Introductory material

The Folly of Allowing other Nations to Experiment for us—In Spite of what we Learned from their Mistakes, we were Unable, when we First Began for ourselves, to Build even a First-class Cruiser—The Result of Ten Years of Earnest Work—Battle-ships whose Power is Conceded by Foreign Writers—Cruisers that Awakened the Pride of the Nation—Three “Newfangled Notions”—A Yankee Admiral at Rio Janeiro and a Yankee Lieutenant on the Coast of Mexico—The One Important Fact about the New Navy.