The Portland daily press., 1890-03-19
A MAINE GIRL WILL CHRlSTEN HER.
The Cruiser Named for tho City OF
Rrorherly Love.
Our New Ships of War and the
Veterans or the Past.
Speaker and Mrs. Reed Guests at
the British Legation.


NASulNUION, MdIcu 10. lUnOIrOW al
Cramps shipyard in Philadelphia the new,
unarmored cruiser Newark, which has been
building since 1887 will be launched. The
launching will be attended by large party
from this city. Miss Boutelle, of Maine,
daughter Of the chairman of the House COM
mittee on naval affairs, who was obliged to
decline the invitation to christen the Con-
cord. has accepted an invitation to christen
the Newark, and will be accompanied by a
christening party of four young ladies, Miss
Carter daughter of the Hawaiian min
lister, Miss Herbert. daughter of Representa-
tive Herbert of Alabama, and Miss Stetson
and Miss Brown, of Washington. Mrs. Bou-
telle will accompany the christening party.
The Newark, which is to be the third new
vessel to be added to our new navy since
the beginning of the new year. is larger than
the Concord, being one of the larger of the
unarmored steel cruisers, and ranking with
the Chicago. Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The Newark has been built upon English
plans purchased by Secretary Whitney.
Originally the limit of cost for her construc-
tion was to have been $1.100,000; but Con-
gress increased it to 81, 100000 The Cramps
in August, 1887, bid $l,24s,oOO for the hull
and machinery without armament, and were
awarded the contract.
AS she stands today. in the yard at Phila-
delphia awaiting the launching, the Newark
is $40 feet lcng, 401-6 feet in extreme beam,
and with a maximum draught of 205 feet,
and mean draught of 1Sa, giving her an in
tended displacement Of 1858 tons. She has
twin-screw, horizontal. triple-expansion
engines, which, it is hoped, will furnish g.
600 horse power under natural and $500 un
der forced draught, giving to her speed of
IS knots. 1t is not unlikely that, with the
experience and skill obtained by these
builders, both the estimated horse power and
the speed will be exceeded. The Newark
will have bark rig. She has double bot
tom extending 129 feet, or mach more than
third of her length Originally she was
expected to have fourteen 6inch guns in her
bow, four at the stern, and three in each
broadside. But the number was reduced to
twelve sIx-inch, high-pOwer, breech-loading
rifles, like the armament OF the Phlladel-
phia and the San Francisco. These guns
will all have centre pivot mounts, and secure
a thorough sweep of fire. The Newark is
expected to have also about dozen rapid
fire and machine guns in her secondary bat
terry.
While the Newark is what is called an un-
armored cruiser, she is yet furnished with
all the protection which can be Afforded by
devices other than the heavy plating used on
battle ships. Extending throughout the en-
tire length Of the vessel is steel protective
deck, the edges of which slope all around to
a line below the water line. The idea is
that an enemy's shot could not strike the
hull below the water line in a way to do
much damage, while if it should strike about
on the water line the sloping edges OF this
protective deck would cause it to glance
upward and away from the machinery and
the vital parts OF the vessel. The coal bunk
ers are also arran. ed SO that there Is to be
a coal armor nine feet thick admidships and
forward and aft about seven feet thick, and
about five feet above the load
water line. This coal armor is SO disposed
as to give the greatest protection TO the parts
where the machinery is located.
The vessel is fitted for the launching of
torpedoes against an enemy, there being. six
tubes. Besides these tubes there
will be complete outfit OF boat and spar
topedo gear and charges.
The United States have at present four
steel cruisers and steel despatch boat in
which are the beginning OF the
new navy They are the Boston, Chicago,
Atlanta, Yorktown and Dolphin. Then
there are launched and in various stages OF
for commission, the Baltimore
and Charleston and Newark (after, tomor-
row. and Concord for cruisers, the dynamite
thrower Vesuvius, and the Petrol, gunboat.
There is also the Stiletto, torpedo boat
bought of the blind builder Herreschoif, and
another torpedo boat launched this year, the
Cushing, bnilt also by Herreschoff. So af-
ter tomorrow the government Will have
afloat nine cruisers including the Nesuvius
a gunboat and two torpedo boats. There are
enough other new vessels already on the
stocks, or contracted for or authorized Dy
Congress to give the United States for Its
new navy ten armored vessels, thirteen
single turreted monitors, twenty-one steel
cruisers or gun boats, two dynamite cruisers,
a practice cruiser for cade.s,an armored ram,
one first class torpedo boat and seven iron
steamers. This does not include any OF the
new vessels that will be authorized be the
present Congress. How much expenditure
this Congress will sanction Is yet in doubt.
but it will probably be not so large by con-
siderable as is provided for in the plan OF
construction set forth in the bill introduced
the first of the session In the Senate by MI
Hale.
The new vessels are coming along at the
time when the old navy is fast going to
pieces. There are no first rates" left; OF
the second rates" there are but five, the
and Omaha. or the "third rates" there are
fifteen, the Ossipee, condemned the other
day, however, the Swatara, Galena, Marion,
Mohican, Iroquois, Kearsarge. Adams, ALL
ance, Essex. Enterprise, Nipsic, Tallapoosa.
Thetis and Yantic. The Dispatch is the
only fourth rate now in service. AT the rate
that these old vessels are going to pieces
there will probably remain at the end of
three years hut 10 of these 81 vessels; after
four years six, after six years three, aud after
eight or nine years there will probably be no
wooden vessel in the navy. To take the
place of them will be the new steel cruisers
like the Newark and the battle ships which
are to be made part of the new navy, both
for cruising purposes and for harbor de-
fence.