New Britain Herald Newspaper, November 17, 1915, Page 10

g T A L Abdetdd etaw of Shadow Lawn. 2~ ior, new summer capital. tenior, view of White House in ington. 4—Grounds of new “Summer White House.” 5—View of White. House In Washington. 6.—A m on, the grounds at Shadow ) ptance by President Wil- &fi h’istm‘:w Lawn as a summer home for himself and his bride those who know the Jersey coast ook fory something more than the loca- n of the summer capital at Elberon. [Fhey 1ook for a revival of the old days /hen ‘Loong Branch was Long Branch @ the rival of Newport as a social fenter,, with a gayety that the Rhode land resort never knew. ““That glory departed many years ago, ough the hope eternal of good times o come again has ever been present in §“Bréasts of those who longed for the ély ‘days and the liveller nights. In way, the life that the old north coast \Jérsey used to know will not come bdek!' ‘There are no Morrisseys now to run-elubhouses where the limit of play Wwas/the roof, nor would public opinion permit them to do business if they were s follow entertainment and dance follow dance, is looked for. To this the coming of the president with his bride is expected to contribute the controlling impulse—a bride in the ‘White House has ever meant a brilliant ' season—with the influx of diplomats and high government officers, who in’ other years have gone to the New Ens | land coast for their summers, adding their fair share, while scores of well known people whose fathers and grand- fathers knew what summer was in that part of the country, but who them- selves have been to a great extent strangers there, are expected to renew, in part at least, the family allegiance. Shadow Lawn, which in itself stands as a monument to the glories of other days, thus beeomes the center of the new glories that are to be after years of vicissitudes, in which it passed through several hands and on each was the traditional white elephant. Many Rooms at Shadow Lawn. In the White House by the sea. as Shadow Lawn will now be known, the president and his bride will find plenty till among the living, but a gayly quiet life, where entertainment will M of room. When the house was built economy of space or money was the last thing thought of, and the result|in that part of New Jersey in the sum- was suit after sult, each one seeming- 1y larger than the other. To run it at least a score of house servants will be necessary—double that number will be none too many if there is much enter- taining—while as many more are need- ed to keep the fifty acres of lawn and shrubs in order, not to mention the work necessary in the garage big enough to accommodate a score of cars. Indeed, the garage bulilding itself is larger than the so called cottages of many well known New York residents Blectricity Will Run Biggest American Battleship . N— Top photo by American Press Association! lower © 1915, by C. McKnight-Smim. - Laying the California’s Keel and the Veszel as She Will Appear When Completed. ORK on the battleship Cal- ifornia, the keel of which was recently laid, is pro- the Brooklyn navy yard. The California designed with an eye to the of all modern improvements of war and will be one of the gressing well at ~has been e mer months. Surrounded by fifty acres of lawns and nearly thirty other acres under cul- tivation or improved as a wooded park, the house itself is not easiiy accessible from the outside world. Broad drives wind out to Norwood and Cedar ave- nues, which bound the property on the east and south, and a box hedge run- ning along the entire place discourages the overinquisitive passerby. Costly shrubs and trees are scattered every- where. tenor of his remarks indicated that the government would obey the will of the people. For the first time Secretary Daniels told the story of the great super- dreadnaught that is to be. “The uses,” he said, “to which electricity has been put are well nigh countless, but it seems significant that electric propul- sion for the modern battleship is first to be installed upon the splendid man- of-war whose keel we have met to lay. The electric drive is one of the latest results of the ploneer spirit in the uti- lization of electric force. It is a source of pride that-the American navy is in- itiating the movement for its use upon battleships. “It may be said that the battleship California represents one of the great- est advances in modern marine engi- neering. Electric propulsion has been widely discussed in all countries for several years, but the United States is the only nation which has got past the discussion stage. For two years and a half the 20,000 ton collier Jupiter has been using the only electrical high pPow- er marine installation afloat. “The California is the logical out- come of the department’s experiments on the Jupiter, and she will be the first battleship in the world to be propelled by electricity. The combination of the electric drive and oil fuel will enable her, at ten knots speed—the speed al- ways calculated by navy experts for endurance—to steam for nine days longer than a coal burning dread- naught. In other words, the California will be able to steam nearly twice as far as the Wyoming or Arkansas. “Her sister ships, the new Mississip- pi and Idaho, building at Newport News and Camden respectively, will share with the California the distinc- tion of being the largest battleships yet built or building for our navy. The limit of cost of each of these men-of- war, exclusive of armor and armament, 1s $7,800,000, while the actual contract prices of the three vessels show a con- siderable saving from these figures. The California completed will repre- sent an outlay of about $15,000,000. “The fourteen inch guns which she is to mount, having extreme battle ranges and greater striking power than any naval gun now in use, offer the advan- tage of allowing the mounting of twelve of them on a single ship, as against eight guns of the fifteen inch type which have been adopted by some other navies. “With a lensth over all of 624 feet, a length on water line of 600 feet and extreme breadth of 97 feet 43 inches; with a draft of thirty feet, a displace- ment of 32,000 tons and a speed of twenty-one knots, and with an arma- three battleships which will be the,is to be the first electrically propelled | ment, in addition to her twelve four- largest and most effective ever built for