Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-11-11
LAUNCHING A VESSEL
OLD TIME METHODS ARE ADAPTED
TO MODERN CONDITIONS.

OLD TIME METHODS ARE ADAPTED
TO MODERN CONDITIONS.
Guesswork Has Given Place to Fine CAL
culatfons = The Builders' Supremacy
Anxious Moment When the Vessel Is
Poised on the Ways.
The launch of modern vessel does not
dlfter materially from one of older days
except in detail and enlarged RESPONSE
blllty. 1t is now a question of mathemat-
les rather than of personal experience. 1t
Is now matter of applied science and not
one OF fortunate guesswork. The con-
structor in these days does not fix the scale
OF the inclined plane down which the YES
sci will glide by his experience in such
matters; does not smear the tallow on the
ways until it seems to be enough; does not
adjust the size of the ways to suit his
fancy. Vessels that cost from 81 ZOO, 600 to
S3,O0O,OCO are too valuable for the running
OF large risks, and hence the equation, the
formula, the methods of applied mathe-
niatics, have supplanted old time ways of
trusting to individual judgment and good
luck.
Three things are absolutely necessary in
launching vessel in tidal waters-the
launch must take place on time, must be
OF moderate speed, and all straining of the
vessel must be avoided. It is in this last
particular that the greatest responsibility
rests nowadays. A wooden vessel may be
subjected to great strain, her seams may
open and, as naval constructor recently
put 1T, "she may almost be stood on her
mead" and yet escape serious damage in
launching. The seams will close again
and the timbers and planks adjust them
selves. Not SO with iron or steel vessels.
Ii the plates are strained, the rivets bent
or broken, the injury is permanent and
matter of the gravest Importance.
Preparations for launch are begun be-
fore the keel is laid. The incline of the
plane has first to be figured out. It gen
orally varies from one-half inch to one inch
to the foot. Vessels of large tonnage
have less inclination than smaller ones.
The City of Paris had only one-half an inch
inclination when she was launched. The
cruiser Columbia, SO long known as the
Pirate and recently launched at Cramps
shipyard in Philadelphia, glided into the
water at an inclination of thirteen-six-
teenths of an inch to the foot. She went
down the ways like a race horse Mr. Nixon,
planned to have her in the water in thirty
seconds after she started She made it in
twenty-nine More vessels are launched
at an inclination of three-quarters of an
inch to the foot. however, than at any other
plane.
The ways, as is generally known, con-
sist of two parts, the ways proper and the
cradle. The ways proper are stationary
and firmly fastened to the ground. The
cradle rests on top of the ways and up
against the vessel and slides into the water
with the ship. Between the ways proper
and the cradle the tallow is smeared This
is generally spread five-eighths of an inch
thick and must be of the highest grade
That used by the Cramps is made in Phil
adelphia and costs from seven to eight
cents pound. About II 900 pounds was
use'l in the launching of the Pirate. 1t is
heated in big kettles i'll the shipyard and
spread on by hand. In the case of the
Pirate the weather was so warm that there
was serious danger that the tallow would
melt ;ind run away. Mr. Nixon therefore
mixed Is per cent. stearine with it. He
also played IL hose on the tallow, and went
SO far as to sit Up nights with the mixture
to watch the effect of the weather on it.
The stearine hardened the tallow and the
launch was successful.
Perhaps the most important element to
be considered in the launch of today is the
buoyancy of the water and it's effect on
that part of the vessel which is still on the
stocks after probably one-half of the vessel
is in the water. Recently one of the new
English battleships Of the IA, 00O-ton class
was wrecked at her launch. The buoyancy
of the water lifted her up at the heels and
threw her immense weight forward on her
shoulders, crushing the frames and the
launching ways, and running the boat
The modern naval constructor reduces this
question of buoyancy to a matter of mathe-
matics at once. He starts with the ques-
ton of specific gravity of the vessel. If
there were no water for the ship to slide
into she would continue in the line of the
ways until the center of gravity would get
over the end of the ways and then she
would tilt. But the water keeps her from
dropping down and holds the vessel in the
line of the ways. This water is the safety
valve of the launch, but it must not be too
safe. While the moment of buoyancy
must always be greater than the moment
of weight, it must not be so much greater
as to throw terrible pressure on the for
ward end of the vessel and wreck it.
and an hour are set for the launch, the
time of the high tide being the chief factor
to be considered. Most of the props are
taken down and the vessel rests on the keel
blocks and one or two sets of stocks at the
sides. The ways and cradle have been fixed
in place, and wedges have been adjusted
above the cradle and under the poppet
blocks on which she rests A gathering
ram consists of four men to piece of stout
timber. These four men take care of four
wedges. The signal is given and an i'm
mense chatter begins as the men drive
home the wedges for five minutes. The
vessel is lifted just clear of the keel blocks
and now rests on the ways. Alternate keel
blocks are now knocked away, beginning
at the stern. Another "wedging up' fol-
lows, and then all the props at the sides
are removed.
After rest the third wedging comes,
and then all the keel blocks are knocked
down, the word is given. and the planks
that hold the cradle to the ways proper at
the bow are sawed off, and the vessel starts
down to the water. This is the supreme
moment in the shipbuilder's career. In
thirty seconds all the responsibility of his
past and his future is crowded upon him.
Those who know the intense strain that
rested on Mr.. Nixon at the launch of the
New York, the gayest occasion in ship
building this country has ever known, and
Of the Columbia, realized what the big
sigh meant that he drew when the vessels
got off safely Had he been woman in
charge of so grave an occasion he probably
would have swooned after it passed off sue
cessfully. 1t took about 600 men to launch
these boats, and their services and the tai
low and other preparations brought the
mechanical cost of the launches up some
where near S., 900 each.-New York Sun.
Should Be Amenable to Law.
A Fourth ward school teacher asked his
pupils the other day to name ring that
wasn't round. None of them could. He
that suggested answered the question HIM
self by saying ''the herring" Cannot the
common colucil make this kind of faceti-
BUSINESS actionable when resorted to by an
instructor of youth Milwaukee Sentinel
Repairing Trolley Wire.
Every one is accustomed to seeing tele-
graph linemen or electric light linemen
climb pole to repair wires, and knows
that it is done by means of two sharp splrs
- mail l..