The evening world., 1893-10-27
The PURCHASE Of FL CO..
-
Tho Evening World's' Story
Excites the Maritime World.
El Cld's Past Performance aud
Adaptabillty for WAR Service.

The rurCahSr of the Morgan line
steamship I'll cid 10y Charles Il. Flint X
Co, as exclusively reported in ycstcr-
days "EycniuE World" for some South
American Repuhlic, presumably liraail.
was the talk Of the how in maritime
circles this morning. Those cOnvcrsant
with the record and capacity of El cid
were unanimous In the opinion that she
efficient WarShip.
Ehe could be easily armnrcd and with
some changes IN her deck rIans could
lie equipped with a powerful but light
purchased Ny Charles II. Flint ~ Co.,
two H5,pounders, one ~$3-pounder, twelve
Founders, and eighteen torpedo tubes, IA
very formidable battery could be Sc
lrCtc1 Tor f'lbid.
Charles r. Flint, whcn seen this morn
llE, WAS not in a communicative mood.
IT seems that Ton have bought the FL
cid" said The Evening World' re-
porter.
We'll, what do YOU want me to say
"What viii be her destination when
she ave Now York, and Cor whom
have YOU bought her. asked the re-
81 don't care to say anything about
the matter" said Mr. Flint.
The il Ga is one of the larr"s; coast
WISE american steamships allpht. Sl.e
was built in 1872 by The Newport News
~Ship-Bu!ld!ng COMPANY, of Newport
News, Va, for the Morgan Steamship
line. She Is of 1900 tons register, built
OF steel, and her lengt.. ~ i06 feet oV'r
all. she is forty-eight fet beam. Her
deith from the keel to the upper deck
Is thirty-thrcr feet, she has three decks
and IL top deck forward.
Her boilers are three in number and
OF the double-cndcd Scotch tvl.e. mnaslur-
INF twenty feet HiX inches in length by
thirteen feet in diameter, Zach boiler
IS 400 square feet and the total heat
ing surface 0,fJO snuarc feet.
The engine ,pistons have 10 tailrods.
but are iitttd instead with Adjustable
followers, The valves. are Of the pls-
ton-slide variety, placed on the front Of
the engine, and close to the cylinders.
Th@ snnrface condenser mas 100 square
feet Of cooling surface, water being
iErmishGl by an independent Ce%ntrifugal
siTtean INCHES in diameter, and the pro-
UP pattern. measuring eighteen feet in
diameter. and with II pitch of twenty
tW2 fs%t.
i;No tons of coal, and she does not or
dlnarlly consume more than sixty tons
a day. Propulsion is provided by verti-
cal expansion engines, and the cylin-
dcrs measure respectively, for high.' IN
icrmcliate and low pressure. 32, 80 ana
81 inches.
I'll 'lh mas steam steering gear in the
forward pilot-hOusr and screw hnnd-gpar
IN the afte" house, \ steam windlass
ana steam capStan are provided for
handliVg anchors and haWScrS, and
there IS q complete electric light plant,
with III ~incandescent lamps. scattered
through the engine-room, deck-huuse and
quarters occupied by the crew and cargo.
\ powerful scarch-light is located on Il
stand on the fOreCastlo.
III cd is well qualified for the de
hiandS or an armed cruiser. She is one
launched. ON her maiden voyage from
New Orleans to New York she made the
run in the fastest time on record. maxi
ing the trip from Mississippi bar to
Sandy Hook bar in four days. two hours
and fifteen minutes. The best previous
run was made by the FL sol. of the
same line, in four DAYS, two hours and
thirty-nine minutes. During her record
breaking voyage the I'll I'D made the
following days runs: 2GH, 376. 40. 3Sl and
lo knots. T4he total distance was l.Gl5
nncts, and the averag" speed per hour
WD,s lG "a knots.
This showing Is regarded as remark
able. as FL cid was built as n freightcr,
and fifteen knots an hour was almost
the maximum of speed hoped for. l'nder
more favorable conditions she could
greatly exceed the speed OF her famous
maiden trim. Her machinery was de
fsCncd by Horace See. Il naval designer.
who Incorporated into uor mechanism
many features peculiar to warships.