our navy and will rank favorably with the great superdreadnaughts of Euro- pean powers. No keel laying has ever created the interest in this country that attaches to the recent ceremony. The California battleship, and the secretary of the navy is authority for the statement that she is the forerunner of other splendid teen-inch high powered guns in four turrets, of a secondary battery of twen- ty-two five-inch rapid fire guns, and fighting craft of perhaps a mightier with four submerged torpedo tubes ca- type. The secretary said the people of |pable of firing the largest type of tor- the country realize that this is a day when preparedness is essential, and the pedoes, the California will be one of the most formidable shivs of war afloat.” The north windows ot the house look out on a miniature forest. Although the effect is that of perfect wildness, each tree has its own course of treat- ment and trimming mapped out for it. A shaded tennis court, with canopied seats for spectators, hides behind a clump of maples in the park, and not far away is a roomy outdoor swim- ming pool. Deep enough at one end for the most adventurous diver and shallow enough at the other for the smallest of kiddies to splash around in, the pool mestles in a grove of overhanging trees so natu- rally that one half expects to see a deer push its way through the nearby bush- es and come down for a drink at its Periscope Gun, Now Being Successfully Used, brim. A rustic dressing house at one end fits perfectly into the picture. Resting Place Near Well. Wandering from the pool down one of the many sequestered paths, the presi- dent and his bride, on their first tour of inspection, will eventually find their way to the picturesque old well, with its pointed thatched covering, a relic of the days when the estate was a prosaie farm. Sheltered by clumps of evergreens and shadowed by taller ma- ples, the well, with its resting place, cannet be seen from the house or the street. It is an ideal retreat from the cares of state or the burdens of so- clety, or both. The large greenhouses, which will eventually farnish decorations for the summer White House, have been en- larged and improved—everything, from rare, yellow orchids to hardy peach trees, blooms or bears, as the case may be, under the superintendent's prac- ticed hand. Should the notification committes drop in next summer to tell the presi- dent that he is again the choice of the Democratic party it will first, be ushered into the spacious reception hall, measuring 75 by 85 feet. Above the group a glass dome surmounting a central court will catch its eyes, if it is evening, with the beautiful effect of its 200 or more concealed lights. The bedroom suits, all with private baths, open on to galleries circling the court on the second and third floors. The wide staircase leads to the mezza- nine floor, which, with its grand piaho, serves also as a music room. Above this floor is a roof garden, spacious enough to accommodate the entire no- tification committee and a host of President Wilson’s friends besides. Eleven-year-old Invention of a Young Englishman HE armies of Europe are re- verting to the fighting methods of medievalism,” according to information which has reached here from the front and from London and Paris. French infantry is once more being incased in armor. The strength and direction of the wind have become once again as big a factor as in the days of bows and ar- rows, on account of the influence it has on both aeroplanes and gas attacks. Bombs and hand grenades are becom- ing as important as they were in the early Napoleonic wars, and the steel headplece is now recognized as essen- tial in both the French and Russian armies. It has remained for the English to take up a gun that in principle ap- proximates to those used in the fif- teenth century. Known as a “trench gun” and warranted to clear any hos- tile trench without the possibility of any effective return fire, it is a direct return to the old muzzle loading cannon that was supposed to do great execu- tion some 500 years ago. Hundreds of these guns are now be- ing made as rapidly as possible for the British government, and it is be- lieved that they will revolutionize trench warfare. A romantic history attaches to the invention of the gun. Eleven years ago an inventor named Stokes went to the war office in London with the drawings of a new gun. He suffered the usual fate of such visitors to that institu- tion—that is to say, he was politely ignored, and each time he called was requested to come again, but he never succeeded in seeing any responsible official. Automatic sighting, both for rifles and artillery, has long been prophesied by experts. This gun renders it an actual fact. Once sighted, another clever loading arrangement enables it to keep up an extremely rapid fire. When the gun is fixed an armor plated roof is placed over it, so that the men firing it are almost immune from shell fire. When trench warfare became an ac- complished fact last fall, Stokes went again to the war office and made him- self a bigger nuisance than ever to the permanent officials, And by that time several live people had taken charge of that Institution. They even insisted, to the grief of the older inmates, on seeing Stokes and heafing what he had to say. They went further. They had the drawings disinterred, examined them, inclosed a large space on a com- mon near London and told Stokes to go ahead, build a gun and show them Photo by American Press Assoclation. A Periscope Gun lutely satisfled and asked the inventor how much he wanted for it. The money was paid over next day, and the orders put in hand at once. Stok meanwhile, is still working in the di- rection of one or two minor improve- ments. what he could do. In a few weeks it was ready, and several of the heads of the war office went to inspect it. They were abso= But now this inventor has come into his kingdom and rejoices accordingly. Numerous staff officers of high rank. exclted by the Teports of the new i) e %) "@fljf}lmlmllll!llh’lll i .‘\. . In a British Trench. weapon, have gone stralght away we see it. They are met at the entrance by Stokes. “Have you a permit from the mast of the ordnance department?” he aghke. More often than not the answer “Then you get out, quick,” is th reply to these high military chiefy Stokes is paying back those old rebuffs with interest.