official in charge, we were escorted through the works by one of the clerks. “We found that there were eighteen war vessels on the stocks! a list of which was found in the programme of the visit given us in the afternoon. The destination of the majority of the ships was known, but not indicated in the programme. Before we left Newcastle, I was enabled to locate all of the ships. “We had not gone far in the shipyard before I saw a 7-inch armor plate suspended on slings ready for hoisting in its place on what appeared at first to be a high-speed, large protected cruiser, but on ascending the brow stage we found it to be an armored cruiser of advanced type and speed and with very heavy armor for that type of vessel. “When we asked the young man as to the nationality of the ship he could not tell, but stated that was one of the ships building on account of the firm. This was as interesting to Mr. Tchernigovsky as it was to me, and our examination was rather prolonged, no objection being made by the young man who escorted us, who not being a mechanic was indifferent as to our actions. We found before we left the works that there were two or three battleships of advanced type and superior model and three or four armored cruisers, whose destination was unknown to the people at the works outside of the office. There was one thing that we were sure of, that these ships were not building by the company for sale, and that there was an important mystery to be solved. “By the time we returned to the office, we found that the Edinburgh crowd had arrived, ready for luncheon, after which the whole party went through the works; there was but little time to see what was going on, and the character and the existence of these important ships entirely escaped the notice of the visitors. There were a number of Japanese and Chinese officers present with the visitors. “We had for some time before this visit secured possession in China of copies of certain plans and specifications for an advanced type of armored cruiser, and after an examination we found that they were proposals of the Thames Iron Works for raising a loan and for building a fleet for the Chinese navy. “The resemblance between the armored cruisers building and the Chinese plans was so great, that I am sure the Japanese ships were made from copies of the Thames Iron Works drawings. The whole scheme of the Thames Iron Works was excellent and feasible, and the Chinese lost a fine navy by not accepting the offer.