New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-18
PRICE THREE CENTS.
CANNON BOOM AT FIT. MONROE
SEVEN FOREIGN WAR VESSELS JOIN TUE
FLEET.
THE BRITISH SQUADRON. LED BY THE FoRMID'
ABLE BLAKE. ARRIVES IN HAMPTON ROADS
THE DUTCH CRUISER VAN SPEYK
AND ANOTHER FRENCHMAN
REACH THE RENDEZVOUS.
fBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE

feet lying in rendezvous here received some
notable accessons to-day, the five ships OF tho
spanking British squadron under Vice-Admirai
Hopkins coming into the roadstead about o'clock
this morning, and the French cruiser Hussard,
and the Dutch cruiser Van Spcyk entering
later in the afternoon.
With the newcomers the strength OF the hotilIa
has risen to twenty four-thrteen Of the ships COM
posing it being American, five British, two Russians
two French one Italian and one Dutch. For the frss
day Of the rendezvous this highly 1attering pro-
| portion Of arrvals-twenty-fo out Of thirty
| five or thirty-eight expected in a-does extra0r-
| binary credit to those who have planned the
arrangements for the gathering here, and assures
| beyond any possible question the immediate and
entire success of that part of the Columbian cele-
bration which is to take place in these waters
| The early appearance of tie English fleet is the
more gratifying in that it is the largest and most
conspicuous of the foreign sauadrons sent to particle
pate in the displays here and in New-iOrk, and
that its officers are counted upon to add by their
numbers and their greater social availability moro
directly than any other foreign contingent to tho
| International gayety which in the forthcoming
week will absorb 50 completely the attention both
of the feet and of the vivacious and high-splrted
world ashore The British squadron was a welcome
| and useful reinforcement also in filling out most
effectively the second or outer line Of ships in the
| roadstead, and giving the feet as it now lies o
1
| regularity of formation which has added vastly
| to the pcturesfuencss and beauty OF the sight
| from every point of approach. In becoming
recognition Of the prompt arrival OF the squadrons
| of the number of its vessels and the rank OF its
| commanding officer, the English ships received
the choicest positions in the second line and they
! now lie in order through the mouth Of the Roads,
| east from the American Admirars flagship, eacu
British cruiser being paired with one Of Admiral
| rha
Blake lies consequently just beyond the Newark
at the very tip of Old Point, scarcely 300 yards
out from the long southcrly pazxas of the lly2eia
The Blake is to be, apparently. the show ship
| of the rendezvous, as she has a tonnage OF 9,ooo
and an armament OF one 6-inch and two o-inch
| guns. The Giovanni Bausan has two lo-inch
guns, it is true, but with the Italian these two
| lO-inch monsters are carried by a cruiser little
| over one-third the size of the Blake. The Bal
| timore, the largest Of the American cruisers,
though she carries s-inch guns has but haG the
| tonnage of the Blake, whose superiority In the
fleet at the rendezvous and at the coming cele-
braton will only be disputed II the Russian
battle ship Emperor Nicholas can escape the ice
in the Baltic in time TO reach this country by
| April -, or the American cruiser New-iork,
now sadly missed, can be got somehow out OF
the Cramp yards to lead the fiotilla in the pro-
cession up the Hudson. From the shore and
from any part of the roadstead the Blake now
dominates the fleet without effort and beyond
comparison or question Her high black hull,
375 feet i'm length, rises clear from the water
with frowning rows of portfolios, and her high
upper decks. painted dull yellow, seem to in
crease her size and elevation still more dlspro-
portionatey. Tall, yellow stacks, the taest in
the feet, and high, graceful masts of the MILL
tary type, add to the massivene's and dignity OF
| h. liSh
; verbally spck-and-span in paint and cleanliness.
and the Blake and the squadron she leads are as
fresh and bright as the untiring labors Of tho
Jack Tars can make them The Blake is but two
| years old. and represents with credit and Drill
iancy the skill of the English naval Designers
a skill which it is pity cannot be studied more
in detail by comparisons on the spot with some
. Of the bigger and more formidable cruisers now
preparing in American shipyards. There are
thirty-four officers on the English flagship, and
her crew numbers $40 men.
Standing on the aftcrdeck of the Blake was
Admiral Hopkins He looked typical mariner.
His frame, not large but compacty built was
we'll outlined in closely fitting Prince Albert
coat with the insignia Of his rank upon the
/ standing collar and the coorcl ribbon of decOra-
ton pinned on his left breast His face was
tanned, and his eyes were hid behind half
closed lids, as though still seeking shelter after
the vision had been strained by deep gazing to
the distant horizon. His beard, With some dark
hair still untinged with gray, cut close
around his chin.
Being altogether remarkable ship the Blake
deserves more than passing mention She is to-
day the largest, the fastest and the most heavily
armored cruiser in existence, with the exception
of her sister ship, recently launched. and her APP
pcarance on the Atlantic coast last year was her
maiden voyage She is ideal Of naval archi-
, lecture with displacement Of 5000 tons and
| engines of 10000 horse power TO prOpel her
through the water with twin screws at the rate
of 2a nautical miles, about % miles an hour.
She is a floating battery, capable Of throwing
nearly a thousand pounds of metal with each
broadsidc of her double row of guns, each weigh
ing twenty-five tons and mounted on
such massive gun carriages that man can
stand on the deck beneath the .muzze
, without bending. These guns fire
, shot of $50 pounds a distance of twenty
four miles Down in her hold there are
) Gftv hinge furnaces and seven immense boilers,
which are attended by $50 iircmen. Her four
sets of tripc-eXpansion engines cost alone ono
> million Of dollars. She carried no less than five
scarchlights. Her two immense tunnels are ninety
, fee: HIGH and her masts in reality signal
stats Of steel Directly in front of the forward
, mast is the firing tower, protected ny forged
steel three feet thick, where the commanding olt-
Ger directs every movement during an cnc0untcr
with the enemy.
, Next to the Blake in line, and thus brought
opposite the Baltimore, lies the British proe,t~i
, cruiser Magicennc, smaller than the Newark or
Chicago though not unlike them in general fines,
and differing widely from the Atlanta, whose
tonnage Of 5000 it almost equals. Risgei like
sailing ship, with black hull and graceful
stem and stern, the Masicicnne is a pleasing type
of the lighter man-of-war, whose chief service
is in pursuit and spoliatiOn and not In hand-to-
hand ccmbats with ships Of equal metal. East
of the Magicienne in the British line, ard OPP
posite tn, bennington, is the second armored
cruiser, the Australia, OF $500 tons only, but