines, etc. A fleet of an equal number of battleships sent against this force with out the protection of the necessary cruisers and destroyers would be promptly crippled. Morover, the for eign fleet would be accompanied by the requisite number of auxiliaries, supply Phips. repair ships, hospital ships, troop ships, etc.. plus the colliers. The vessels necessary for such an equip ment have long since been provided by every foreign country. Germany aione could on two weeks' notice com mandeer the use of 200 ocean Lners and modern cargo steamers, manned by officers and men all belonging to her naval reserve, and as such accus tomed to military discipline. Such vessels do not exist in our country, and congress has done noth-in- to build ud a merchant marine from which they could be recruited. We. the greatest oil-producing coun try In the world, were the last to ap ply oil fuel to warships. This may be the reason why the navy Is without modern oil tankers. Some 15 destroy ers burning oil. and nothing else, are in commission. The Arethusa, the fm- j provlsed oil Ship which was In the re ! view, could not supply these vessels with oil for more than five days steam ing at 20 knots; the tanks, the two colliers which carry oil, could "oil up" once the four dreadnoughts, which burn oil as well as coal. The British navy baa four oil ships. Should we get Into trouble we should have to rely upon the patriotism of the Stand ard Oil company for tank steamers. I'll admit that In case of a sudden flurry any ships could be Improvised for auxiliary duty in a Job-lot 'way, but they would be wholly ineufScient in number and equipment But naval wars are swift, and by the time this service could be fully organized, and the Dersonnel enlisted. let alone j trained, the war would be over. For j eflecUve performance In peace and war the following types are needed in rela i tion to a sqnadron of eight battleships i of an ideal fleet: Four armored cruis I ers. eight protected cruisers (scouts), ! 32 destroyers, two destroyer tenders, i eight colliers, one repair ship, one hos pital ship, one supply sh4p. one trans port, one ammunition fhip. WAJTTED, A -If AVAL RESERVE. For these types special appropria tions should be made by congress, and this without reducing the general pro gram of two battleships a year neces sary to replace four cf the five battle ship, which will be 20 years old in -mimm.wmmlwm,vvtmiy m myfwmM9H-mu mw .ui lu . ... .i .. in. i. . i i j ... - n i , i . I idm IM ,. wmwmwm9mwmnnm mm . .. un s 1 1 in k-- ': '-' '-'"----.;-i iir'f '-' -' '- --i - -.r.-r.. ' , ;' .: - .;. -&. - - -- - - , , r'--'J--'i-'-g'--- W.iWiilU'fcir - m siw wis -f U till- JsilSferljl' v2v Jw-.l sy. y ta- tbl I win? tiAt'A Mrt i II i il 1 JIM 1 im 4 W 17 M PKff V 1 This day cf feasting heralds real winter. It ushers in the season for heavy clothes, for suits and overcoats to protect you and to brighten your apppearance. In town or in the country you will want to be well dressed on Thanksgiving Day. Let us make this possible. Let us supply you with Steira-Biocii or "Miller-Made" Clothes The Garments Ideal for Men and Young Men, 515 to $35. Our display of models and fabrics In suits and overcoats is wonderfully complete. Regard less of how whimsical you are your desires can be gratified. Glad to have you look or buy or do both. "You can bank on what we say." 7: I- i ii I Aii i ' Ii uii-i 1011, aiid as such relegated to the sec on.i line. The navy is short of men. Of the ships in the line of review, the battleships alone canied their full C');iiyltmeiiL of ofliceis and men; in deed, not ail of the 10 battleships and two armored cruisers had their full quota. It has been necessary to trans fer officers and men from the big ships t" those which Lave been taken from ;he reserve. And fully to man all the fhips built or building would at pres ent be impossible. The new ships un cer wev can only be coir, missioned by laying up others; robbing Peter to pay Paul. The fact is that the naval com mi'tees of congress have not as yet realized the Importance of Increasing the enlisted personnel. While appro priations have been made for new bat' tleshlps and their e'juIPirient, there has rever been added s clause In the ap propriation bilJ providing for their crews. In war the navy will need 30, 000 additional men. But where are they to come from and how long will It take to enlist them? During the Spanish war It required nine months to enlist some 8,000 men, thia outside the 8,632 furnished by the naval militia, and two months elapsed before 5,974 recruits had been raised. I ! i Solid satisfac tion from be ginning to end is found in a Flor De Valentine Made of clear Havana leaf from the famous Vuelta district, speci ally blended to give that rich, full flavor that makes this cigar distinctive from all others. Cuban hand-made and Sumatra wrapped. Try one today. 