The Furious Pace of the War Dogs
By T.
THE facts stated under the illustrations of the ships on this and the opposite page are quite sufficient to give a very realistic impression of the mad rush to excel in the art of war. The English battle-ship “Queen Elizabeth” is almost three times as large as the greatest battle-ships of fourteen years ago; it is about twice as speedy; and when it comes to actual effectiveness there is no comparison. Some of the best and most intelligent naval experts make the announcement that the war-ships of to-day are 1,200 times more effective than they were fifteen years ago. This increased effectiveness is not due altogether to the increase of size and speed of the ships. There has been a great increase in the size and range of the guns; the torpedoes the ships carry have been greatly increased in range, accuracy, and power; and the highest possible nervous tension is kept up in drilling the men for swiftness in every motion, and for absolute accuracy in every detail of their work. The “battle cruiser” or “cruiser battle-ship” or “high-speed-battle-ship,” as it is variously called, is illustrated on this page by the “Kongo,” from the Japanese navy. It will be observed that this class of powerful ship has reached the amazing speed of 27 knots an hour, and at the same time she is armed with a large battery of the modern high-power guns. This ship is being closely studied, and several of the leading nations are building them. England was the inventor and the first to make the experiment. She seems to think they are a success, for she continues to build them, and the nations that do not have them on their naval program are becoming nervous for fear they will be left behind. The battle-ship of fifteen years ago was thought to be about as large and powerful as could be made to float; but she would be powerless in the presence of one of the monsters of to-day. And we do not need to go so far back as that. The battle-ship fleet that Mr. Roosevelt sent around the world about four years ago, had some of the most powerful ships in it that had been built, up to that time. The only exception was the first of the “Dreadnoughts,” built by England in 1906. Those monsters of only four years ago made practically obsolete all war-ships of previous days. But those that are being built to-day are so far beyond the ships of four years ago, that it is hard to make comparisons. The increased speed of the vessel of to-day, together with her greater range of guns and accuracy and rapidity of fire, enables her to keep out of reach of the vessels of four and five years ago, while she would hammer them to pieces. The first-class battle-ships of fifteen years ago cost about $4,000,000, while those of to-day cost about three times that much, and powerful battle cruisers are now being talked of that will cost $20,000,000 each. It is easy to see that the nations must quickly be bankrupted, when such large sums are being put into fighting craft to-day that will be out of date in four or five years, and have to be replaced by still more expensive ones. That utterance made by the man of Patmos some eighteen hundred years ago is having a very literal fulfilment to-day. He said: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Rev. 16:12-14. The war preparations of this time are awful, beyond description. And the furious pace at which the nations are exhausting themselves in preparing for the battle-field, made right in the face of the “Christian civilization of the twentieth century,” and all the strong efforts of influential men and mighty organizations that are working to keep the peace. In view of such stupendous facts, who can not see that we are even now living in that very time when the demons are doing the terrible work foretold by the inspired prophet? T.