UNDER THE GERMAN FLAG.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 30 March 1901, Page 4

UNDER THE GERMAN FLAG.

Points of Contrast with the British Fleet. [By H. W.Wilson, in the "Daily Mail."] To pass a day on board a foreign warship, seeing everything, examining everything, is a privilege which does not fall often to the ordinary mortal. It was my food fortune, through the kindness o 'Admiral Prince Henry of Prussia and two German naval officers, to spend such a day in his Imperial German Majesty s battleship Hagcn at Spithead, and to observe certain things which might well bo studied by England.

The Hagen is but a small vessel, and already old, for at sea in these days warships go quickly out o\' date. She was launched in 1893, and is therefore_ of about the same age as our Centurion. But she lias, during the last year, been thoroughly reconstructed, cut in two, and lengthened by 27 feet—an improvement which is to be effected in her seven sister ships. She is, therefore, far more up-to-date than might have been anticipated. It is here that the first point of contrast between the British and the German navies comes up. Tor in our Navy we allow our old ships to remain much in the same state as when they were built. There wore British warships at Spithead which in actual fact arc utterly unfit for the line of battle. In Germany they do not believe in obsolete fittings, equipment, and boilers. They reconstruct old vessels—even vessels which we should call new-while at the time building fresh ships. Gold that Glitters

No one who saw tho naval display at Spithead could fail to bo struck by tho difference in appearance between the German and British ships. The German ships were painted throughout a dull slate grey, from water-lire to masthead. There is nothing that glitters, not an ounce of polished metal visible on the exterior. Tho British ships arc painted red on the water-lino ; then comes a streak of white, then dead black, then white again, and then buff funnels and masts. Tho guns a~c polished and the ships gleam wi:h the skimmer of burnished steel and brass. It looks beautiful, but is it workmanlike '? All this contrast of color makes the ship a splendid target a* almo-it any range, It would be simple madness to take vesso's thus painted into battle. Tno consequence is that on the eve of war the whole exterior of the ship would used repainting, black or grey, and thus at a moment when the whole efforts of the crow are required to prepare for battle, a couple of hundred men would be a*j work removing tho battleship's gala dress. It is, of course, our theo.y to leave everything to the last moment. But such a'theory is wout to have dangerous results.

In British ships Hie allowance of paint is niggardly in ilic extreme —so small, that much, of the expense of. keeping the ship "mart falls on (lie senior officers. There is a story of one daring commander who found that his allowance of paint was just sufficient to paint nicely one side of his ship, whereupon lie inquired innocently of the authorities wnat he was to do with the other side. Was he to let it rust, or would they give him more paint ? True or apocryphal, the incident has not been repeated. It is an absolute bar to promotion if an officer is not prepared to half-ruin himself for paint and gilding. A Generous Admiralty. Germany gives her naval officers a proper allowance of paint. There is no stint. The German battleships had a fresh dress of grey for the funeralprocession, but it was paid for. ; " ( s it should be, by the nation. .Yr'one can say that they did no.' J,'a>!c 'smart. They were spiel: ••;..! span, in spite of the absence ~]/'burnished brass. Useless expenditure on the ship's exterior is positively discouraged in the Gorman fleet. Captain Paschen, who was my kind and courteous host, told me a story of a German commander or first-lieutenant who covered his ves?el with gilding. At tho i.ispection the admiral saw it, and remarked that if he ever observed such a thing again he would order tho gilding to be smothered in tar, as a hint of tho plainest kind that he disapproved of the practice. Tho experiment was not repeated. In fact, it would not bo incorrect to say that the German navy disdains external appearance. What is looks for is efficiency in battle. If, said my German captain to me, we thought tint our ships wou'd fight better with the foremast scruok over the ram and the mainmast over the rudder, wo should put thorn there and care nothing for the look of the thing. When show is really r quired the Germans have it. The Ilohenzollern, the Kaiser's yacht, put our British Victoria and Albert to shame. Superb in appearance, and superbly kept, one could but ask how it or by what mismanagement, that our Xing had no such vessel at his command. A now royal yacht has, indeed, been building for years at the most extravagant cost, but those who know her best shake their heads when she is mentioned. And she is not ready. Suggestive Comparisons.

Sensible as the Germans are in matters of paint and polish, they are equally practical in their interior fittings. I do not exaggerate when I say that in all matters which concerns the comforts of the officers and men, tho Hagen is years ahead of any Brilish ship in commission. In every cabin, in every part of the ship, there is excellent steam-heaters, which keeps the interior warm in winter. Our men have to shiver in the icy cold of the Gulf of Po-chi-li for want of such simple and obvious contrivances. There' arj bathrooms for the oflicers and warrant officers—a feature which T have not seen in any British ship. Again, though there is scarcely a scrap of wood en board —to give security against fire and splinters in action—the cabin 3 are made comfortable by pegamoid linings. Tho decks, even the uppo* decks, are of linoleum laid upon steel. In the British Navy there is not a ship in commission which his not wooden upper decks and a considerable amount of wood in her internal fitting;. The ships of tho Royal Sovereign class have actually decks of fir, which is, over tho greater part of their length, not laid upon steel plating, and whi-h would be liable to bum furiously in action.

Again, in the matter of food, at sea our men have to cat stale bread or hard, unpalatable biscuit. This is a good example of our British un'ra-eonsßrvatism. There would be no real difficulty in baking bread but becauso in Nelson's day it was not con-

venient so to do, our seamen are condemned to cat; biscuits. The German ship regularly' bakes bread at sea. This may sound a small thing, but it is just one of those trifies which tell in every-day life. The way of Contentment. As for the cooking of the men's food it lasted to me excellent. A portion of: their dinner was brought to me. It consisted of stewed beef, potatoes, and pickled beans, and was more tasty and appetising than is usually the cooking in our men-of-war. A much greater variety | of choice is allowed the German seaman, and his is not like our men. tied down to the cast-iron routine of a ninety-year-old scheme of diet which knew only three or four comestibles. It is indisputable that the German sailor is better fed than our men. He has not, perhaps, more to cat. but he has what he likes, and that goes a great way towards making contented men.

In efficiency, in discipline, in smartness of drill the "German seaman would be hard to beat. The men were of excellent physique though young, for the period of service is far shorter than with us. They worked with the precision of a machine. They may not be quite as good as the men of our foreign service ships, who are older, but they are c.ertainly quite in the first-class. They 1 are as clean as the British blue jacket, and, wearing much the same uniform, might anywhere be taken for him. They have all his good- ; nature and merriment.