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.jßayugqsß O keep a fighting navy up to date

means a continual whirl-a gig per

formance of building new warships

on the one hand and discarding ob

/ ctß \ solete or worn out ones on the other

i SfH 1 hand. It Is not that a nation is lim

l JEH J ited to just so many vessels in its

WHMWI'IW or ,llat has Just so much

room, so to speak, in which to store

these sea dogs of war so that some

■| j? M B old vessels must be turned out of

I house and home to make room for

VHP newcomers when the latter arb com

pleted by the shipbuilders and ready

to take their places in the naval

family. On the contrary, any world

power would be only too glad to keep all its old

ships, even though constantly adding to the col

lection, if these older warships did not so com

pletely outgrow their usefulness.

Asa matter of fact, few people appreciate bow

Quickly such an armorclad does become obsolete.

Ono of these massive floating fortresses con

structed in the staunchest manner of iron and

steel, and requiring two, three or four years to

build, looks as though It ought to stand the wear

tnd tear of wtnd and wave for centuries. Yet,

as a matter of fart, It Is wlioly out of dato In

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the brief space of a decade or two —not worn

out. to be sure, in the literal sense of the word,

but so out of date that it is not very serviceable

just as is a woman’s gown made in the fashion

of several years ago.

It is appalling to people who think that a

house or a*wagon or carriage or a piano wears

out more quickly than it ought, to realize how

much more rapidly, proportionately, an all-metal

wnrship, built to withstand an enemy’s shot and

•hell, will outlive Its usefulness without ever

having fired a hostile shot or been made the tar

get of an enemy’s gun. And the worst of it—at

hast from the standpoint of the people who

think that altogether too much money is being

spent for death-dealing paraphernalia—is that

the active life of the average warship appears

to be steadily growing shorter. Time was. not

so very long ago. when the active life of a war

ship was supposed to be at least twenty years,

but so rapidly do fashions In war craft change

fn this effete twentieth century that the busv

career of a lighting craft Is now much shorter

than a score of years.

l*artly because of these tendencies to short

Hfe on the part of warships and partly because

he has come to be the owner of the second larg

est navy in the world. Sam has been

mighty busy this past year or two revising his

category of warships. He has been weeding

them out right and left, if such a term may be

nsed It Is customary to say. In the popular

form of expression, that Uncle Pam has been

selling out Ms worn-out warships, and yet,

strictly speaking, that hardly expresses the sit

uation. For one thing, the ships are not liter

ally worn out, as has been explained above, and

Jen again the government has not been "selling

out ’ in all instances. Indeed, in the case of

eome of the obsolete ships put tip at auction the

bids received have been so low that Indignant

naval officers have been wont to remark that the

navy department has been “giving away” its

Thas beetis " In not a few Instances the govern

ment sometimes because no outsider would pay

a rational price—has been driven to using its

-old warships In ways never anticipated when the

ships were built.

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But whatever the exact mode of disposition,

the significance is the same —the obsolete vessel

is considered as "Junk,” even though it still be

capable of usefulness In a small way When It

was announced last year that the powers that be

at the naval headquarters had designated some

150,000,00 worth of warships to be sent to the

scrap heap there were gasps of astonishment

from good folk all over the land who had thought

that when we built a warship we made a perma

nent investment. Yet that shock is likely to

have frequent repetition. Indeed, it looks as

though the discards every calendar year would

reach or exceed the fifty million mark, on the

basis of original cost. The year 1911 is not very

old and yet it has brought tidings of the pros

pective compulsory retirement of a number of

costly ships—some of them completed only a

few years ago and supposed to embody all the

lessons we learned during the Spanlsh-American

war.

