Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-17

ABOUT TIE MTDDLR of ocrorER-oosstr
Abour rHr roErEpo boat TuE MAINE VIII
eASRr--HER ARMAnExrs.
corre-rnndeace ~ The Even nx s.a-
NAVY Yarn. NV yoRK. SEPT. ie. ise2-
The sudden and unexpected orders tor the
chicago and PHILADELPHIA TO proceed 20 Nene-
zuela 10 join the Concord aud KoarsarSe in pro-
tecnne American interests there has taken coz
siderable work away from he ward. as both
these ships had a hist Of reyairs 70 be made thts
fall The o.hcers OF the Chicago did no, expect
TO be In caribbean waters longer than three 90
four weeks, when they oxuociei 10 return to
New ork TO 1T on; For The prospec,iye cruise
Of the north Atlantic squadron through tue
West India and gulf ports. The admirars
quarters on the Chicago are larger and more
comfortable than those Of the PHILADELPHIA. aud
the only advantage he latter sAip has Is about
three knots in speed, the Chicago iaakiag six
teen and the Philadelphia nineteen knots on
their trial trips.
WORK PROGRESSING oS rHE Nar~r.
Work is progressing on the nrmorcd cruiser
Maine. the wooden backing l. bsing put on at
present and in n few weeks she Will be ready for
the srmor plates none Of which are a. yet COM
rle'cd. IL il strange that her cabin and " srd
while all the contract built chips are finished In
hard wood. which lasts longor. looks much be-
ter and Il more easily kept clean.
No contracts have Vet been given for the con-
strcctlon Of the two siNty-thrcc feet -.,c,lp
boats Of abou; sixteen tons each that The Maine
viii carry. These two torpedo boats Will prob
ably each carry two Whitehead torpcdoes in
bow tubes. from which they Wil lie di-charg I
by small ,harge of gunpowder. In time ~
action they would be hoisted out and prepar-i
hat II = No.
ship and protected from the fire Of th. cnciay
until favorable opportunity presented :;self.
when they would rush on; from their cover and
discharge their torFedoes. The moral effect ~
these swift little boats, each carrsin torpedo
that would sink any ship. viii be very hsrnss-
ing. and thoy will form no moan purg of the
Maine s armament
THE NAMES ARMAMENT.
The cruisers large secondary battery Of Cat
lings and Ho;chkiss rapld-fire guns is intended
10 meet just such an attack from the torpedo
boats Of the enemy. The Maine also CARRIES
bow nnd stern torpedo tubes. The latest re-
forts OF the Cushing's torpedo tIials indicate
That They were very successful. but IL must be
remembered that all such trials are undor
favorable circumstances a rule with good
conditions OF weather and sea. and that under
the actual conditions Of warfare with The unpro-
tecied crew under the FIRE of a dozen rapid-firo
guns the manipulation Of the dencate mechan-
ism for firing the torpedoes will be quite a diff
ierent affair, and that a much Will depend upon
the GOODNESS OF the crew upon the torpedo.s
themselves. OF course such a small vessel can
carry no armor and the sides Of the vessel are
much lighter than II usual in pleasure boats Of
the same size, since lightness Is absolutely nee
ess'try for the great speed required. The only
torpedo boat building at present il No ). q: the
Iowa iron works, on the Mississippi She will
be slightly larger than the Gushing.
THE WRECK OF THE TAILOR.
An interesting bit OF maratime history IL the
official report Of the wreck Of the Nova Scotia
ship Fred =. Taylor. On June p the North
German LLOYD steamer Trave. under fun speed.
struck the Taylor right amid-hips. cutting her
IN two pieces. bow and stern. like a great knife.
Ills WIS 800 miles directly east Of
New York. and after picking up the survivors
the Trave proceeded into port. Blu, now comes
the strange part OF the story, for instead 90
| following the same course. the bow and stern
section drif.ed i'm directly opposite directions as
| the reports of the various vessels which en-
countered The derclic; fhip's sections will show.
| The bow evidently Influenced by the cold
Labrador current which sweeps down our coast
| inside of the gulf steam. and il drifted
away to the southwest. and was last
seen about nifty miles of the Chesapeake caIes
| by the Norwegian steamer Sauna. The stern.
however. seems to have been influenced more
| by the wind than by the current, for IL drifted
10 the northeast. met about twenty vessels
which promptly reported. and finaay ended ia
career by drifting on to Wells beach. Just north
| OF Portsmouth. IL IL considered los HYDRO
graphers TO be very unique case. as the separate
| pieces OF a wreck generally cling together fol-
lowing very much the same principle as rnay be
| illustrated by the familiar experiment Of plac-
| ing two pieces of cork in "A backc; Of water,
where after a short time they will invariably
come together. The Trave making oish
teen knots at the time of the collisiOa and
/ received luiurias worthy of ma
THE CINCINNATI
Cruiser No. z which will be christened the
Cincinnati. is to be launched at tins navy ward
some time in the middle Of October. She will
be of 5000 tons displacement aud is expected
| to develop twenty knots speed. Her battery
will consist OF ten hve-inch quiok-ti firing guns
and two six-inch guns. with very complst g
secondary battery. Her two triple expansion
engines, constructed to develop 10. OS0 horse
power, were constructed al the navy ward from
bureau of engineering designs. They were re-
| Gently assembled in the machine shops mere and
ran very smoothly, giving general satisfaction.
| The original designs have been changed in
order TO restrict the officers living space ana
give more room 20 the crew. Ter normal coal
supply will give her cruising radius of 300
miles at an economical rate of fifteen knots,
approximately.
One hundred marines under Captain Mercer
are On duty at Camp Low. Sandy Hook where
| the quarantine refuge has been established.
Their duty will be TO a.rol the camp. allowing
none of the campers 20 escape aud no outsiders
to enter the camp. The old monitor Nam
tucket Is being fitted out with supplies and a
crew Of officers ard men for duty in assisting
the quarantine officers OF Sandy Hook rho
navy yard tug Narkeeta is patrol!ing the en-
trance to Hell Gate, where every foreign vessel
Is stopped to await inspection. While such
duty is very monotonous Il viii give the officers
detailed some idea Of daty ON a bioaknding
station ID. W.
Chiva,ry and Mstrimony.