New-York tribune., 1885-10-21
THE ATTACK ON JOHN ROACH
now THE ADMINISTRATION GRoKE FAITH.


EVERY RECRUITMENT
The Washington dispatches printed in TIE IIIB-
pNE detailing the history of the present Admins
tration's war on American shp-buiidlng oi us uh
faithfulness to the contracts of the Government o
its persecution of John Roach and of ITS betrayal OF
the true interests of the Navy Department. nave
aroused a deep and earnest feeling in this city An
abundance of Trustworthy expert evidence can he
had in support of The TRBUNF's statement that
The new United States dispatch-bOat Dolphin is an
excellent vessel. Men whose whole lives have been
spent in the construction. designing or command OF
steamships and who are in no way under obligation
to John Roach, ready to give such evidence. III
would he impossible in fact to find an adverse crit
icism of the Dolphin among the practical, unbiased
mon who really kn Ow fine ship when they see one
The rejection of the Dolphin by the Government
and the controversy excited by that action have had
the effect of stirring shipping and naval men 10
q personal examination. and their testimony is
unanimous in declaring the vessels excellence and
in fastening upon the Administration lHE lRlB-
UNF's charge of political conspiracy
Among the men iden titled for a lifetime with the
merchant marine of this country. an expert engineer
to whom machinery and naval architecture have
been a scientific study. is George V. SlOat the
superntendent of the Old Dominion Steamship
Comrany. All the present feet of that well-known
company have been built under Mr.. Sloats personal
supervision and direction. Mr.. Sloat said yester-
day: "The Dolphin is in every respect frst-class
Job Every po sble care was taken to elaborate
each detail in her construction. The naval inspect
ors who had charge of the work manv of whom
know personally. were men of the best qualities,
whose scientific skill no one has presumed to
attack They were deeply interested in their
duties because the Dolphin was to be the first
vessel of the new American Navy, and each man
felt that his repntSicn was at stake in making
brilliant of her. The public has no idea of
the labor they undertook of the ordeal to which
they submitted the materials that were to 60 into
her myself saw hundreds of pieces OF steel plate
riveted together simpyo test the sheernG strength
of the rivets Every plate, bolt. screw, rvet, bar
every bit of material-was submitted to experiments
to test its durability. The inspection was twenty
times as severe and extensive as should think of
requiring for merchant vessel and any reflection
on the character of the materials or of the work
manship spent upon her is not only made at the
expense of the truth. but it assas board of in
spectors of the highest character and skill. The
men are not to be found from whom to make up any
better board.
aAs matter of fact, the ship is not only strong,
but marvel of strength Her formation, that is
her model is strength itself She is only thrty-two
feet wide with a remar kable dead rise. A ship
constructed could not help but possess all the
proper elements of strength The TRIBUNE is
wholly right in saying that tho statement of Mr.
Whitneys Board of personal friends that the shift
ing of five tons of lead on her deck had the effect
Of wrenehing her that her crank-pin heated is
a mechanical mpossibility and ludeTGuS prop
osition 1t does not require engineer to see that
Come with me to the engine-roOm of the Seneca
lying there in the dock"
When the eugine-rooms reached, Mr.. Sloat
continued: The shaft of the Dolphin, like this
one runs for sixty feet aft from her engines
to her screw. IL revOlves four journals, placed
here about fifteen feet apart held up by iron sup
ports that are built right in the hull of the vessel
Now, if by the shifting of metal or from any other
cause the ship to spring. any fool can see that
its effect wOuld be imme lia'ly felt by this shaft,
which would be jerked this way OF that so as to
create friction against these journals COnse
uuently these are the journals that would be heated
by such a wrenching as Mr.. Whitney's Roard de-
scribes This great cast-iron would have to be
broken all to flinders before the crank-pn would
feel the spring SO that any one can easily see that
the Dolphin was not sprung. Her crank-pin did
get hot. and the reason is simple. 1t was keyed too
tightly for such high speed This is the COM
mon st kind of thing with new machinery with
which the engineers are not well acquainted. and
could not possibly be construed into defect.
81 state it as a fact that the Dolphin never had
fair trial. She had been in the water two
AMI her bottom very dirty. That made
difference in her speed of at least knot | will
guaran tee to take her and put crew aboard and
make the required time of fifteen krots, seaspced.
and develop the full horsepower"
How do yol account for the action OF the Gov
ernmentP
Z" say unhesitatingly that it is nothing in the
world but political persecution. The men who
are responsible for it can have very snail idea OF
what they doing The shipping industry has
labored under many bties, but this is the
worst blow il has yet received All the mechanical
industries have felt it, John Roach has built seven
ships for this line under my personal supervision.
He is the fairest man to deal with ever met.
When he was building the vessel we are now stand
ing in, was dissatisfied with two lengths of this
main shaft. told him they did not suit me;
Without stopping 10 argue the matter he hauled
them of and substituted two Others ID their places.
The east-irOn lining in one of the boilers though a
beautiful casting, was in my Judgment somewhat
too soft. | told his foreman about 1t. and II was
promptly put aside and another one made. These
changes must have cost him at least 1000, and
yet he never sought to charge them or to make up
on us in any way 1t has always been so in all our
transactions with him, and nobody can tell me that
Roach would not make the Dolphin right if She
was wrong; OF if Mr.; Whitney were to name the
alterations he wanted"
Andrew Fletcher of the Fletcher Engine Build
ing Company, who has made some OF the best
known engines-those which propel the Mary
Powell. for instance-said: "lhe Dolphin Is an
excellent vessel, there is no doubt about that
excellent in her machinery, materials and work
manship. Her engines are good, and work to adj
vantage. The allegation of Secretary Nhltneys
Board that she is strueturally weak is wholly
erroneous. The changes recommended by the Board
tTliieS and would not AFFECT her quality or use
fulness. She is built from good model | think
she 90 at least knot an hour faster than she
has vet gone The talk of Mr.. Whitney Board
about the effect OF the five tons of pig iron on her
crank-pin is the sheereSt nonsense. Any engineer
would say that If the vessel sprung. the heating
would occur in the journals of the main shaft and
not in the crank-pin. i have done IA great deal of
business with Mr. Roach, and have always found
him liberal, generous man. whose object is
always TO make good job and not niggardly to
save a dollar here and there AS say, it is my
opinion that the Dolphin is all she could be- but if
she is not. | am positive that Mr.. Roach would
make her just what the Government demanded II
they were to give him the particulars of any
changes they wanted. AS to the vibrations. never
m Arnnn fhnf ran q a RtraIler