The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-11-19
7HE COLUMBIA IS
QUEEN Or THE OCEAN.
Fastest Time Ever Made BY
Merchant or War Vessel.
! MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY.
Her Builders Receive the Neat Little
Bonus of S45O,5OO.
Eight Eight Knots Made In Three Hours.
Fifty-One Minutes and Forty-Eight
Seconds-America Leads
the World.

Boston, Mass, Nov. 18.-The Column
bia today fairly won the title Queen
of the Ocean," Faster than ever sped
the war ship or the merchant vessel
as she steamed over the coast from
Cape Ann to Cape Porpoise on her
trial trip with the United States
board of inspectors on doard. Her av-
|erage speed for forty-four knots was
|22.S1 knots; but she steamed IL
knots of the run at rate that aver
Jagged 25.03 knots an hour
1t was a magnificent display of speed.
By her little four hours spin she won
for the builders, William Cramp &
Son, the neat bonus of $450OQ0.
AT sunrise the members of the board,
Cramp and party, appeared at the head
|of Lewis wharf, ready to start for the
ship. A light breeze prevailed, which
looked threatening. but the day turn
led out fine. The ship made a false
start, and Cramp ordered her back
for a new run. One boiler was then
booming. When she got back mile
beyond the Dolphin, the starting boat,
she turned and pointed her nose once
off for Point Porpoise, speeding at a 221h
knot gait. She reached NADIA. the sec
ond mark, at 10 o'clock making the
first mark of her course at the rate
of 22.06 knots. Here the engines were
given additional steam and averaged
AL revolutions From the Kearsage,
the next marking vessel, to the tug
Leyden, the speed of the ship was only
22.S knots per hour and the revolu-
tons of the engines were reduced to
about 131 per minute. Then the whole
frame of the Columbia vibrated with
a fearful velocity. The engines mighty
shafts revolved two and one-half times
every second and her huge screws
churned the water into a caldron that
rose high about the quarter galley.
Soon the Columbia passed the %
knot mark and there was cheering all
along her deck The Markate was
anchored ~ knots from the Fern and
her stalky masts were just visible on
the horizon. AS the Columbia shot, at
cyclone speed, past the Fern, her speed
fell to 21.53 knots, but it proved the
Columbia was only gathering power.
She swept by the Fortune, the seventh
mark boat, at 11.2s, and then her three
big propellers hauled up a mighty mass
of seething, boiling water and left a
trail a couple of miles long in her
wake. The Fortune was left far
astern in a twinkling; spray leaped in
over the bow, drenched the forward
deck and Whitened the whiskers of
Captain Sergeant, who was on the
bridge
The Columbia was rapidly nearing
the first half of her trial and WIS
bent on smashing records.
This is going 25.15 now" said Mr.
Cramp, in a matter-of-fact way, t'and
guess we can get another knot out of
her If you are not satisfied.
well, I'm satisfied said Commo-
dore Walker. She's a hummer"
Never a ship was built that equaled
the tremendous velocity which the Co
lumbia had now attained. 1t was not
an easy task to stand on the deck and
face the gale which resulted from the |
onward sweeping of the mighty ship |
The bells of the engine room jingled |
merrily, as Captain Sargent demanded |
that every ounce of steam be turned |
into the great cylinders.
The Columbia had covered the last |
~ knots at a rate of 2531 knots per |
hour, or a. little better than 80 miles
an average since the start had been |
made of 2292 knots per hour. She |
took long turn seward on the star
board helm before returning over the |
course.
The time occupied in the turn was |
not counted in the trial
At 1214.16 she crossed the line on her |
return. The wind was now dead |
ahead and blowing II knots an hour |
The velocity it attained on the deck |
Of the Columbia must have been in |
the neighborhood of So knots The |
ship was Keeling off a 24.77 knot gait, |
and one of the patent log lines could |
not stand the strain and was carried |
away just as the ship passed the For
tune.
There was a commotion in the en-
CINE room and every light went out |
The boiler which drove the dynamo |
gave out and the result was darkness.
When the light was restored the en-
gines were set to work turning off 1873
revolutions per minute. The speed |
rose to 2S% knots almost immediately, |
and when the Kearsage's crew got |
into the rigging and cheered her as |
she sped by, she was at steady %
knot gait
From this to the end of the course
she regained 221a knots speed. Her
time on the course of So knots, was |
hours, 81 minutes, As seconds.