Powerful Cruisers in Building
The New York Times announced that “England is building six battle cruisers of thirty-two knots speed which will be mounted with a new sixteen-inch gun. Such is the assumed perfection of the building arrangements under the special speeding plans prepared by the admiralty, that the ships, it is expected, will all be launched within five or six months from the date of laying down, and they will therefore be in commission well within the present year.” It almost takes one’s breath away when he thinks of the terrific speed with which engines of destruction have been increased in power during very recent years, and the increase in power and destructiveness of these modern munitions of war is not any more marvelous than the increased speed with which they are prepared. It took several years to build the first of the modern battleships, but now vessels that would easily destroy an entire fleet of the ships of fifteen years ago are built inside of a year. A cruiser that can attain a speed of thirty-two knots, and that is armed with sixteen-inch high-power guns, is really more formidable than the much talked-of super-Dreadnought battleship. When the Bible prophecies speak to us of the spirits of demons maddening the world with war in the last days, they foretell the spirit that has taken possession of men everywhere.