The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25

intense heat of summer and the intense
cold of winter, with a fall of snow so great
that it had to be carted out of their yards,
and required their ships to be housed over
to protect them from snow and rain and
the inclemency of the weather, adding
greatly to cost of construction; the cost
OF heating the workshops and ships to
make them comfortable for men to work
in, which is not needed in this climate,
and is not only a considerable bill of ex-
pense in the first place, but requires con-
siderable expense for maintenance.
Again, the cheapness and accessibility
of ornamental woods. which can be OBJ
tanned here cheaper than in the Atlantic
ports, being brought from Mexico and the
Central American States, and that Won
derfully valuable wood for deck purposes
known as "Oregon pine" which can be
obtained almost any length clear OF knots,
and when used and laid with the grain
vertical lasts sufficiently long to justify its
use in competition with yellow pine. and
the cheapness OF teak, the best of wood for
ships fittings, coamings, etc.
These facts com bined reduced the adj
vantages which other localities had in
cheapness of labor, cheapness OF money
and nearness of the shipyard to the manu-
facture OF plates and armor, to sum SO
small that it cuts no figure at all in the
construction of frst-cass battle-ship.
The first effect of building battle-ship
in San Francisco was to develop the ability
of the steel works here to supply such cast
ings of steel as the specifications required,
both in quality and quantity. That step
having been successfully reached the next
was the rolling of plates, angles, shapes
and q bars, the making of rivets, and all
the requirements that enter into the max
ing of a ship here instead of bringing them
from the East. Also the rolling of plates
up to thirty inches in width, leaving only
the wider plates, armor and guns to be
brought from other localities.
The attempt to build rships on the
Pacific Coast, in spite of all criticism, ex-
ceeded in results what the best friends of
the coast hoped, and compared favorably
with the best performances obtained in
England from ships built from the same
plans, thus demonstrating that the intri-
cate details of ship-building once mas
tered, skill was available and ready and
means at hand to overcome the apparent
difficulties that seemed to exist at first
sight.
The quality of the work performed on
the Pacific Coast obtained universal in
dorsement wherever these ships appeared,
and at Hampton Roads at the Columbian
Naval Exhibition the San Francisco re-
ceived the unqualified Endorsement of all
the nations represented as being the finest
finished ship on exhibition. The same
thing occurred at Kiel at the opening of
the great canal when the San Francisco
was present, representing in q creditable
manner the high quality of her design and
workmanship.
In the performance of the ships built on
the Pacific Coast the records show high
degree OF efficiency, with an unusually
small cost for repairs, and unusual speed,
he Olympia leading as the fastest OF her
class and the Charleston and San Fran
cisco exceeding previous records of the
same class. The Monterey is considered
the best fighting ship in the navy, and the
Oregon the highest type of battle-ship YET
designed.
The annual consumption of locomotives,
cars, ETC., in the State of California alone
in wear and tear exceeds s. 600, 900; q