The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-20
SHE'S A METEURlC LAUNCH.
THE SWIFT MONMOUTH BEATEN OUT
OF SIGHT ~ MuNEO'S SORTOOD.

A Thousand Excu-sioni.ts Look on and
wonder-She Made n Few Miles mt tho
Ratio or = Milo In Two Minntes-Mr.
Riley Says She Can Keep Up That
Speed for Hair AN Hour or More.
Passengers who went down to Sandy Hook
on the twin screw steamboat Monmouth yes
terday afternoon saw a marvellous little steam
launch shoot out from Bay Ridge. and buzz
along for moment on tho port side OF the
Sandy Hook speeder A thousand pairs OF eyes
and not u fcw fell! Glasses-were levelled Mt
the foam feathered vision. She seemed not
unlike a rsd-shafted arrow shot by
giant archer OF the sea. Chief Engineer Perry
1.-THE Monmouth knew that the little launch.
new creation of Now Hampshire and Long
Island genius. wns out to give him race, and
no put some extra weight on the safety valve
and threw the throttle wide open. The launch
kcpt nearly even with the rushing Monmouth
until she got into tho Narrows. Then tho fun
began.
Tho Monmouth is one OF the swittest harbor
craft in the world. She 10 credited with max
ing twenty-five statute miles an hour with
favorable tide. The man most Interested in
the tussle between the big double propeller
and tho tiny single boat was Mr.. Nor
man l.. Munro, whose chief ambition
in lifc IL TO possess the fastest steam
launch In the world. Mr. Munro real
lied or came pretty near to realizing his
dream when he had the Herreshofrs build
the Henrietta. She made the performances OF
all ether launches uninteresting. and won
glory for her builders and owner. The Hem
rietta was u dandy. but she failed to satisfy
tho vaultng ambition Of Mr. Munro. He
heard OF another wonderful steam launch. or.
rather. torpedo boat over the sea. ami he sent
nm order for another lnunch for himself to the
Herresho(Is. The electric Now Then flashed
across the vision OF the nautical world. Still
Mr.. Munro wasn't happy. An inventive Yankee
from Amesbury. Mass. came along with
theory and unfolded 1t to MIR. Munro.
Briefly expressed. the theory was that boat
with tho least displacement to tho greatest
horse power would knock out all creation. by
gosh! Mr.. Munro took stock in this very rea-
sonablo and simple theory. aud told MIR. c. b.
Mosher the inventing Yankee. to 20 ahead.
And he went But through some fault
in construction his boat. the Norwood.
didn't Then Mr.. Munro got Mr.. Reuben
Riley. an engine constructor OF Brooklyn.
to overhaul the Norwood's engines and mako
'em GO W. A. Seaman OF Branchport i'm
proved the model OF the boat. Her boiler was
examined on Tuesday by Inspector William
II. Powers OF BROOKLYN. and he declared that
she could safely carry 40 pounds to the square
inch. She had a brush with the Monmouth on
Tuesday and then her owner on the s,5e n
from the Nsrrows to the Hook. Hewas aboard
H.! The Monmouth yesterday to see the triumph OF
Tho pressure of steam on the Monmouths
D DsSs Observation-Disclosures sss mahaesnS suneh
gan H ,fis T fses. Her rszor.iiSO STEM threw dual
NJ oil mi
hss bows hisSsr Than 'e the ,op of her
shiny. brass smokesta:k. So swift was nor
snowy Tor quarter Of mile. the sea was
S IN her shs flight xa to the sm aGSs E Ss
hidden in spray showe,s that PLAYED
,ss oyer s hsr sa sso s SsSsow WE a.
.xeursios GOA. Crowded iorwara to see Tho ii:
sns is1H ever her .ara oOk.d as We're
made Of sheet tin sometmes ten :, feet OF hsr
Fac Ss A.
most before tho ,Moamouth'S passengers
could st O. Ga nil. 0s sb.a al hS %hs sns cSp
open window Of the Monmon,h's pilot house.
hait a mile ahead, il was conIeetqrei then!
that tho Monmouth was going at the rate Of
a bfen ~ Ills Was curr.e
the Norwood was making the wonderful time
Of 80 miles an hour. or mile In two minutes
This Is simply unapproaehaole IN mo recorus.
Ihe slim. red streak Of concentrated energy
nasss eye she o could b Only BY The
ioamy line she wrote with her flashing propel:
Ter II IKE the apt9srsph sDS de"a
syss sS If FS.a sF' . t. to t .dr h.:
the marine things in the immehiate neighbor-
hood that hadn't the power to vanish; There
ship out on a pleasure cruise. Sue is four.
teen day ship: and gave the .s eI S,2n
elsmsy. antique de.wheeiers that come into
ancient and the modern, tho new and OLD, the
slow and the swift in marine architecture
Ai'or the Norwood had disappeared she was
GpS FOR od
sa "Id s The sSi n" Channel a. tho WAS
co. pelied % do because OF her draught. 4 man
with powerful glasses said the fOTT I've ol had
shoe. at 4:42 thus compleiinR her course. SUP
posed TO DO about "A miles. in 80 minutss,
an hour but sve af who Was aboard tho
reaching he Hook and ha, che carried E, 6 oniy
and scooted along at 3o;mils rate Befid dS
The excursionists on The Monmouth tnm.
bled over one another to get of and look at
re slender flyer q she Lay moOrsd alonEs iSs
warning whistle 81 tho waiting trains made
besides Engineers John Clarke and Walter
Wheeler and Cast W; A. Seaman wore NJ
Mr. Hugh Frazer. who represented Mr.. Munro.
They were all Iratty damp.
Mr. Riley said he believed that the Norwood |
was the fastest steam launch In the word. ana |
that she was better tran some OF the best tor
pedo boats. He offered to bot Capt. Gregory |
almost anything that she could beat the Mon |
mouth Aye miles II q race from her pier at the
said that she could go at tho rate OF thirty |
miles an hour over short course.
MIR. Powers said he had travelled on some |
swift boats. including one that gave the
been carried over The wster as 10 was ,yes,er;
from twenly-eight 70 thirty miles Ar hour
The Norwood Is G3 feet2I inches In length |
and 7 ieet beam. In other word, her proper.
lightly consructsd Q, MAHOGANY And draws kIN.s
propeller 50 inches In diameter, which IL driven
by tribe pan sion engines Of 4OU horse power.
The high intermediate amt low pressure cyl- |