"
I paused. "Now then," I added, picking up one of the other papers
I had brought up-town myself, "take the Express. It says that the
plans were important, but would have been made public in a few
months, anyhow. Here:
"The theft--or mislaying, as the Department hopes it will prove to
be--took place several days ago. Official confirmation of the
report is lacking, but from trustworthy unofficial sources it is
learned that only unimportant parts of plans are missing,
presumably minor structural details of battle-ship construction,
and other things of a really trivial character, such as copies of
naval regulations, etc.
"The attempt to make a sensational connection between the loss and
a controversy which is now going on with a foreign government is
greatly to be deplored and is emphatically asserted to be utterly
baseless. It bears traces of the jingoism of those 'interests'
which are urging naval increases.
"There is usually very little about a battle-ship that is not
known before her keel is laid, or even before the signing of the
contracts.
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