, 1892-06-22
A NAVY BUILDER.
The Chief Naval Constructor on a
Visit.

Theodore ID. Wilson Tells Of the
New steel Vessels Now in Com.
mission and Those Being BuiIl
at Various Places.
A fine looking gentleman stepped off the
1890 Tacoma train today and will visit the
cruisers Baltimore and Charleston. He is
the chief naval constructor of the United
States navy, Theodore D. Wilson, at the
head Of the bureau of construction and re-
pair, with the relative rank of commodore.
Mr.. Wilson may be called the father of the
new navy so far as the construction of the
/ splendid war ships are concerned. He has
been at the head of the bureau under -four
presidents and for dozen years has had
charge of the building of such vessels as
are now lying at Buffers cove Mr.. will
son, who was born in Brooklyn, was in the
Thirteenth New York Militia at the begin
ming of the war, served four years in the
navy, from 1861 to 1864 as a carpenter, was
appointed assistant naval constructor in
1S66and has been continuously in the navy
ever since. He was the first American ever
elected a member of the Institute of Naval
Architects of England is the inventor of
patent air ports and bolt extractor and au-
thor of "Ship-Building, Theoretical and
Practical" a text book used at the naval
academy and by the profession generally,
is from his pen.
Commander Wilson says of the new
navy: "There are now fourteen of the
new steel vessels actually in commission,
! the Chicago, Boston, atlanta, u aiphiu.
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York. San
Francisco, Charleston, Yorktown, Ben
niugton, Concord, VesuYius and Petrol.
"Ihe Charleston was built on plans
bought from abroad, and she is the exact
duplicate of a Japanese cruiser. The
Philadelphia has the same hull, with the
machinery of the Cramps.
"The vessels now under construction are
those building by contract at Bath, Me-,
two gunbOats and one ram. At South
Boston there is one 2,000-ton cruiser At
the Cramp ship yard at Philadelphia there
are two line-Of-battle ships of 10000 tons
each, and two cruisers of 1850 tons each,
and capable of making tWenty-One knots
an hour at sea. These last two vessels are
intended as commerce destrOyers, and
speed is great object. They have three
screws each. At the same yard is the New
York vessel Of S,l00 tons. Building at
Baltimore are two boats of 1000 tons each.
At Dubuque is torpedo beat No. q At San
Francisco is the Oregon, of 10000 tons, a
cruiser of 5000 tons, and the Monterey, a
coast defense vessel.
cat our navy yards eight more vessels are
under construction. At New York the
double-turreted monitor, Terror of $500
tons, and four ten-inch guns; the double
turreted Puritan, with four 12-inch guns
the armOred cruiser Maine, with four 10
inch and six 6-inch guns; and the 2O-knot
cruiser Cincinnati of 5000 tons. At Nor
folk the 3000-ton cruiser Raleigh has been
launched, and the armored battle ship
Texas is soon to be in the water. The lat
ter will have four 10-inch and six 6-inch
guns. The double-turreted monitor Am
phitrte, with four 1O-inch gnns, is also
there. At Mare Island is the double-tur-
roted monitor Monadnock. At the Cramp
yard there are 1000, between 1900 and 2OOC
at New York, and nearly as many more at
/ Norfolk.
ave are now making complete model
of the Oregon on a scale of one-quarter oil
an inch to the foot, and will have it ready
for exhibition at the Oregon state fair. We
make models of all the vessels, complete in
every detail, except, of course, the interior
and keep them for exhibitionin our gal
! lery at Washington City.