The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1881-03-14
From sa.u rdas.. Lass sai.,ea
THE CITY OF WORCESTER.

II SOfIu hb IL hil w
out, this morning, to witness the launch
of the steamer City Of Worcester, at the
yard OF the Harlan q Hollingswo-th
Company, in this city. Every available
point Of observation was occupied, the
boats along the wharves were full, q
great crowd lined the opposite bank OF
the Christiana, ana many viewed tn
interesting sight from the Market street
bridge, an eighth Of mile away, Blunt
ing was literally displayed by the boats
along the wharves, the Republic being
fairly covered with flages.
although a launch in Wilmington is a
common occurrence 1t Is always an event
Of interest, and particularly Old this oc-
cast IN, from the fact that the steamboat
is not only the largest ever bnilt in this
city, but is the largest in the world. She
Is Intended TO run on the "Sound line"
between New York ely aud Norwich,
Conn, aud the following persons, in
teIes' ed In The vessel, came on 10 illness
the launch:
William ii. Hart, James p. Wallace,
OF Boston; Captain Gardner, 4. Z. Beck
with, p. Harvey and o. Woodward, of
New London; Colonel Row land, OF New
York; 5. A. Gardner and wife and
Matte Gardner, of New London, Conn;
:. A. Harris Moses Pierce, Miss johnson,
JI., Of Norwich, Conn, and III. e..
Culkin, OF New York.
The laut oh was announced to take
place at high water, which, according to
the almanac, was at precisely two minutes
past ten O'Clock and SO nicely we're the
4 IN 90 afnI tod haf ha hnn
went of just at the turn ofthe tide. Cap.
tain Benson attended to all the details
on the blai, while Capt. Kelley, Samuel
Hazlett and +. q. Knight managed tue
shore arrangements. 4 he tugs Inca aud
fdtcon were Ia waiting TO tow the boat
back 10 the wharf after the launch.
Amid the profoundsst interest the
shorts were knocked away aud every
thing being in readiness the last pre-
liminary work of saving through the bow
brace was PEE formed. This completed :,
II everything worked rightly The vessel
should move OIL at once, and for an
Instant death-like stilluess pervaded
lhe multitude Of work men and specta-
tors. Then the vessel moved aud a
mighty shout arose, while the wits les
OF the tug boats added 10 The din as 337
feet OF splendid marine architecture
moved from the slippery ways and enter
ed the water as gracefully as a sWan en-
ttrlng its native element. 1t was then
precisely five minutes past ten O'clock.
just as the vessel was completely in
the water, Miss Matte Gardner, OF
New London, Conn, who stood right
up IN the bow, under the protecting
care of Capt. Benson, raised on high a
bottle of wine, gally decorated with
trl-colored libbon, aud dashing it to
fragments upon the outer edge of the
boat, pronounced the name, City Of
Worcester" in loud, clear tone. Re-
hewed applause greeted the graceful
aud successful christening.
When the boat was fairly in he river
lalge anchor was dropped from the
bow, and a hundred men on the shore
seized hold Of the snubbing cable, for
the purpose of checking the momen-
tum gained by the,progress of the YES
M, from the ways. But it was found
&s-> sslble to stop her until she reach
Cd the other side of the creek, near
the Delaware Western bridge. She
was heading direc ly for the old Bache-
Tor Boat Club House, and for awhile
every body expec ed to see that struc-
ture crushed u pieces, but fortunately
the boat came to a standstil Just at
the last moment. 1t was a close shave,
though, as the stern guards touched
of the boat house, and made the old
flagstaff slbrate perceptlbly.
GETTING BACK TO THE WHARF.
The launch was grand success, and
every BODY was delighted, but Sill they
waited To witness lue operation of get.
ting the boat away from the shallow
water on the lower side of the creek
her Stern 5elLg firmly Embedded n the
mud. The tugs made fast To The big boat
vi b heavy haWserJ and pulled away
aud IN about three mi nutes the Falcons
uawser parted with noise like th. re-.
port Of pistol. One of the Inca.s
lands on the wharf suggested thai
Captain HayCOCk had better get a kit.
5iflug anu starch IL for Use a. haWspr
Two minutes later the Inca's hawser
parted with a resuundlLg report, aud
when the srCastIC IuemheT OF her or.
who suggested the starched kite string
Tor The Fdl20us hawssr WAS looked for
he could not be fUdnu.
hS inca iubh picked up The heavy
tpur inch shubbiHg hawser aud nuIlrd
away AGAIN luis QUE was new au.
'trouR aud answered the purpos VIII
Il Strengthened out The tern of the In.
would be ll1led almost out of ius wafet
on she Kept night down 10 her work
aud rinAlly proved successful. In twenty
minutes from the nue. of the LAUNCH t1,.
Worcester Was pulled of OF the shoal.
anu started acioSs the stream, result
As unexpected as IL was pleasing AZ
many Ut the old workmeu freely express.
od the opinion that the boat would remain
stuck until the next tide. Soon she was
'hoored To the wharf and uuloaded of
lbs hundreds of people who enjoyed the
idnnch form her ample deck. In an
hour from the tlmr OF the launch the
srectatorr had departed, ard in The yaru
OpefhtlOhs were gong on rs usual. A
quicker or more successful launch OF "A
'hfge vessel never &C. urred In this
country. Every body felt proud of il.
THE SIZE OF THE BOAT.
When lying along the wharf the CITY
Wofces'er looks, as httle urchin exs
pressed II during the launch. aabnut
han mIie long" Her exact iImeusInns
arr as L0DRlh 337 feet over Ar.
beam moulded, Al feet; beam, mouId.d
Death over all, 90 teei. deptb M
teet 3 inches There will be one walklsg
beau engine, 80 inches diameter, ~ feel
| sfuk"; wheels AZ feet ia diameter and II
tret lace. There will be three cyliud,icaI
boilers, 81 feet d inches long, aud " teet
IN diameter Ot shell, each weighing IA
| tohs. In addl ion there are IRON paIowa
| frames and iron wheel logs. The Ianuch.
| ts weight Il Sl0 tons. When completeu