Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-08-03
RACE AGAINST TIME.
The War-Ship Columbia's Run Across
the Atlantic Ocean.
SPEED PER HOUR, 1853 KNOTS
some Rough Weather md An lee
berg Eneountcred-A Fog Also.
Tbrougn which, However, the ship
Went Full Tit.

States commerce. destroyer Columbia. next
TO the Minneapolis the fastest warship
OF her class aacat, arrived here to-day
from the Needles. Isle Of Wight. to Sandy
AtIartic. No warshlp ever built has
cros,,ed the ocean In the same time.
These are the principal figures: Time
from the Needles. Isle Of Wight. TO Sandy
Heck light-ship. days. % hours, and 40
minutes. Course. SIZE knots. Average
hourly speed. 1883. Best hourly run. goo.
Best four-hour run. $3.50. The daily runs
were from p. NJ. of July 26th. at the
Nee,r.s TO noon OF the following day,
$50 kuoss, and to noon OF each Gucceed-
ing lay, tfi, 40, i5I, 45, 45S, and 100 to
Sandy Hook light-ship Mt $40 A. NJ. to-
dag.
on July 3oth, at 2 +. NJ, II was squally.
> storm threatened. The wind was SOUTH
vest by west; heavy seas came over the
bows and for four hours the speed was
reduced 20 eight knots per hour. In the
evening OF the same day, in latitude B.b,
longitude 1920 the Columbia ran near an
iceberg, which was about 10 yards long
100 yards wide, and - feet high. Inc
Columbia took in pilot 400 miles east OF
Sandy Hook. only slowing up sufiiciehuy
for the purpose. She passed cuaran'in, !,
shortly before noon. reporting all wen
ON board. and dropped anchor In the
North river, less than half an hour later
IN NEED OF SECURING.
Her four great tunnels were covered
with salt crystals, where they were ho'
black with smoke. SCOT covered the
upper structure, and her sides "eie
smeared with rust; her decks were COW
cred with coal-dust and cinders. and al
together she looked as though an carry
scourine at the navy-yard would be the
best thing for her.
CAPTAIN George w. Sumner saiu 10
reporter: II consider her run across yer,
successful. We came under na,ural
draught. 1t was smooth run, thoush
we had n little rough weather. We
slowed down only once before neau se",.
We met some fog. but went through /.
at full speed with our eight Doiiers anu
three screws. The winds were VARYING,
but westerly generally. we had OH via
we call battle-hatches Throughout ria"
ing us water-tght forward. Inc Nesse'
was somewhat down at the head when
I'VE started despite the fact that we had
our trimming tanks aft filled. TINS Is
because of the natural trim when her
bunkers are full She is good boat
though. The roll was only ~ degrees to
starboard and II to port She has rolled
however. from 81 to 81.
The coal consumption. the Captain said.
varied from 2c) 10 go tons day, about
one half that used by the Cunarder Luz
CANA in her trips from Liverpool over
course of about 1902 knots. the best ave
rage of the speed Of the ship on record
trip being 2l.y1.
GOOD COAL.
The Columbia had the best coal obtain
able at Southampton. IL Is that USED Dy
the American Line. and comes from the
Dowlais Merkhir mines. While her
bunker capacity IL only 100 tons. Cap
tain Sumner took in |. 9Ij tons, filling the
bunkers and utilizing the wing-passages.
free rooms and even the decks, where 81
tons were stored under the superstruc-
ture. Thus fseighted with fuel. she drew
26 feet inches forward and p feet Z
inches aft. an unfortunate trim. but
unavoidable. Her fre-room force was
" short. and that number was taken
from volunteers OF the deck crew. making
up the full complement OF l96. In addl-
ton, Is men from the deck force. ana
petty officers were transferred to the
engineers department. to assist in carry
and, though fatigued, none gave out.
The plan to speed the vessel under forced
draught during the last "a hours was
abandoned as impracticable. There were
300 tons of coal left when the vessel
dropped anchor in the North river which
was left at the ends. and could not be
moved fast enough TO sufficiently feed the
fires for such run. If II could have
been done. Captain Sumner said. IL would
have shortened the time of the voyage
three hours. and brought the Columbia 8
average up to about 10 knots.
THE TEST SATISFACTORY.
"The experience shows" said Captain
Sumner. "the ability of the Columbia to
make such an extraordinary run, and
satisfactorily demonstrate what IL was
intended II should"
Chief Engineer w. ii. Harris said:
'"rhere was not a hitch In the engines
at any time of any character. They
were not'stopped from the time OF leaving
the Needles till we reached quarantine.
The Hamburg Line steamer Augusta
Victoria, from Hamburg and Souihamp-
ton via Cherburg. followed the Columbia
In. arriving off the Hook at 1870 A. NJ.
The distance covered by the Augusta
Victoria from Cherburg was 1904 knots,
and her time of passage six days, ~ hours
and 20 minutes. The average speed OF the
Hamburg steamer on this trip was 1854
knots per hour. The ST. Louis, OF the
American Line, left Southampton the day
after the Columbia, passing the Needles
at 40 i. NJ. or % hours and 10 minutes
later. She is expected to arrive early In
the morning