Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-01-21
PITHY PENCILINGs
Picked, Pointed and Pre-.
served for Reading by
Regular Reporters.
WANG,

| Gay l3SC'
MI. B. Bryn,idson, of Crystal,i is stop
ping with his brother, Peter, and he is
attending the public school where he is
receiving Il thorough training in book
keeping and other higher branches.
R. II. Huffman attended the dance
at Walhalla on Friday last and reports
having a good time.
Miss Mary Dahlvang has been quite
i'll for some time but we are glad to say
her health is improving.
Ole G.. Olson, of Elkwood, made us a
pleasant call one day last week.
Our old time furrer is having great
success this season having succeeded
in killing two wolves and six dogs. DO
it some more, Peter.
Nh. Staner johnson lost a valuable
horse last week.
Mr.. Ole Braaton has the contract for
supplying our public school with wood.
In view of the pending trouble with
Chill, the following description of the
U. S. S. Charleston may prove of inter-
est to our readers the fact that
should war prove inevitable, the
Charleston would probably take pro-
minent part as she is undoubtedly one
of the best ships in our navy
U. S. S. CHARLEsToN,-I left the
Man Island barracks on Aug. 10th to
come on board the Clarleston-after
being 81 days off ship. We were ly-
ing in exactly the same place as the
"Omaha" did when she went out of
commission. A couple Of days after l
came on board the ship was put into a
dry dock to be cleaned, preparatory to
leaving for China. Our destination
was believed to be Shanghai, but Of that
more anon. The Charleston is beau
tiful craft, looking at her in the water,
and she loses none of her beauty by
looking at her out Of the water. Her
ram projects about IL feet forward on
the perpendicular of her stern and it is
made of the very best material-so as
to be able to stand against the severest
trials. On board the old-fashioneds ships
with their bluff bows and sloping stern
when the log showed that the vessel
was boiling off knots, the sea on both
sides used to be a mass of foam, and the
ship would be shaking from stern to
taffrail like a person with the ague, and
her timbers would be creaking and
groaning rs if in mortal pain, but here
everything is changed. 4 clean cut
Water, cleaving through the briny deep
10 feet in depth, with no more resist
ance than a knife, comparatively speak.
ing; no rolling and tumbling of water
from the bows, even when going fifteen
knots an hour; no creaking of timbers,
everything is of steel and rlveted to
stay; no more motion than one would
feel in a No. buggy driven on good
smooth road: no shaking and Earring,
no jumping or plunging, no rattle Of
Ship Or machinery, no ropes to pull an
arm out on, no CROPPING around in the
dark and wet for stray rope, for you
must know that there is not sail on
the ship, and from what l have seen of
the ships sea-going qualities and from
what ! have gathered. she rides storms
like duck, with very little rolling and
pitching, little rolling Oh account of
two immense sheets of steel on each
side Of the bottom and called Rolling
Checks. They run from about 40 feet
from the bow to within 10 feet of the
propellors and are made of steel plates
- inches wide and two inches thick.
and are so constructed that they offer
great resistance to the water on the
side the ship is rolling too, and very
little when recovering from the roll.
Her length, something like 800 feet,
prevents her from pitching Should she
have occasion to run against head
sea she has a copper dam on her bows
which can be filled with water and SO
keep her bows down, and she plunges
through the water, instead ofrising and
falling with the waves. The propellers,
of which there are two, are set one on
each side of the rudder and little for
ward. They are ~ feet in diameter.
and are called service propellers, to dis
tinguish them from a larger size, which
she also carries and which are called
speed propellers. These latter ones are
II feet in diameter and are larger every
way. The boilors are 6 feet in diameter
and are set longitudinally; 8 abreast,
with the ends AUDITING. and the fire.
rooms are separated by transverse
so in case of damage to
either by water the other is all right.
The engine rooms are separated from
each other and also from the aft fire
room by TRAVERSE bulkheads. They
communicate with each other through
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