The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-03
roy WAR VESSELS.
Only Five Feet Long, But Cost Thou
sands of Dollars.
From DC Washlngton star.

From the Washington Star.
A warship in miniature is being built
at the Washington navy yard. Though
only five feet long, it is a perfect likeness
of the Columbia, Uncle Sans lighting
ocean greyhound. Every detail Is repro
duced with the utmost accuracy on a
scale Of a quarter of an inch to the foot,
even the guns being perfect in all their
parts down TO the very breech mechanism.
In the new navy Of the United States
several classes of vessels are comprised
The government has adopted the policy of
constructing one small model to represent
each type of warship in the service. Thus
miniature copies have been made of the
armored battle ship Texas, the monitor
Mlantonomoh, the ram Katahdin and
others. Seven men at the Washington
navy yard are constantly employed I'm
building these models, which cost from
$1,000 to $1,000 apiece These artisans are
mechanics of the highest skill, and the
work they do Is such as to require a
special training. Workmanship of the
utmost difficulty Is needed, many Of the
parts being so little that an ordinary per-
son could not handle them or put them to-
gether. Everything must be reproduced
rigging
Take the guns OF the miniature Column
bia Tor example. They are the prettiest
toys imaginable The big ones, repre-
senting originals Of eight-inch caliber are
about four inches long. No part of either
gun or carriage is lacking, and the
breech can be opened by a touch of the
finger TO admit a small-sized armor-
piercing projectle or an explosive shell.
The secondary batteries of the Column
bia consist of a number of small ma
chine guns and rapid-fire guns, some
of which are aloft in the military tops.
Every one Of these is reproduced on its
proper scale in the model
The building Of the model Of the Co
lumbia was begun by taking a number
of pine boards, cut roughly to the out
lines of the ship, and putting them to-
gether under pressure with glue between
them. Thus a solid block of approximate
dimensions was formed. The block was
then planed and chiseled until the lines
of the great war vessel were reproduced
with absolute exactness. The hull being
made smooth with sandpaper. the rud-
der and propeller shafts, Of cherry wood,
were added At the same time were put
on the sponsors" out of which the guns
look as from windows Of steel. Holes
having been bored for the window ports,
the little craft was ready to receive its
armament and other equipment.
The model is not yet finished, but the
guns are made. and nearly all OF the 9TH
er equipments are ready to be put aboard.
These latter are very elaborate, and to
produce them has required and immense
amount of labor. For example, there are
a number Of boats, including one steam
launch in miniature. Each of these rep
resents three days work for one man.
The false bottoms and every rib inside of
eHeAl are suOHii All " biiSiH are OF
wood save for the smokestack and rud-
der of the steam launch. The boats are
swung from davits, the tiny metal blocks
through which the tackle runs being
perfectly practical and just like real
ones.
The smokestack Of the miniature Col
umbia is of brass. painted just like that
OF the cruiser herself. Attached TO Il are
escape pipes Of copper and a whistle and
fog horn, otherwise known as a steam
siren" of nickel silver. The ventilators
are Of copper They turn their gaping
mouths to the wind, which blows down
them and keeps the air fresh below One
Of the last things done is to put the
masts into the little snip. They are of
wood. but being painted they look just
like the hollow steel masts of a modern
war vessel. The bigger spars on a war
ship are steel tubes. The rigging Of the
model is Of white wire, twisted to initiate