“I thought that the construction of such an advanced type of war vessel under the conditions was of sufficient importance to inform Lieutenant Colwell, our Naval Attaché at the United States Embassy. When I called on him, he seemed surprised to find that I had made the ‘discovery;’ and he stated that he had wired a cipher despatch to Washington describing the ships, and that they were for the Japanese, and that he had been informed of it by the Chinese Naval Attaché, who was a very bright man and whose knowledge of the fact was from an absolutely correct source. Mr. Colwell stated that no one but the Chinese Attaché and himself was aware of it outside of the Armstrong’s and the British government. Of course, the last persons to be suspected of knowing anything about the matter were the Japanese. Mr. Colwell was well posted as to the object of the great enterprise. “It was easy for Armstrong’s to keep a matter of this kind quiet, as they had built so many war vessels for various countries, and with eighteen on the stocks they would not be noticed; and, besides, they were never without one or two vessels under construction for sale. “The character of the vessels and the information that I gathered from Mr. Colwell and the Chinese Attaché, and the fact that London was filled with foreign naval officers, diplomats, and others in attendance on the festivities, gave me opportunities to secure much important information as to what was going on behind the scenes. The Japanese in numbers and importance exceeded the delegates of the other nationalities that participated in the Naval Architects’ ceremonies, and they were treated in the most obsequious and deferential manner by all of the British dignitaries, ship-builders, ordnance and armor makers, dealers in supplies, and the English people generally. “Soon after the Armstrong visit I met a Japanese nobleman, Marquis Ito, or Iendo, at the Lord Mayor’s reception. He was the head and front of the Japanese contingent, judging from the amount of adulation that prominent British dignitaries and ship-builders accorded him. Desiring to be sure of the facts in relation to the Japanese ships at the Armstrong Works I accosted him with an air of knowing all about it and as if there was no use of his denying it,—hurrying along with my description in elaborate detail, giving him no opportunity to reply,—I said: ‘Oh, Marquis Ito! I have just examined your very fine ships at the Armstrong Works. They are superior to anything in any navy, British or any other, and with the speed of twenty knots and 7-inch armor and excellent model, etc.;’ running along without giving him time to reply until I got out of breath and stopped.