The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-03-14
MAKING IRON. MAsTs.
4 New Industry at the brooklyn Navy
Yard--SoIne Heavy Iron.


In the hjg boat shop adjoining the
navy yard dry dock busy gang of
workmen are hard at work learning
the rudiments of a new navy yard in
dustry. They are trying to make iron
masts, and for amateurs are succeed
ing admirably Up to date such YES
sells as are said to compose the United
States navy are spared throughout
with wood. The new masts are not
intended for use in the old navy, but
are designed to embellish the new and
by the ingenious Mr.. John Roach. The
workers in the boat shop have one
ncat nearly finished and are framing
another. The two are meant for the
newly launched cruiser Atlanta, now
due at the yard.
Most people think an iron mast is
cast and solid, and wonder why its
weight doesn't pull it up by the roots
or punch hole in the bottom and slide
through, This shows how easy it is to
ke mistaken. An iron mast is really
tighter than wood. A sixty-foot stick
of spruce or yellow pine two feet in
diameter at the base weighs far more
than the shell forming the modern iron
steamship masts.
These masts for the Atlanta will be
fine specimens of their kind. The
mainmast is two feet in diameter at the
the top, at which point the funnel will
be fashioned square making a marked
distinction from foreign-made mast
heads, which are left round The main
mast is sixty-eight feet four and one
half inches in length, and the foremost
two inches shorter. The method of
construction is peculiar. Three I
shaped rods of steel, the length of the
mast to be made, are affixed base out
ward in circular wooden frames, and
around the skeleton thus formed the
feady-shaped plates are riveted in
place. The plates are twelve feet in
length and about one-haff of an inch
in thickness, They are sold to the
Government as steel by Pennsylvania
firm, but are rather made of first-class
iron, or, if steel, of a very mild type,
at least so say the mechanics work
ing it.
The present force are likely to be
kept busy long, as all the new vessels
are to be thus equipped. Aside from
lightness and little danger from break
age, the iron masts have the advantage
of suffering but slightly from cannon
shot in war and will not splinter. In
side strong lateral braces give perfect
steadiness, so that no solid shaft would
be more infeXible.
The yard shops are turning out some
heavy iron work just now, besides
framing together the eleven-inch
armor plates of the Miantonomah. Mr..
Parsells is laying the floor of the latter
crafts gun deck with sheets of iron
three-quarters of an inch thick and three
and one-half feet wide and twenty
four long, each weighing three thousand
pounds. Years ago twclve-foot plate
was considered the acme in rolled
sheets, and so little was it thought that
their length would be increased that a
heavy rolling machine when put to
work in the shop was placed so near the
wall as to be unavailable now.
A few days ago rolling machine OF
immense proportions arrived at the
yard. 1t will be set up in the new shop
in construction next to the Intrepid.
The three rollers weigh twenty-five
tons; the two bed rolls scaling eight
tons each and the upper one nine
altogether it weighs forty-five tons. II
will be used on the naval destroyers to
be built in the hereafter, and on the two
now being repaired.
The coming of the Dolphin and the
Atlanta will bring much continuous
work to the yard, for after them will
come the Boston, Chicago and theil
sisters, each with work to do.-Brook
Ign Eagle.