Every merchant knows that It Is not good pol

icy to hold on to “dead stock” simply because he

paid out good money for it once upon a time,

and so Uncle 9am Is following an approved busi

ness principle in this scheme of taking frequent

inventory of his naval possessions. The plan of

actually getting rid of surplus craft came about

through the sale as junk a few years ago of the

last of the old Civil war monitors. These brought

fair prices—better proportionately than have

been hid for some vessels less ancient. Then,

all of a sudden, with the appearance of the Brit

ish battleship “Dreadnaught” there was unex

pectedly ushered in the present era of the “all

big gun” ships, an era that in effect brought to

an untimely close many promising careers in

warshlpdom—cut short, in other words, the use

*ulness of a number of unarmored and lightly

armored craft that might have continued in the

vocation for which they were built for many

years yet had it net been for this new fad for the

heavily armored sea warrior.

Battleships are. according to present ideas. *he

longest-lived of all warships. Of the more than

thirty heavyweights of the naval fighting force

which have been constructed by the United

States, only one has as yet been condemned to

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the graveyard. This exception is the Texas, and

perhaps the officials were all the more ready to

get rik of her because she w'as a “hoodoo” ship.

Readers will remember that she did not behave

any too well during the Spanish-American war,

and since then she has been afflicted with such

a steady run of ill luck that many of the blue

jackets grew superstitions about venturing to

sea in her. Thereupon she was made a “station

ship” at a navy yard and now within the past

few weeks the navy department has decided that

she is truly useless and she will be used as a

target. In this function she may be of more j

-uefit to the navy, though indirectly, than she

sharps a chance to foresee just what is liable to

happen In the naval battle of the future and to lay

their plans accordingly. •

While out battleships, even though some of them

were built full twenty years ago, continue in fash

ion, a very different fate has befallen the steel

monitors which once ranked next to battleships

in the estimation of our naval authorities and

everybody else. Uncle Sam had nearly a dozen of

these armored monitors —a distinctive Yankee In

vention that originated during the Civil war—but

they have all been sold off or relegated to ignoni

mous duty. This fate has even befallen the Ne

vada, the Florida (later the Tallahassee) and the

others of the quartette of modern monitors which

were constructed for coast defense, only a little

more than a decade ago and cost a million and a

half dollars each.

An immense collection of warships that Is rap

idly passing Is that made up of cruisers such as

the Boston, Marblehead. Detroit and a score of

others. Some of these have already been retired

from service, while others are yet employed for

“keeping peace" in Central America and for patrol

work, particularly In shallow waters where the bat

tleships can not readily find anchorage. However,

they have neither the speed nor the armor to

enable them to take a hand In up-to-date warfare

on the seas as It would be conducted In this day

ar.d generation by any up-to-date power and sc

gradually they will have to give way. The same

is truo of some of thd gunboats built long ago—

though not a few of them are yet adapted to patrol

duty where there Is no danger of heavy fighting—

and as for our pioneer torpedo boats, why. they are

so far outclassed that the battleship fleet hes been

using them up one by one for several years past

as targets during the semi-annual target practice.

Since the navy department found that adequate

bids cannot be obtained for many of the vessels

which it is discarding but which are perfectly ser

viceable In so far as seaworthiness is concerned,

it has been considering the suggestion made by a

number of congressmen that these vessels be

turred over to the naval militia of the various

states for use as training ships or practice hips

Vessels such as the cruisers Charleston and Ft.

Louis would be ideal for such purpose.

ever was during her active

career. It is most essential

for the planning of the bat

tles of the future that our

naval experts shall know in

advance just how modern

high explosives, when fired

from present-day guns of the

heaviest class, will act when

they encounter the resist

ance of the armor on a bat

tleship. Tests with such

armor set up as a target on

shore do not give exactly

the same conditions that

would obtain In a fight at

sea. The discarded Texas,

however, anchored to re

ceive gun fire just as though

she were a hostile battle

ship, will give the naval

Money and Marriage

By MAUDE PARSONS

William Douglass, manager of

Thornybrook, strode to the telephone

and rang three times. A lovely

voice, with a little yawn in it, an

swered.

