The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1894-11-30
THE WESTERN WONDER.
The New Torpedo Boat Ericsson
Can Toss Her Wake Against
the Fastest Yacht.

Western folks ought to feel pretty
proud over the achievement of having
furnished a torpedo boat to the navy, a
boat which has guaranteed her seaworthi-
ness by making trip of 1900 miles, says
the New York World. The Ericsson has
made history. She il the first modern
war vessel built in interior waters for the
United States navy, and she is the first
torpedo boat which ever made trip of
300 miles before she had her trial Her
makers declare their belief that she il
the fastest boat in the world. If She
can. make AN knots for two hours
straight ahead, az the tests require. she
will prove herself the fastest; because IL,
that time she will have to make squirt.
Of u knots, and maybe higher. If the
Ericsson can make - knots an hour she
stands TO win an extra $1,000 for her
builders. and for every quarter knot be-
yond that $500.
was the first war vessel seen by the nei,
Of this generation. when the crowds
f1ocked to the wharf to see her. the first
word was: why, ~ that all there is to
he" They had al idea that Il torpedo
boat was Il monster. The Ericsson is not
big. She is $50 feet long. has Il breadth
of 15R feet and a normal draught amid
ships Of ~ feet. with displacement of
12O tons. Because she draws so little
water it must not be thought that she
can go in a heavy dew
The Gushing has one very uncomforta-
bic trick which the Ericsson has not.
When the Gushing goes at high spee.i
| she shakes so that the crew nearly fall
| apart: The faster the Ericsson goes the
| steadier she runs. The Ericsson has
more room in her. too. than the Gushing.
fin,
| longer, hnt the main thing desired is
speed. So the Ericsson on the start is
required to be two knots faster than the.
Gushing.
Just now she is trained down to skin
| and bone: The furniture for ,h>. mems
! quarters forward and the fittings for the
dainty little wardrnOm. the appiiJ nces
| for the pantry. which is about the SIZE
! of IL dressing-case and holds more than
| box car-all the impediments hay.
been removed. The four rapid-fre one
FOUNDER guns. the ammunition. the
round-headed tOrI,edoes which flop down
! into the water and skate along ten feet
under the surface till they bump against
| war vessel and blow q hole in her-aIi
these heavy things have been taken ont
| and all there is about the Ericsson now
| is her hull and her engines and two col
laDs'ble canvas dOries. which are folded
| up like yellow umbrellas and lie ON thoIes
Oh her ueck. In the engine-room there. is
4tD horsepower more than was ever got
| i'll the same space before. She has j,
double Iuadruple engine. and each one
of these engines can make - knots al,
hour. There are 21a feet of coal hunk.rs
on each side Of the engines.
| The Ericsson has three tubes for tor
pedOes. one at her bow and two amid
ships. These projertiles are run along OH
trolleys till they get to the breech of the
tube: Half pound of slow-burninS
| powder is showed in behind one JUS,
enough to make it clear the ship and
then it starts our to swim at the rate nf
- knots for the cnemy's vessel. it's Mo-
tiy" power being compressed air. which
Whiris two propeller wheels,
VI course, Il torpedo ,rat can be o., tn.i
MP, at night by the search-lIInt, but It
takes mighty sharp eyes~aHa nerves
| strung TO concert pitch The attacking
every night for a week till the warcl,
aboard the doomed ship and the men who
toss in small boats doing picket duty at
a distance Of 900 yards are all tired out
and nerve-racked To- the last point. and
then just their vigilance siackenS i
torpedo is slid i'll. and the next thing is
! wrecked ship with hundreds of drowning
| wretches hubblirg our their lives in the
| water.
| 1t was just SiIr!l '1evilmelit as that which
| the pretty Ericsson is meant to do 1t
seems pity, tt",: she is dainty in her
| lines. She doesn't squat. as the sayin.:
goes; that is. her screws do not pull her
stern down into the water. They IoaF;,
pretty as their golden yellow brass sleeves
stick out in the clear water behind her.
like the hind t1ppers of Il seal. The con-
ming tower is full of wonderful appliances
for steering and for communicating with
every part of the boat. and that very COB
| ming tower is provided with appliances tn
| keep the man who sits there from being
! shot dead
! The pretty war,lroom is for the comfort
of the four officers, whose business it will
be to kill people, and the quarters for
| the twenty members of the crew are
pecially arranged for that purpose. b.
cause this is the finest war vessel that has
been built on the Mississippi. it must MT
be thought that the Iowa Iron works arr
greenhorns ut the business This is rhs.
| thirty-sixth steel boat the firm has built,
and two others have been constructed Sre'
/ thiS weS mt an the vayS