GREAT ARMORED WAR SHIPS.

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prove a match for any war-ship in the world. Several similar vessels are now under construction.

The "Maine" is a heavily-armored cruiser, and while intended for seagoing, is really a battle-ship. It has eleven inches of armor and carries four ten-inch rifles, besides numerous smaller guns. The "Texas" is a similar ship. The "Detroit," "Montgomery," and " "Montgomery," and "Marblehead," not yet completed, are small, partially armored cruisers. The "New York" is a mighty armored cruiser, believed to surpass any other ship ever built in the combination of offen

sive and defensive power, coal endurance, and speed. She is 380 feet 61⁄2 inches long; steams 20 knots per hour; can go 13,000 miles without coaling; has from six to eight inches of armor, and carries six eight-inch and twelve four-inch rifles, and numerous smaller guns.

The "Raleigh" and "Cincinnati" are protected cruisers of medium size. There are several other cruisers, not yet named, especially designed as commerce-destroyers, having great speed, and being made to look as much like merchant-ships as possible. Other gunboats and battle-ships are also being built; one practice cruiser, intended for a school-ship, and a harbor-defense

ram, carrying no guns, but provided with a particularly ugly beak at the bow. Altogether, the new navy, built or building, down to the present date comprises thirteen armored battle-ships, seventeen unarmored but "protected" cruisers, and six gunboats, all of them fully equal to any ships of their class in the world.

In scarcely any department of human industry are the changes produced by the progress of civilization more strikingly seen than in the navy. When America was discovered, the galleon and the caravel were the standard warships of the world-clumsy wooden tubs, towering high in air, propelled by sails and even oars, with a large number of small cannons, and men armed with muskets and cross-bows. Such was the famed Armada, "that great fleet invincible," that was vanquished by the smaller, lighter crafts of Britain. Four hundred years have passed, and what is the war-ship of to-day? A low-lying hulk of iron and steel; armed with a few big guns, one of which throws a heavier shot than a galleon's whole broadside; driven resistlessly through the water by mighty steam engines; lighted and steered by electric apparatus, and using an electric search-light that makes midnight as bright as day. All the triumphs of science and mechanic arts have contributed to the perfection of these dreadful sea monsters, a single one of which could have destroyed the whole Armada in an hour, and laughed to scorn the might of Nelson in Trafalgar Bay. What the locomotive is to the stage-coach, that is the "Miantonomah or the "New York" to the "San Philip" or the "Revenge."

OLIVER H. PERRY,

THE HERO OF THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.

MONG the "Giants of the American Navy" there are few more remarkable than the commander who fought the singular but glorious battle of Lake Erie, in September, 1813. Oliver Hazard Perry was a Rhode Island boy, born in 1785. His mother, Sarah Alexander, was noted for her strength of character and intellect, and her children were trained with rare ability. She taught him how and what to read, told him stories of the deeds of her military ancestors, and "fitted him to command others by teaching him early to obey." After the battle on Lake Erie, when the country was ringing with Perry's praises, some Rhode Island farmers, who knew his mother well, insisted that it was "Mrs. Perry's victory."

Perry entered the navy as a midshipman when only fourteen. He gave the details of his profession the most thorough study, and by incessant training of his crews, and practicing his ships in the various evolutions, he brought them up to a wonderful degree of efficiency. In the years preceding the War of 1812 he was in command of the Newport flotilla of gunboats; and he practiced sham fights by dividing his fleet into two squadrons, manoeuvering them as if in battle, and thus acquired the ability to take advantage of critical moments and situations.

When war against England was at last declared, Perry applied repeatedly for a sea command, but, being disappointed, finally offered his services to Commodore Chauncey, on the lakes. There he had to begin by building his ships. The shores of Lake Erie were a wilderness. The squadron was to be built from the trees standing in the forest. Traveling to Lake Erie in sleighs, he met there a party of ship carpenters from Philadelphia, and after months of the most incessant toil, they constructed the little fleet of nine vessels with which Perry was to meet the enemy. He had to create not only his ships but the force to man them. While the vessels were being built he was drilling his men, a collection of some five hundred, many of whom had never seen salt water.

Five months of his excellent training converted them into thoroughly drilled artillerists.

While Perry was building his ships, the English commander, Commodore Barclay, was likewise building the fleet which was to encounter them. By August both were ready, and after some manoeuvering they met in battle on September 10th, near the western end of the lake. The fight was hardly begun when Perry's ship, the Lawrence, became separated from the rest, and was so furiously attacked by Barclay's flag-ship, the Detroit, that in a short time she was in a sinking condition. Leaving her in charge of a lieutenant, Perry embarked in a small boat, and passing under his enemy's guns, boarded the Niagara, where he hoisted his flag, and renewed the attack with such vigor that by four o'clock in the afternoon every one of the British vessels had surrendered.

Few naval victories in history are more notable than that of Lake Erie, won by the genius and heroism of a young man of only twenty-seven. The letter which he sent to General Harrison, commander of the army, from the deck of his triumphant ship, has become immortal:

We have met the enemy, and they are ours,-two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. Yours with very great respect and esteem, O. H. PERRY.

Perry won great honors by his victory, Congress voting him thanks, a medal, and the rank of captain. He afterward took an important part in military operations at Detroit, in the battle of the Thames, Canada, and in defense of Baltimore. While in command of a squadron in the West Indies, he was attacked by yellow fever, and died suddenly at Trinidad, in August, 1819.