The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-10-19
THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE DOLPHIN
Secretary Whitney's Condemnation
and Roach's Troubles Recalled.
Service at Sea Fails to Reveal the Al
legged Structural Weakness.
Not Rivet Loosened nor a Timber
Strained in a Long Cruise.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 1S.-One of the
worst specimens of partisan malice shown
during President Cleveland's administration
was the condemnation of the dispatch boat
Dolphin, which drove John Roach into
bankruptcy, broke the honest old shipbuild-
er's heart and cut short his honorable and
useful career An official inquiry brought
out proof of the injustice of the charge that
the Dolphin was ''structurally weak" but
the most convincing evidence that the COM
mission which condemned the boat was
warped by political feeling is furnished by
an inspection of the vessel ON the dry dock
at Mare Island Navy Yard. There she lies,
with the staunch hull in full view of the
house of Commandant Belknap of Mare
lsland-the man who acted as Secretary
Whitney's pliable agent in condemning the
dispatch boat.
1t may be we'll in paragraph or two to
recall the salient features of the Dolphin's
history. She was finished in November,
1854, and in the following March the naval
advisory board recommended her acceptance
by the government. as she had fulfilled the
tests required. The new Secretary of the
Navy, however, had other plans He was
told by John Roach's enemies that the ves-
sci was defective and he appointed COM
commission to investigate her. At its head
was Commodore George L. Belknap, the
same man who has since been rewarded for
his services by the snug position of Com
mandant at Mare Island Navy Yard and who
has signalized his promotion by
discharging one armed Union soldier, who
had held position since the close of the
war. Two trial trips of the Dolphin ere
made. On each, Belknap made favora BILE
report by wire to Secretary Whitney, but
these dispatches never saw the light until a
year later. After receiving the second re-
port, Mr.. Whitney wrote to Commodore
Belknap, telling him what he wanted. The
most significant sentence in the letter was
this, Il want to know whether she is struc-
turally weak or not" Without any addi-
tional trial, Commodore Belknap, taking his
cue from this letter, reported that the Dol
phin was u"structurally weak" lacked the
necessary speed of twelve knots, and exhib-
tied dangerous vibration in heavy sea her
bow was weak, her steering apparatus was
defective, and her painting, joining and gid
ing were faulty. In word, she was dead
failure.
Secretary Whitney pigeonholed the two
favorable dispatches ent to him by Commo-
dore Belknap just as he subsequently sup
pressed the report of Captain Richard w.
Meade, who commanded the Dolphin Capt
Meade reported that though he tested her in
heavy gale and allowed her to fall into the
trought of the sea, neither myself nor the
officers of the vessel observed any structural
weakness in the hull" Capt. Meade also
praised her machinery and her sea-going
qualities. But the third dispatch of Com
modore Belknap, Secretary Whitney prompt
ly sent to Attorney General Garland, with a
request for legal opinion, and that eminent
telephone expert decided at once that the
government could not accept Roach's work.
Every one is familiar with what followed.
The declaration that the contract was inval-
i'd drove Roach into bankruptcy, as ne had
cruisers on the stocks. Then followed the
extraordinary spectacle of the practical con-
fiscation Of a great industry by partisan
malice. The Dolphin was finally accepted
on Nov. 5,1SS5, although no material changes
had been made in her. Her acceptance was
a vindication of Reach, but it failed to cure
his wound, and ne died on Jan. 10, 1887.
For two years little was done with the
Dolphin, but last fall she started out on a
cruise around Cape Horn. After passing
the Straits of Magellan and touching at Val
paraiso and Callao, she sailed
for Honolulu, and thence for San Fran
cisco. A few weeks after she was sent
TO Mare Island navy yard, and was placed on
usual with vessels that have been in the
South Seas, she was heavily covered with
barnacles, but when they were removed all
the experts were surprised to find her in
such fine condition. They carefully exam
lned the hull and bottom, but there was not
plate displaced nor rivet loosened, nor
timber strained, nor spar out of gear.
Some caulking was necessary on deck, where
the intense heat had parted the seams, and
some painting was required, but the staunch-
ness of the Dolphin may be judged from the
fact that after ten months at sea the ex-
penses of docking and repairing will not be
oyer 500.