“May I see you a few moments,

Miss Anne?” queried Douglass. “It’s

a matter of Importance.”

“Yes, William,” returned the lovely

voice. “Come right over.”

Anne Thornton, owner of Thorny

brook, awaited the manager in a

sun-flooded room in the handsome

old house. Miss Thornton waß good

to look upon. In a ruffled, trailing

morning gown, and with dewy eyes

that looked forth contentedly on a

pleasant world, she was ravishing.

Or so thought William Douglass,

anyway. William was in love with

his employer.

His homely, trustworthy face was

pale and his eyes were dark-dinged.

He had not slept much for two

nights trying to decide on just what

he was going to say. Now he found

his speech curiously hard to deliver.

“Miss Anne,” he began.

“Yes,” encouraged Miss Anne, in

a tone of voice she reserved for

Douglass alone.

“I am going—I have decided—that

Is, we—you have a chance to buy some

more stock of the Du Quoin National

bank.”

“Well, what do you think of it?”

“It is a good buy.” William, on

familiar ground, was not embarrassed

now. “The bank’s well managed and

is making money.”

“Then buy it, William. You know I

trust all those things to you, any

way.”

The unhappy William perspired.

“That’s what I came to see you about.

I’ve—l’ve been thinking about the

back farm. Shall we pasture it again

| |

“How I’ve Longed to Call You ‘Billy,’

She Said.”

this summer, or plow for corn? We’d

better decide, if this w r eather is go

ing to stay.,’’

Without, the low hills were ta

king on a tender greenery, and two

robins made love under the window.

Miss Anne, being young and whole

some and pretty, wms pulsing be

neath the call of spring—and Wil

liam was talking about plowing!

“Whatever you think best, Wil

liam.” And then, suddenly turning

her dark eyes full upon him: “What

did you really want to see me about,

William?”

Douglass gasped and floundered.

Then, rising, he placed a little pack

age of papers in her hand, and said:

“Here’s a statement of things—of

your money and stocks and your

farms. I’m going to—to leave, Miss

Anne.”

The old clock in the hall tlck

tocked off ages of silence. Douglass

kept his stubborn glance on the sun

shiny landscape beyond the broad

window. Miss Anne studied the top

of her little slipper.

“Going away,” she said at last, as

if to herself. “You are really going

to leave us! Why, William?”

“It’s a private matter. I’d—well.

I’d rather not say, Miss Anne.”

“Is it salary, William ? You know

I’ve tried to make you take more.”

“No,” returned Douglass, decided

ly. “I’m paid more than I’m worth

now.”

“Hat you’ve done splendidly, Wil

liam. When we hired you as mana

ger, mother and I had no idea of bur

dening you with our financial affairs,

too. And now we’re depending on

you to make our Investments.”

“It’s all right. Miss . Anne. I’ve

liked to do it.”

“Uncle Robert says you’ve made us

i richer than ever. And a share of

that is yours—”

"No.” said Douglass, and he meant

it. “It isn’t money.”

‘I m sorry," said Miss Thornton,

plaintively. “We’ve been very happy

togcth—” If William had not been

so busy watching the love-making

robins he would have noticed a little

blush tinge his employer's cheeks as

she substituted: “Everything’s been

! sc- harmonious."

“! know. Miss Anne. That’s what

makes it hard to go. I never can

hmk you for your kindness. Those

apors will explain things to the new

(Copyright, <9ll, by Associated Literary Press.)

“William,’’ Interrupted Miss Anne

“please sit down again. I want v ou J

advice—for a friend. You’re not gO .

ing to leave us right away?”

"Oh, no; I can stay for—for a little

time.”

“Three months—four months?" The

girl leaned forward eagerly.

“We—ell, I hardly think so. I want

to get established before the summer

is too far advanced.”

“Oh.” A pause. “So you’re going

into business?” •

“Ye—ee; that Is, I think so.”

“Is that so personal that you didn’t

want to tell me?” There was an ac

cusing emphasis on the “me.”

