166        The Russian Navy in the
mysteriously went to the bottom in Cron-stadt Harbour. Some of her machinery was so much damaged by water that, in order to get her ready for sea without delay, we had to replace it by new machinery taken from off the Slava, with the result that all work on this latter vessel had to be temporarily suspended. But that is a long while ago, and if we were forced to give up working on the Slava for the time being, in order to devote exclusive attention to the ships which went to make up the second squadron, why was not work recommenced on the Slava on August 14th (the date at which the second squadron commenced its manoeuvres at sea), as the time might well have then been found in the yard to have completed this ship ? If we have still failed to do what was then necessary, the work should now immediately be put in hand. But this was not then done, for the dockyard authorities paid off thousands of workmen, as the Novoe Vremya recently stated in an  able  article  specially  devoted to this
subject.    Recently,  M.   K-----  stated that
this battleship could easily be got ready for commission, and I give full weight to his