etus toward
its development, and at the close of the year it existed in six
States, an effective, well-drilled, and organized force of eleven
hundred men.

The year 1892 saw considerable progress in the development of the
navy. Two important vessels, the "Iowa," a first-class, seagoing
battle-ship of 11,296 tons displacement, and the "Brooklyn," an
armored cruiser of 9,150 tons displacement, were provided for by
Congress. The cruisers "Texas," "Columbia," "Olympia," "Raleigh," and
"Cincinnati," and the gunboats "Machias" and "Castine" were launched.

Secretary Tracy's administration of the affairs of the navy, which
closed in 1892, was one of marked progress and development; and this
development was not confined to ships alone. Experiments extending
over a period of three years had resulted in the adopting of an armor
of new composition, namely, nickel-steel, which had been found to be
far superior to any before known. The manufacture of torpedoes had
been domesticated. Since 1889 the heavy, rapid-firing guns had been
developed and proved successful. The manufacture of armor-piercing
shells, of which two firms in Europe had had the monopoly, was begun
in this period under the care and encouragement of the Navy
Department; and the shells turned out soon surpassed the foreign
product. Through investigation and experiment conducted by its own
agencies, the Navy Department succeeded in developing a smokeless
powder, which gave better results than that made abroad. Careful and
protracted experiments with high explosives were also carried on, with
the result of developing an explosive that can be safely used in
shells fired from high-power guns.

In 1893, the first year of the administration of Secretary Herbert,
the following vessels were launched: the armored battle-ships
"Indiana" and "Massachusetts;" the protected cruiser "Minneapolis;"
the unarmored and very rapid cruiser "Marblehead;" and the armed
coast-defence ram "Katahdin." During the same year Congress authorized
the construction of three new vessels, to be of the class known as
light-draft protected gunboats. These are of about twelve hundred tons
displacement, and are designed for river service in China and
elsewhere. Several vessels, namely, the "Monterey," "Bancroft,"
"Detroit," "New York," armored cruiser of 8,480 tons displacement, and
the gunboat "Machias," were given their trial trips in 1893. The
results were in each case satisfactory, and the vessels