Douglass did not attempt to answer

“One of my girl friends doesn’t

know just what to do, William. You

see, she’s—she’s—in love.”

“Oh!”

“That Oh’ was dreadfully noncom

mittal, William. Aren’t you inter

ested ?”

“Why, yes, certainly, Miss Anne"

“Well, she doesn’t know whether

the young man Is—ls in love with

her or not”

“Can’t she tell?”

“She isn’t sure. She thinks he likes

her, but —”

“Yes?”

"Oh, there are complications, Wil

liam. She is rich, and the young man

is poor. She feels he’s to proud to

speak.”

“Oh.”

“Well, what is she going to do’

She’s—she’s cried herself to sleep,

I’m afraid, a good many times; and

yet there doesn't seem to be any way

to make him speak.”

William looked up. The dark eyes

gazed innocently and perplexedly into

his own.

“There isn’t any way, I’m afraid,"

he said, with an unconscious sigh,

“If the man has self-respect, he can’t

be a fortune hunter. He must make

his own way before he can ask the

girl to be his wife.”

“She’s thought of that, too. But it

seems so foolish! They may have to

wait years, and grow old and with

ered while he makes a lot of money

they don’t need. Isn’t marriage aa

equal partnership? Why hasn’t the

wife the right to bring money to the

union as her husband ?”

“Prom an Impersonal standpoint,

she has,” replied William, “but it I

were that young man I would feel

as he feels. He cannot in honor'

speak while blB motives could be

misconstrued. Her friends would

say—”

“Bother her friends!’’ Miss Anne

looked confused when she realized

the emphasis she had put on the

three-words, but only for a moment.

Then she added: “That’s the wav

she feels. She says she has a right

to her own happiness, no matter

what people think or say. She i3

satisfied he is not a fortune hunter;

that he is upright and honorable,

and the man nature Intended as her

mate. Why can’t he be sensible and

speak?”

She leaned forward In her chair,

her Ups dropping In childlike pet'

plexity. Douglass got up hastily and

backed away. He did not want to lose

his carefully acquired grip and make

a fool of himself. That’s why he was

leaving Thornybrook—to keep from

making a fool of himself. He fumbled

his hat and turned to the door.

“He can’t, that’s all,’’ declared

Douglass, when his hand had closed

on the knob. “It’s an Impossibility,

Miss Anne. If you were In his place

you’d realize—” He stopped; be

was confusing the other man’s case

with his own.

“Don’t you want to know who the

girl Is?" asked Miss Thornton, un

steadily. She had risen and her fin

gers were intertwined.

“Why, yes.” Douglass somehow

felt the name of that girl to be the

most Important thing In the world.

The robins had ceased their billing

and cooing to listen. But he feared

Miss Anne’s words would be drowned

by the thumping of his heart.

“It’s —it’s—” Her voice died away

And then it began again, broke and

went on to a triumphant conclusion:

“Oh, Billy, you stupid, stupid boy!

It's—it’s Anne Thornton!"

Douglass stared unbelievingly, saw

in her face what he had never dared

to hope to see and dropped his bat

He rushed back.

The next moment she was in his

arms, half-laughing and half-crying

“How r I’ve longed to call you ’Bil

ly!' ” she said.

“And how I’ve longed to call you

—darling!” said he.

Expecting Too Much.

"I thought you said that the furnace

you sold me would heat every ro:m

in my house,” hollered the man with

the blue fingers, as he threw hi: -elf

into the tinner's shop.

“I did, and it will,” retorted tb*

proprietor, who withdrew behind bis

counter for safety and grapsed a bu

rner for defense, “but the trouble with

you is you have been trying to mak*

the furnace heat all the rooms '•

once.”

Accepted.

"The position requires a high S*

gree of courage. We must know :ba>

you possess it.”

“Well, sir. I ran a moving pic*::*

show for six months in a coli-*’

town.”