The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-03-16
A THING OF BEAUTY.

Succcssfut Preliminary Trial of the i'at-
n. shin Indiana-The FIRST "f Her siass
IN the New >a,y-rhc Contract spec"
la.,y Accumulated. with Lots OF he-
Serve Power Act 10 be BrsuEht Cat "A
Premium winner.
pillIAnri.rulA. March ?,-l'he new
battle ship Indiana, the hrst oi her
class in the new navy, RETURNS YES
tcrday afternoon from most success
ful preliminary trial trip The IN
.iirna left the Cramps yard ny
o'clock Tuesday morning IN charge
of Capt r. W. Sargent and IN expert
encvd crew She steamed slowly down
past the city wharvcs. moving more
like an old-timcr than like "A big battle
ship. the largest ever built in this coun-
try, on her maiden trip When IN
deeper waters of Delaware bay. the
speed was increased To about thirteen
knots Her engines worked with mar
vicious smoothncss and there was no
pcrccptiblc vibration from them. Dur
ing the afternoon compasscs were adj
iusied. and everything was put in
readiness for the run of the next day.
The ship anchored off the Delaware
breakwater for the night.
At $50 a. m. on Wednesday. the
anchor was taken aboard and the ship
headed out To sea. After passing out
side the capes her course was changed
and she ran 70 the northward. The
day was perfect one for sea trial
The air was balmy and the ocean like
a mill pond. The big ship pushed
head steadily and seemed To be as
easily handled as steam yacht, though
she is "A 10. 200-tonner.
The course over which her trial runs
were made is off Cape May. and was
between the Southwest lightship at
the Five Fathoms bank. to the North
west lightship. 9.65 nautical miles up
the coast. The ship was put over this
course six times-three times in each
direction. The turns were made NJ
full speed. and the ship was practically
under five hours continuous steaming
at high speed. During all this time
there was no accident of any kind to
the machinery or the ship. nor bear
ing beam unduly heated. and every
thing worked so smoothly that even
her builders were surprised
The averages were li:01 and 1912
knots. respectively. The engines av-
eraged l22 revolutions. and, as about
the same time was made going and
coming. the tidal effect was practically
eliminated.
moderate forced draft of half an
inch air pressure was used for the next
run. and fifteen knots was maintained.
This is the speed called for in the con-
tract with the government.
The ship made 1915 knots on the last
two runs. This was considered so sat
isfactory that the trial was declared
at an end. and the Indiana returned
to the breakwater. where She an
chored for the night
At o'clock yesterday morning she
started on her return trip to this city.
Coming up the bay and river an aver
age Of fourteen knots was made with a
favorable tide for so miles
The performance of the Indiana on
this preliminary run was very salts
factory when the condition Of the ship
is considered. Her bottom has not
been painted since she was launched
little over year ago Her side armor,
turrets, coming tower and guns have
not been placed in her yet. and she con-
sequently draws three feet less than on
screws deeper. and is expected to in
crease her speed.
Taking all things into consideration,
it is predicted that the ship will make
above fifteen knots. and possibly a