The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-23


Way, But Cruisers ExDend Only
Half That sum.
From the New York Press.
A whole lot OF little-known information
about warships and Atlantic liners has
been picked up recently by a man who
asks questions OF everybody he meets
that win be likely TO tell him anything
new. For instance. while it costs an I'M
mense amount OF money to build a ship
like the Campania. the Paris or the St.
Louis. 1t costs a good deal more to build
Hrst-class warship.
The Columbia. which recently made a
trip across the Atlantic in DAYS. % hours
and 40 minutes. the fastest time ever made
for so Ions a journey by a warship. cost
the government by contract s., 705, 900, while
the Minneapolis. her sister ship. was con
traeted for at S2.69oOD. The displacement
Of each Of these ships is 1850 tons, and
that would make the cost Of each from
$3.50 to $3.50 ton. not counting in the bonus
received by the builders for extra speed
developed over the above contract.
According to the best authority other
steamers cost all the way from $40 to 500
ton, the latter figure being extreme. and
reached only in the cases of such ships MS
the Campania, Lucania. Paris, St Louis
Ieutonie, etc. the tonnage Of the Luca-
MIA and Campania is 1850. which makes
the cost OF each Of these vessels nearly
sl,aV,OOO The tonnage o fthe Paris and
New York is 800. so that each of these
snips was built at an expense OF S1.050. GOO
or whereabouts. The St Louis and the
81 Faul are smaller, and cost cores
pondingly less
steamship companies refuse to make
| pubic the actual cost of their boats. and
you might better try to get beer in New
| York on a Sunday than to ask the folks n Z
Cramps shipyard about it. This informa
ton is authentic enough. however, to show
mat the Columbia cost more than twice as
much money as the Campania, more than
| TWO and half times as much as any of
4 the big American liners, and ton for ton.
about three and eight-tenths times as
much as the majority Of the best passen-
ger boats.
This may seem surprising until II is ex-
planned that the amor of warships in
creases the cost enormously Although
| their propelling power is smaller. the Luz
cania's driving engines being Of 30. 600 horse
! power and the Columbia's Of only 2, 900
/ there are many more engines IN warships.
10 be used for all sorts of purposes. than
| in passenger boat. Then the government
Is a much more exacting purchaser than
any steamship company II dictates the
material to be used, such as phosphor-
bronze for propellers, and brass for parts
that are made of iron in the liners.
AS to the relative cost of running a man
of-war and an American liner the diff
ference is IN favor OF the man-of-war
The expenses of a ship like the St Louis
/ for round trim rvf ror TO- hon
according to the season. That would make
each trip across cost from $4,000 to $4O,O 900,
and the daily expenses while running not
far from 5000.
AS 70 coal, the ST. Louis burns about 800
| tons a day, or 2.lO0 tons each trip. The
4 fuel expense Is thus about $500 once
/ across, or $4,000 round trip. The Column
bia, on her fast trip across, burned only
| about 1900 TONS at an expense of not more
1 than 5000, the margin in favor Of the war
ship being at least 8, 500
OF the expenditure of, say. $4,000 on a
single trip by a ship like the ST Louis.
some Of the items remaining, after the
$3.50 that goes for coal is deducted, are as
follows: Twenty-Five hundred dollars is
set down to breakage and waste; s., 900
| more is set down to the salaries, supplies
etc, of the engineering department. which
includes the $50 strokers, the chief engi-
neer and his assistants. etc The total
force used in the engineering department
Of the Columbia during her fast trip was
l96, including engineer. or just about the
same as that of the ST. Louis
One very great item of expense in the
conduct of an ocean liner is the table set
| for the passengers which is not duplicated
| by any similar expense on q varship. On
the st. Louis this is figured at $4,000 the
4 round trip, or 5000 once across. The crew
/ of the st. Louis numbers 40 men, and that
OF the Columbia, including officers. ATS, SO
that the expense Of maintaining the operat-
| ing force of the warship is not greatly in
excess of the like expense on the liner
AS TO salaries, there are differences, but
| the aggregate in each case Is about the
| same. An estimate Of the cost Of the Co.
! lumbia's fast trip across not guaranteed TO
be correct. placed the figures at not far
| from $1,000. or about half the cost Of run
/ ming the St. Louis across in the dull sea-
son. when her passenger list Is low.
As to the relative cost Of fast and
slow trip by the Columbia 1t is stated that
the excess of the fast trip would be mostly
/ in the amount of coal consumed, which
would vary with the speed. If fourteen
days were occupied in crossing. instead Of
| practically seven, the coaI'bill would prob
/ ably not be much in excess Of 81, 800 or $1,000
and the number of men employed as
stokers would have been less As many
men would have been in the ship, howev-
er, and at the same pay. so that nothing
| would have been saved in wages.
Unless a man has a strong liking for ma
| val life. there Is little reason for him to
ship on a man-of-war in any capacity. The
commander of a cruiser like the Columbia
gets 81. 500 year If a captain; If com
mander, $500, the subordinate officers
ranging from $3.50 Tor naval cadets to
$500 for lieutenant commanders. Cap
| tains of marines get 5000 a year, engin-
GERS and surgeons from 81, 100 to 1920, and
so on The crew are enlisted men, and
get from SO to $16 a month. Petty Of
fcers go up to $50 and So From pecu-
mary standpoint a berth on a naval yes
sci is not a very good thing and there is
not one chance in ten thousand for pro-
motion for any but the officers.