1fff -V THREE SIZES 1 Uy Sold by all dalrm Distributors NE WMAN & U LLMAN Peoria. Dlinots The naval militia, at present an en thusiastic and growing body of men. Is - but C,5fi0 strong, officers and all. Congress has so far taken no steps to authorize an organized naval resi rve, although strongly urged to do so by various secretaries of the navy. At a small cost a national reserve, com posed of the naval militia and ex-man-of-warsmen, etc., might be established. I have not finished yet. In discuss ing preparation for war, officers cf the l.avy have for years laid etress on the fact that the science of strategy and tactics as applied to practical fleet ork has not been fully developed. It follows that if we had all the needed fighting ships and their auxiliaries, and if all were in prefect readiness to pro ceed against the enemy, our fleet would still be an untrained force, so far aa concerns its ability to outmaneuver the opponent. Our gnn pointers can shoot straight, but their ability would count for little unless the fleet were bo ma neuvered as to give them an equal chance to exercise their skill. Rut thia fleet of ours, including all its units, has never been maneuvered t s 'her. Now every foreign navy has :tb yearly grcr.d maneuvers, when practically the entire fleet poes to sea and splits in I two forces to practice the problems of naval warfare. No such maneuvers bave ever occurred In the American navy, and, besides, there Is no money available from congress for this pur pose. WE HAVE 0 r.KEHl, STAFF. In every Important navy abroad the j general staff makes a continuous study of war, covering all the fleids of oper ation. Few, 'f any, officers In our navy ' 9re free to devote their entire energy to planning for war, and none are by law responsible for the preparation of war. As there Is no stafT organization for the purpose, these preparatl'ms would hve to be ns'ie by officers who I have received but little training In the arts of war. and their execution would ; be carried out by officers who had still t& cf the maneuvering experience j necessary to the successful handling of i a great fleet. ; I hear the taxpayer ask why we have established a nf-w navy at a cost of over f lCO'en.ririO a year, but have '. fa!l-d to provide for the person"! j which would make this navy available j for war. This dangerous condition has 'been repeatedly and emphatically ; r.c:r.ed ou by Prer td--rt Roosevelt attd h!s secretaries of the navy. The an swer Is again corgress. i The admirals and captains of the big foreign navies are comparatively young men. A British battleship captain may be as young as 35. Ours are from 20 to 25ears older. The average age of an American admiral is from 0!) to 0.2, aad he has only from one to thn-e years to stay In hia grade and train himself for command in battle. Some English admirals are 49, and many have had the experienco of command of big fleets for eight yeas. Admiral Taylor wrote some years ago officially: "Unless the ages of our captains are diminished, disaster is practically cer tain to ensue." But congress has not yet acted on the new personnel bill, which will afford the whole service a more modern system of promotion. True, we are making progn-ss. Within the navy tremendous strides have been made toward higher effi ciency. The long-rang'j accuracy of our gun pointers is equal to that of any foreign navy, and in engine-room efficiency the American navy is abend. In the individual handling of battle ships during elementary revolutions there has been a remarkble Improve ment; on a small scale several scout ing problems have been worked o it, numerous destroyer attacks have been made under war conditieins, and within the fleet the study of strategy and its application to tactics has received an attention hitherto runknown. Mr. Meyer, the ablest secretary slnco Whitney, has untangled the red tapo of the old bureaus and provided a clean-cut organization on a business basis. He is placing the navy's ex penditures on the sea and trying kard to do away with Its greatest encum brance, the useless navy yards. But congress has so for failed to legeliu any of his reforms pi iii.m: oi'imov ami oxciiks. The truth is thnt congress has al ways beTi hostile to legalization which would better the iiuvy an an Instru ment of war. And nothing will be ac complished in Washington unless our . people awaken to this necessity. Con fronted by a solid public opinion which is backed by the press, congress rati he made to act on the measures which will help to make the navy rci'ller for war. As nn effort at mobilization the re view has shown the material weak nesses of the fleet. If It, as a sixc tacular show, has stimulated the peo ple's earliest Interest In the navy's Im mediate needs and future, much has been achieved. All the news all the time The Argus. 17Tv li tJiJLJiS 14 i M 0 I For Making Muffins biscuit and all hot breakfast cakes, use Rumford Baking Powder. It not only makes them lighter, better fla vored, more tender and digestible, but it add3 nutritive value to the food. Make to-morrow's breakfast cakes with a - C ,1 W 1 W it- K 'St M II E S H Utl i VV THE WHOLESOME Th Best of Ihe nigb-Grade Baklnfl Powiers-No Alam 4