guns and the armor for the Miantonomoh were purchased in England. Whitney held back the contracts for steel until he had enough in hand to warrant a firm of steel-makers in this country erecting a plant to make the forgings here. On "the 1st day of June, 1887, contracts were entered into with the Bethlehem Iron Company of Bethlehem, Pa., one of the largest and most enterprising of American steel manufacturers, under which the United States were guaranteed that within two and one-half years from the date of the contract, this country would have within its borders a plant equal to, and probably the superior of any in the world for the production of armor and the forgings for high-power guns." So says the Secretary's report for 1888.

The contracts with John Roach in July, 1883, prepared the way for the steel plates needed for steel hulls and for the ingots for the smaller sizes of guns. The contracts with the Bethlehem Iron Works created the plant by which we were enabled to armor and fully arm the hulls that we were then already able to construct. Few dates of greater interest than these two are known to the history of the United States, for not only did the contracts eventually enable us to produce naval ships unsurpassed by any in the world-they gave us industrial independence.

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She was 318 feet long and 57 wide, with a maximum draught of 22.5 feet. Her side armor was twelve inches thick, and she had two turrets, each eight inches thick, with barbettes, that is, solid steel breast works or forts, built about their bases, that were twelve inches thick forward and ten aft. Her keel was laid on October 17, 1888, and she was launched on November 18, 1890.

For guns the Maine carried four ten-inch rifles in her turrets, and six six-inch guns in her broadside. She was also provided with four Whitehead torpedoes, which had come into use by the time she was launched. It was proposed that she carry small torpedo-boats—big launches that, as was supposed, might be of use at night, or even in time of battle-but the views of naval officers eventually changed as to the value of such small boats, and her torpedoboats were abandoned.

By the time the Maine was commissioned she was designated as a second-class battle-ship, and placed on the list with the Texas, that carried a single twelve-inch gun where the Maine carried two tens.

The Maine was never appreciated by the nation for quite her real worth, because before she was in commission the larger and much more powerful Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon were contracted for and so far advanced

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