The Scouts Of The Sea

Torpedo boats aredesigned for a wider service than símply to carry and discharge the frightful weapons írom which they take their ñames, says St. Nicholas. They are to the navy what the scouta and skirmishers are to a land army. They form the cavalry cf the sea, of which the cruisers are th infantry and the battleships and monitors the artillery arm. They must spy out the position of the enemy's fleet, hover above hls flanks or haunt his anchorage to ascertain what he is about and what he means to do next. They muet act as the pickets oí iheir own fleet, patrolling the neighborhood or waiting and watching, conci;aled among islands or in inlets and river mouths, ready to hasten away to the admiral with warning oí any movement of the enemy. It is not their business to flght (except rarely, in the one particular way), but rather to spy and sneak and run. Henee they are as small and sleek and swift as they can be made. When the fleet goes on a cruise ihey are carried on the decks of the big warehips, although they are able to get about in really rough water by themselves. A very recent idea 18 to build them of aluminum, which would be not only of great advantage toward ease of transportation but would tend toward increasing speed by adding buoyancy and elasticity to the structure, which seems to skim along the surface and fairly leap from wave to wave; but it is doubtful whether aluminium is streng enough for safety, and whether it will not be injured by the chemlcal actlon af the eea water.