Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-09-17
For the United States Armored Cruis.
er Maine. to be Used in our
Navy.
They are set in Motion in the Pres
ence Of Many
People.
Three Hundred Men Engaged Upon
the Machinery for More Than
Two Years.

An incident that will be good news to
everybody interested in the welfare of our
new navy was the exhibition a few days
since. of the finished set of engines for
the United States armored cruiser Maine,
The massive pair of tri pie expansion
engines, grand in their polished intricacy
of brass and steel, stood in the main shop
of the Quintard iron works at the foot of
East Twelfth street, and were attached by
an arrangement of cog wheels or two little
upright donkey engines that looked to be
of about one mule power.
Yet, when sharp at ten clock Engine.
er-in-Chief George W. Melville, United
States navy, the designer of the great
propelling machines, tured on the lever of
the small engines the big fellows started
off SO smoothly and powerfully that the
crowd assembled broke into applause.
Then Mr.. Palmer, of the firm of n. F.
Palmer Jr., & Co., the builders of the
engines stood by the eight small levers
that control each mighty machine and
put them through their PAGES in a way
that delighted the experts present. The
engines were kept going till noon, when
steam was shut off, to fill the great cylin-
ders again only when they are set up in
the Maine.
This pair of tri pie expansion engines,
which are the largest yet built for the
naval feet, are each 16 feet in height and
q feet in length. They will be divided
when in the cruiser by heavy longitud-
inal bulkhead, and either one of them will
be able to keep the Maine going should
disaster happen to its twin. They weigh
but 900 tons, while the old style OF the
small power would weigh nearly 5000
tons, yet they are capable of developing
100 horse power per ton, while the old
style could develop but one quarter as
much. Between them they will give out
! 5000 horse power and are expected to pro-
pei the Maine at a seventeen knot speed.
| A system Of brass alter pipes is connect
ed with the machinery so that when the
craiser is going full speed and has to be
kept going the journals and boxes may be
kept cool.
The diameter of high pressure cylin-
ders is 351a inches, Of the intermediate
cylinders 81 inches and of the low pressure
cylinders SO inches. The stroke of all the
pistons is SO inches.
The boilers that are to furnish the
steam for the Maine engines are Scotch
''single enders." There are eight of them
and each has three furnaces beneath it.
| The combined CRATE surface of these
twenty-four furnaces is 553 square feet
and their total heating surface is 1890
square feet. They will furnish heat
enough for the boilers to get up steam
pressure of 135 pounds and develop the
required 5000 horse power. A novel
! feature of the furnaces is an arrangement
by which the hampers must be closed be-
fore the furnace doors can be opened
This will prevent the ''shoots" of fame
into the stoke room that careless
fremen occasionally cause and, as jocular
engineer put it, will allow stokers to
wear boards in safety hereafter.
! The engines will be taken apart now,
and in about a month the parts will be
removed to the navy yard and set up in
the Names engine rooms. 1t is expected
| that they will be reset and ready for work
by January next. The two donkey engines
will also be taken along and will be used
to keep the engines in motion to prevent
the rustling while the cruiser is lying in
port.
The Names engines are the third set
that the Quintard iron works have built
for the new navy. and Mr.. Palmer has the
set for the cruiser No. II under way.
The two previous sets were made for the
Concord and the Bennington.
Among the gentlemen who critically
examined and approved the Names outfit
yesterday were Secretary Tracy, who was
accompaniey by Captain w. S Cowles, of
the Despatch; Commandant Erben, of the
Brooklyn Navy Yard; Engineer nChief
Melville, Rear Admiral Braine, Chief
Engineers, Baker, Chasmar, WorIey,
Heaton, Ayres, Stivers, McElmell, Aston
and Gowing; Assistant Engineers Conant
Mcfarland, MOTIF, Potion, Dan forth,
Ke army, Offly and Howard, Passed Assis
tant Engineers Dixonand Eldridge; Cap
tains Dahlgren, Emery, Sumner and Bear
dslee, Naval Constructor Fernald Com
mander RoyaIB. Bradford, Lieutenant
Commander Gibson and Lieutenant
White.
The shops were galy decorated with
bunting and flags in honor of the occas-
ion, and the snap shot camera contingent
was on hand in force to catch souvenirs Of
the scene. A lunch was served in the
company Offices after the exhibition. Mr..
Palmer in a short speech said that he had
begun work on the engines in July, 1889,
and had kept three hundred men at work
on them ever since The bill to Uncle Sam
will foot up 1885,, O00 1t will require the
service of 100 men to keep the Names
engines going at full speed.-New York
Herald.