St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-27
Five Thousand Philadelphians
Send the Ocean Bird Away
With HuZZaS.
The Ship Glides Through the
Water as Noiselessly as
a Yacht.
In a Run Of Four Hours the
Vessel Makes 2O.38 Knots
Per Hour.


vessel in the world, the cruiser New
York returned to Cramps shipyard this
morning. From the hour she steamed
down the Delaware until her arrival
today, the naval experts have awaited
with deep interest the result of the
great war ships initial performance.
Despite heavy rain squalls and biting
wind from the southeast. fully 5000
patriotic Philadelphians were present
to wish the war ship Godspeed as she
backed out into the stream and stood
down the river on her trial trip. When
the giant screws began to revolve, and
the monster vessel was actually under
way for the first time. the spectators
shouted themselves hoarse. Capt. Sar-
gent waved his cap from the forward
bridge and acknowledged the salutes
with his
Powerful Siren Whistle
that seemed to shake the mighty ship
from stem to stern. The New York was
headed up the stream, which at this
point is only trihe wider than the war
ship itself. A strong ebb tide was run
ming, and the wind blowing half gale.
To turn around in this narrow space
was difficult, it not an impossible un-
dertaking, and a three-million-dollar
ship was not toy to be played with.
As soon as the lines were cast adrift,
however, Capt. Chambers, an old Della
vii xx,bn
led all of the Cramp ships,
directed the tug Newcastle to
make fast to a steel hawser which
was led out from the starboard quarter.
Though the powerful little boat
steamed away at full speed, she had no
perceptible effect upon the heavy war
ship; in fact, was herself towed bodily
astern. Another tug, the Frederick K.
Mum, was given q line from the port
bow. so with one at each end of the
lever. the New York was turned short
around and headed down the Delaware.
Now there arose another wild shout as
the four powerful engines began to vi
brate, and the water was
Churned Into Foam
astern. The run down the river and
bay was made with fires half-Oanked
and under natural draught. The maxi
mum pressure of steam carried was 120
pounds to the square inch. Starting
with forty-five revolutions, speed OF
ten knots was attained and held until
Greenwich point was well aDaft the
beam. After this the new vessel
seemed to warm up to her work, the
throttle was thrown open ninety-five
revolutions and the speed increased to
17.5 Knots. This made it rather uncom-
Portable for the figures of Liberty and
Justice on each side of the stem. for they
were deluged with cold spray from head
to foot. The vessel seemed to glide
through the water as nOiSeleSsly as a
yacht, however, and there was scarcely
any vibration through out the ship. AT
the end of an hours run the steward
came aft in a great state of excitement,
and reported the compartment in which
his provisions were stored ankle-deep
in sea water. A careful examination OF
the forward part OF the vessel reVeaIed
the fact that the water had been forced
in through the forward torpedo tube.
At anchor this opening IS few feet
above the water line. but at a high rate
of speed it is almost completely
Buried in tlAe Sea.
Constructor Nixon placed water-tight
buckler overit in place of the tempo
rary one, and the leak gave no further
trouble. The question now arose how
the compartment could be quickly emp
tied, for sea water and mess stores are
not the most agreeable shipmates. Nixon
cut the Gordian knot by having small
hole drilled through the steel deck. This
drained the compartment into another
OH the deck below -one that could not
be injured by the Introduction of
small amount of water Without fur
ther excitement the New York an
chored at nightfall about seven miles
to the northWard of the break
water. Wednesday was cold and
damp, with fresh breeze from
the northeast. The New York lay
quietly at anchor in the early morning,
and the prospect of run outside looked
rather diScouraglng. AT 8 O'Clock it
frightened uD bit, and the cruiser got
under way for the purpose of correcting
her compaSSeS and adjusting the com
pensating magnets. This accomplished,
the vessel returned to her anchorage to
wall lOI SOOU WCdIllSl W UCS Ill ilCl lIlul.
BY Saturday morning the wind had
hauled to the westward, and the wealth
er was clear. Fires were
Lighted at Daylight.
and before o'clock the New YORK was
under running for the Five -Fathom
bank lightShip. The race was to be be-
tween this and the Northeast End light
ship, distance of 9.SS nautical miles,
the depth of water being twelve
fathoms. The following table tells the
story of the two trials:
Five-Fathom Bank lightship to North
east End lightship; course. north by
east; distance, 9.SS nautical miles;
start, S:24:15; finish, 1888 :53: difference,
20 minutes 80 seconds; speed, 20.03
nautical miles per hour.
Second trial: Northeast End light
ship to Five-Fathom Bank lightship;
course, south by west; distance, 9.SS
nautical miles; start, 9:13:07; finish,
9:42:5S; difference. 80 minutes 81 Sec
onds; speed, 1887 nautical miles. Aver
age for the two trials, 1895 miles.
In the afternoon the cruiser was
headed to the eastward in search of
deeper water. In run of four con-
secutive hours she maintained
Speed of 2O.3S Knots
per hour, reaching as high as 90. 81 as the
water deepened. With this satisfactory
result. the New York anchored for the
night, and steamed up to the Shipyard