The morning call., 1894-01-07
Our ship and her fame to-day
When mast and shroud have crumbied AN
Anl her long white dack Is . Lraara

Shall float on the stored stream
When mast and shroud have crumbied away.
Ana her long white deck is dream.
The order for the restoration of the United
States steamer Hartford is one of the most
significant acts of the present administra-
ton. and will contribute more to its glory
than many of more apparent importance
Such a triumph of national sentiment
over the proverbiaI American spirit of sOr-
did expediency must have an appreciabie
influence both at home and broad, the
more potent because Of the large expen-
diture involved.
At the cost of half million Of dollars
the indulgence of patriotic sentiment is
magnificent, dignifed impressive.
-. it must be admitted that the money ex-
pended in the restoration OF the Hartford
will hardly be a paving investment. No
practical use to which she could be put
would justify such an enormous outlay.
But { can in no case be more than would
. he justified by her usefulness al an object
lesson in United States history, as an in
spireT Of patriotic sentiment, and as
. Beautiful model of a type of vessel now
nearly obsolete, though scarcely a genera
tiOn ago amply adequate to the exIgencies
of naval warfare.
:. tits 10 be regretted that she could not
fave been restored in time to make the
. cruise around the Horn with the Baiti
=Inore, Charleston and San Francisco, and
take part IN the great naval dis
= play IN Hampton Roads and New
e. York harbor Imposing and majestic
a is the modern man-of-waT, there would
nOt.have been so beautiful ship among the
combined fleets. And what enthusiasm
: would she have evoked as she sailed with
her tattered flags alOft!
Meanwhile. standing in Rotten Row like
a dilapidated NOah'S ark, as you see her
IN our illus tration. the Hartford has been
- costing Unc lie Sam very pretty penny.
When ship at Mare Island Navv-yard
goes out OF commission" she is dis
:: iuanted and towed cut 10 that untraveled
part Of the Mare Island Straits called
Rotten Row, where she rides al anchor
Alntil sold or otherwise disposed of. Here
she is cared for in alternate shifts by two
shlDkee Ders under the superintendent of
a foreman shipkeeper, who has The over
sight Of all vessels not IN commission.
A large proportion of the foreman ship
" Keepers pay for the last five years aud
over. at the rate of So 90 per day, is
chargeable to the Hartford. Her quota of
The expense, shared at times for longer or
shorter periods by the owstara, the Omaha
and the Pensac0la, would not be less, so
Tar as his wages are concerned. than one
IlaII the whole amount, or nearly $4,000.
Seventeen hundred dollars expended in
roofing her. and not less than $500 spent in
repairs Of this roof make a total of $1,000
-. laid out merely Tor protection from
: the elements. Add to this the wages of
the two shipkeepers at 81 as per day
. Fach, amounting to considerably over
$1,000 and you have grand total of bout
$1,000 which would have gone a good
way toward fitting the ship to 90 in to COM
mission over i've years ago, had U0cle Sam
been as wise then as he is now.
The United States slOOp of war Hart
ford was built at the Charleston Navy
yard 10 1858. but tile story Of the Hartford
begins January, 1862, when she was put
in commission at Philadelphia as flagship
OF the western blOckading squadron
vi graceful outline, with well-prOpOr-
toned sDaTs, the Hartford was the admira-
tlon If all who could see beauty in a ship"
says the biographer of David Glasgow
taTraRut, whose fame is so bound up with
that Of this historic vessel that the mention
OF one inevitably recalls the other
The Hartford, on which Captain Farra-
gut sailed February 2, 1862. was one of Ghe
finest vessels Of her class in the service
She WIS, as her title indicated, both a
steamer and sailer; and it is interesting
n view Or our latest achievement in the
constru siOn IF naval vessels to note that
her greatest speed under sJeam and sail
combined was eleven knots. Fancy such
a stupend0us structure as the New York
speeding at the rate Of twenty-five knots
without yard Of sail.
The Hartford was screw ship of the
second class, which at that time signified
tnat she carried certain number of guns
According 10 modern rating she Would ne
called a thlTd-class vessel her displace-
mept being over 1000 and under 5000 tons
= Her exact figure was 1890 tons: her
drauRht everything in) 10 feet inches.
her length 90 feet and her breadth of
beam a feet.
:. When Captain Farrsgut took command
she had twenty two 9-inch Dahlgrens, two
2O-pound PARROTS and her fore and main
tops were provided with projections Of
baller-irOn for the service of bOwltZers.
=. Inns battery was afterWard increased by
=: the addition of a rfied Sawyer gun on the
q. fOrecastle. her armament then comprising
. *lnlrty guns. Her ST. ter ships, the Rich
mond aud the Brooklyn, carried twenty
lour and twenty-slX guns respectively.
Our new armuTed cruiser the New York.
the most powerful as well as the swiftest
cruiser afloat, carries exactly the Hart
!. terd complement Of guns. Though the
superiority OF modern armament puts the
!. Two batteries outside all comparison every
.:fpatrlotlc schOoibOy should dOff his hat to
the poor old hulk Of the gallant Hartford.
Tying IN lgnOminiOus desuetude off Mare
p Island Nayy-yaId
e: Ibe account Of the first cruise of the
.Hartford, Independent Of its great battles.
. Is full OF interest Four times she ex-
changed salutes with French twice with
.: Spanish and twice with English warships-
: :foTmality which in time Of war is of
SOME significance. Four times She ran
hard aground. Once she collided with a
vessel of her own squadron, the damage
. being slight. Once she burst a boiler. and
q: though the damage was inconstderahle
!: the confusion was great. At the outset Of
= her Mississippi expedition she picked mn
:: submarine cable obstrucing the river.
=" Twice other distinctions caused serions
e accidents, resulting in the ininrv of
-. lwen ty-five men, the pawls Of the ca pstans
= being broken in each Instance DurIno
.:':fHis cruise she was visited for the nurnose
.. Of consultation with The admiral bv
-. MajeT-General Banks, Major General Bu:-
Ter, Brigader. General Augur, Brigadier-
General Shepley and General Grant and
. staff. Throughout the cruise she was