The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-07-27
Descriptive Artitlrs,
AN OCEAN RACER.

! Il
lar, are undoubtedly the two finest vessel
now afoat-whether We consider speed
the matter of equipment, safety or com
fort They are larger by two thOusan
tons than any steamship ever built, exeep
the Great Eastern The dimensions are
$50 feet long, 63! feet broad and ~ fee
deep, or from the top of the upper cabil
to the bottom of the keel 80 feet deep
They have gross tonnage of l0,500 tons
Their horsepower is nearly double that o
any other ship, with the exception of on,
or two vessels in the English navy.
The City of Paris has made, up to tn,
time of this writing, the quickest time o.
any ocean craft between Queenstown anC
1 New York. One steamer, the Augustc
Victoria, of the Hamburg American Line
it Is thought, would have made as good {
record had it not been for delay caused by
hot journals, but the fact remains that the
greatest speed yet developed was made by
the City of Paris. She left Queenstown
at .43 p. M, on May I'd; at An Of the
same day she passed Fastnet Rock, and on
the Sth of May, at SIS a. m, she arrived
at Sandy Hook, thus making the voyage
in ) DAYS, % hours and Z minutes, or
hours and 4S minutes better than the fast
est time made before that, by the Cunar-
der Eutruria. Since then she has beaten
the record between Sandy Hook and
Queenstown. The fastest time ever made
between the two points heretofore was by
the Umbria, also Cunarder, which did it
in days hours and 20 minutes. The
City of Paris made it in days and %
hours, so that it was possible for her pas
sengers to take their meals III New York
and London during the same week,
This superiority is not due to some
chance excellence in construction, but to
the patient and effective work of naval ar
chiteeis in the direction of the further devel-
opement of principles which have been used
for years, but which have not been utilized
to such an extent as they have been in the
construction of this vessel For instance:
instead of one screw, which the ordinary
steamer has, the City of Paris has two,
each connected with and propelled by
separate engine. They can Of course be
used either separately or together. These
engines themselves are development over
those in use in other vessels, being what
are called triple expansion engines, That
is to say, the steam is used three times
instead OF twice as in other vessels before
passing into the condenser The high
pressure cylinder takes il at pressure OF
one hundred and fifty pounds to the square
inch. Here it does its work and instead
Of passing cut as having completed It's task,
il rushcs into another cylinder called the
medium pressure aud there repeats the
same labor From there it passes into the
light pressure cylinder, whence after hav-
ing performed its work the third time, it
is taken into the condenser. This effects
an enormous saving in fuel and at the same
time adds materially to speed. The twin
screws, aside from increasing the speed,
act a very important part in steering in
time Of need BY reversing one engine
while the other Is forging ahead, the ship
can be turned completely around in its own
length. These vessels are built entirely Of
steel, which is almost as much Of gain
over iron as the use Of the latter was over
wood
The element of danger Is as nearly
eliminated 10 the City Of Paris as it Is
possible to do il. The hull Is a complete
double bottom, 50 that no danger need be
apprehended from grounding, since the
inside bottom is full protection II the
outer one should be broken away, Besides
this. there are fifteen water tight compart-
mentS. divided by fourteen complete water
tight and FIRE proof bulkheads, which
extend up to the saloon deck These
bulkheads are solid, so thai it IS impossible
10 establish communication between one
and another as has been customary here
tofore. The only way to pass from one
compartment to another Is by ascending 10
the saloon deck aud crossing over the
dividing bulkhead. They are as complete
a protection from water pressure as the
outer part Of the vessel A hundred feet
Of the bottom or sides might be swept
away without materially affecting the
buoyaney of the ship. Each engine Is in
a compartment by itself. The three boil
ers occupy three Of these, each with its
own coalbunkerS. and the same provision
protects the furnaces against accident. 1T
a collision should occur and the vessel be
struck Just at the dividing line between
the engine and the boilers there would
still be another engine, with one or two
sets Of boilers and ooalbunkers with which
to finish the voyage.
Every device known to naval architect
ure for increasing efficiency Is made use of
in these vessels. An ingenious use OF the
double bottom Is that Of filling it with
water for ballast BY this means the
draueht may be made greater or less as
the amount of water between the hulls Is
less or more The vessel can thus accom-
modate itself to the tides, can pass over
bars by pumping the water out, and IN
short, can be handled as effectively as a
rowboat. The rudder is another nOtieea-
BILE feature contributing both to speed and
safety. 1t is really part of the ship
itself, and is pivoted on the bottom inside
near the rudder line 1t is the largest
one ever made, the area of one side being
80 square feet A hydraulic ram con
trolled from the bridge turns it, while a
reliable seaman is always on duty down
where the ram and rudder are located in
the stern of the vessel, to see that every
thing works properly. If anything unfor-
seen should occur, small tiller alongside
of this man controls the ruddeT by
hydraulic pressure, and he obeys the word
of command telegraphed from the bridge
When the steamer is going at full speed
aud the rudder is put hard over, the force
on the ram is equal 10 eighty tons.
Almost everything is done by hydraulic
power steering, handling cargo, moving
coal aud ashes, hOisting sails, getting the
anchor, working the dumb walters, etc, al
Of which Is done without noise. There are
thirty-two of these noiseless machines, and
everything is duplicated, 50 that if one get'
out of order another is at hand to take it'
place. Over thousand incandeseent elee
tric lights burn in every part OF the ship
the power being furnish by triple set o
dynamos, SO that there is scarcely any con
tingency in which the passengers can bC
left in the dark The electric search light
such as is used in the largest war vessels
forms part OF the equipment of these YES
sells, thus reducing the danger of collision
to minimum. Another contrivanee whicl
has hitherto been used ouly by war vessel
! :; t.-oll;n,. aba,,, ar - which nravants !,