Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-08-11
SHE'S A GOOD SNIP YET.
The kearsarse Al Thirty Years Mas Ssme
Chance as a Fighter.

Nhw NosN, Aug. ln.-Thc rnitcd States
ship kearsarge of glorious memory lies in
| the East River opposite Twenty y-sixth
| street, having been rcspitcd from her orders
10 proceed to Honduras and look after the
revolution in that country. The ship would
certainly have started for Central American
waters some days ago, hut for the inter
Nention of powerful person who repre-
scented To the secretary of the navy that Il
would he m outrage 10 send the kcarsaec
to the tropics with yellow fever showing
itself At many points, the hurricanes on
hand aud the revelation wcil-nigh spent.
! pom these representations the OH ship
was ordered to delay, and she now hes
read, for sea. bca,il, laden with coal,
amply supplied with ammunition, and rre.
pared for any emergency, Meanw hilr the
men do not get liberty and even the officers
have TO stick pretty close To the ship
|, is the good or III fortune of the kcar-
sarge To he one of the best cruisers in the
navy, and that, too, in spite of the fact that
she Is thirty years old and, Of course, a
wooden hull. Her excellence as u cruiser
has kept her busy for four years past in the
home station, which duty includes the pa
trolling of West Indian waters. aud for
much ot that time she has been within the
tropics. When the krnrSargc was built
she was up to date in mos, matters of naval
architecture. She could steam twelve knots
IN hour, u high speed for that period, and
was armed with guns quite as good as those
carried by any vessel OF her size. Since
that time her boilers have bean reduced. SO
that she can steam but ten knots an hour,
and, as a matter of fact, steam is only an
auxiliary 10 her sails. She was o,etlaulcd
not long since, and the wood below the
water line was examined for the first time
IN fourteen years. 1t was found to be rs
sound as the day II went into the ship aud
almost rs hard as iron.
II Is the boast of those that love the
kcarsarge that she could whip any ship of
her displacement, even in the new navy.
The Yorktown which is practically OF the
'amc displacement NJ the kcarsargc, meas
1ring 700 tons To the ht,ers 1900, throws
= weight Of only 400 pounds at u broadside.
exclusive of the rapid firing guns, while the
kcarsargc throws coo pounds ut broad
silc. Fitted with rapid firing guns, the
hcarsarge would prove an ugly antagonist
for even larger ship than the Yorktown
Vt distances within 1000 ,nrls the guns Of
III" kcarsarge are ~ accurate as the mod
crn guns of the new navy
The thing that chiefly recommends the
krarsargc as u cruiser IN time Of peace is
that she carries her full comrlctcment Of
men and officers without crowd,ng She
has more room than the new ships Of her
own size because she has less machinery
in'l carries less coal. As line Of battle
ship the kcarsargc would he nowhere in an
encounter with the great fighting machines
that the navy has recently been building.
and ~ commerce destroyer she puld b. uf
small account in comparison with three ar
four of the swift new ships. hut in y con
t"st with any but the heavily anored ships
of our own AMI other na,ics the conqueror
OF the Alabama might easily add to tho
glorics of her reputation.