Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-06-21
DAILY pOsT-IMTaLIeEHCER


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TEE asoEasnEfE.
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That unfortanaaa Dsiptin, which ap-
pears 20 be rather an elepknus On souss-
bcdy's hsads. has oesHpsed TIE ss'sn
sioz Of the country fos bsnR siEne. IN o
the details Of the eontE0sess5 tsssosn
John Roach and Secretary whitnsy IN
regard 10 her are thoroughiy familiar 70
the public. The coutssct under when
TIE vessel vas bailt prc~sdes shas ths
material Of which she Il eonssrs'sssa
and The workmanship on Der shall DO OF
. esrsasn standard Of s1eelienes. NeE,
althoaQh tbs Dolphin has tsebnteahs
fulfilled the tests required Of her, Bee
rssasy wkitnsy doss R,ss wish 10 soesps
her On behalf of TIE Governments.
claiming that the material ssd work
nasship employed vsss net sush 81 the
eonsr.et called for. idf. Roach main
tains, on the other hand, that the sFosk
vas psrfcrnsd under GloSernssnt So
usrsntendsnsa snld The material ap-
uravsd hy governmeElt inspectors. and
tbas when tbs material and worknaan~
sl,so we're thus formally aeeepsed. the
0ovsrnmsnt forfeited all right 70 re-
floss 70 aesept ths vessel On tbs grolisds
whish Secretary whisnsy has taksn-
To make matters worse, the greater
portion Of the oonirlea price has al
ready becn advanced W the builders !;
40 that, although the Government thus
far refuses 10 aeosps the vessel. she Be
sonQa, Ia reality, thfss quarters to she
Unsted states ana one quarter 10 Mr..
Roach.
While tbs sntiect IL under discus
sion. Il might be AZ veil for tho pt'opis
teinaulre What On earth the Government
wants with saeh u,ssei a. tho Bob
ubln. Il 10 mystery ihas Congress
osula have been hoodwinked into scs-
iue appropriations fin such . useless
ming. II Is said that she 10 intended 70
saord rapsd decentralization between
Washington and any eshsr point on
he Atlantic ecass, ba. such . prstenss
u more thap an absardiiy. There =
no point On the Atlantic coass which
could not Be renshed BY Telegraph DO
foss the DolphiR cSrid get up steam
10 far O. carrying dispatches between
diffsrsns points on Tie Atlantic coast y
eoneesnsd, the big dalpaseh boat will b
isst about a. ussfui ~ hot air bal
loon.
From the NAME "Iiispatoh boat" on'
might eel the idsa allat she Dolphin y
Q steam yacht or o plunger. sa'sh a.
idea. However, would be radScafly
wrong. The Dolphirl - as large aud 81
expensive as q Grst class man-of-var d
thirty years ego. although % = var yes
sel che would be w,rse than useless
She ID q little more than 25s feet long
81 feet 10 breadth, and has meal
draught Of ilj{ feet. Shs can carr,
$40 tons Of coal The armament pro
vidsd for her sonsists Of q si1-inel
bresch-loading rife raountsd 90 shift
iag pivot forward Of she Gre bridge. an.
-four Hotchkiss involving cannon
mounted In tixsd arnlored towers. Th
former viii be useful only for firing sa
lules. sad tbs Hosehkin guns, which o
thsmselvea might 10 seFvieeabis. ar
rendered useless By the character Of th
vessel. for the polphln, although she
haiit Of sseei. lie entirely anaruiorsd
and could be sunk In q very few second
BIZ any modern bailt man-of war. !
shell would pass through her thin stss
plates a. sadly As . pistol bullet woal
pass through sRset Of paper. II an,
rash commander woald take the Dol
phin into sstion, hs and his men #oull
be taelne esrtain death. Il would b
nothing less than criminal 10 send
crew ont In such q vessel In time OF wal
The truth 10 thai the Dolphin va
haiit for the uss OF The Governments u
feials In their junkesine expedition
snd pianica. For iilis purpose iIhe
admirably adapted. She Ia 9 model o
elegance and eognfost. She 10 siasre
By steam and lighted shfonRhezs b
electricity. Apafsy Of pleasure ssekel
travelling at she expense OF the Unite
StAsss could moi desire d more comfort
abs vessel, and II must be adsnitte
that for this ona purpose the btu di.
patch hoAt is exbssdingly we'll aslispsed
However, Il may strife the psaple ss b
iaz somswhas doahtfnl whsthar ID
unitsa states has much nae for seass
DESIGNED for such 4 Enrpcse. II on
nsw navy h 70 consist oil . ases Of axcul
aion steamers. yackts and other pleas
are boAta. ths Snfosmsaion should b
spread akFosd. II would deliah
Ne efnssals Of the Navy Department
and he kind old gentlemen o. n
rsaes sooissy, bat u may Be matter o
scaxs doubt wheahsw The sxperlmen
wouid BE- entirely safs. To be surs
shass would b somsshlne isiiRhlfslt
saaspsadeas and s4slay in the riniss,
ktAsss hasidine plsslsnss boats Will
eshsr Nasians wsss lseiidiae iron sIad
carrying hundrsd ~ eans. hus thsl
the Omitted statss 10 "a independent mn
sansy Nation.
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