Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-01-31
HERE'S A BIG IDEA.
A Proposed Ship 1000 Feet Long and
800 Feet Wide.

At the recent convention Of the Iron
aud Steel institute at Plttsburg Sir
Nathaniel Barnaby, X. G. b., construc-
'or for the British navy. read a paper
IN ''The Protection of Iron and Steel
Ships Against Foundering from Injury
10 Their Shells: Including the Use OF
Armor." In this he gave expression to
lis own theories as to the value of
,rmor. He said that we are greatly
worse off in these days of steel and iron
than when ships were built of oak, teak,
and pine, as to the perils arising from
perforation Of the shells or hulls of
ships.
Increased speed and increased mo-
nenta in collisions bad increased the
risks and at the same time the material
Of which the hull is composed submits
so easily to persoration that he was in
clined to value the opinion of many
eminent men who are strongly opposed
20 the abandonment of wooden bot
toms, both in commerce aud war.
One tiftieth OF the value of the vessels
Ia the mercantile marine, he said, was
required annually to make good losses
and repairs entailed by collisions alone.
he prophesied that America, posses
sing nearly one-sixth Of all the wooden
sailing ships Of 100 tons net and up
ward in the world, would probably
lind il TO her advantage for many years
to come TO continue the use of wooden
ships.
In the course of his paper the essayist
suggested most interesting possibility
in the development of passenger steam
ships. He said:
II have never thought that size was
disadvantage in merchant ships, sup.
posing they can be worked financially.
On the contrary, the advantages arising
from size in passenger ships seem to
me to be so great that j do not see
where we shall stop.
IL as consulted some years ago by
business man, well known on both
sides Of the Atlantic, as TO the possibil-
ity OF building steel ship which wo sld
not roll, or pitch, or heaye in the s'a,
and in which, therefore, the bulk of
passengers would be in less desperate
hurry to get ashore. lie thought fifteen
knots an hour sufficient speed.
1T appeared to me to be perfectly
practicable with draught Of water of
twenty-slx feet. thought the minimum
length and breadth would be ], 900 feet
long and 800 feet broad. / estimated
that with engines of GO, 000-horse power
an ocean speed of fifteen knots could
be obtained.
Two sets OF apparent difficulties
N ha vi
nectcd with the building of the ship
afioat and those relating to receiving
and discharging cargo. The ship
would be steel island. incapable of
entering any docks. The building diff
ficulties soon disappeared. They had
no real existence. TO meet the other
difficulties l proposed to form shallow
saltwater harbors or docks within the
ship, entered by gates in the sides, aud
TO carry, always ahoat there, the
loaded barges and tugs, turning the
barges out and taking in fresh ones al
ready loaded at the ports Of discharge
aud shipment.
"Such ship would require to be
fortified and garrisonei like town.
She could be made absolutely secure
against fatal injury arising from per-
foration. The subdivisions required
for this purpose might be made to serve
effectually against the spread of any
local fire. i do firmly believe that We
shall get the mastery over the seas, and
shall live far more happily in marine
residence capable of steaming fifteen
knots an hour than we can live in sea-
aide tOwnsn