The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-08-06

amount OF power necessary to drive
the vessel through the water at the re-
quired speed, the weight of boilers, en-
gines and appurtenances necessary to
develop that speed; the amount of
weight that can be given to hull, armor,
top hamper, guns, etc. the space that
may be allowed for coal room, store
room and other necessary divisions Of
the ship, and so on almost without end.
OF course the chief constructor does
not have to actually perform much of
this arduous work, but he must be able
to decide with unfailing accuracy when
the figures are presented to him wheth-
er they are accurate or not, since no one
but him will be held responsible in case
of miscalculation. In the matters Of
strength, seaworthiness and stability he
can do no better than to figure out the
necessary proportions for himself, and
as a matter of fact he goes over all the
figures furnished by his subordinates,
often radically changing and revising
them, for the purpose of getting little
more room here, of increasing the space
there and Of adding strength in another
place, so that when the final plans for
warship are completed sufficiently to
leave Constructor Hichborn s hands they
may properly be considered his individ-
ual work.
In many ways Constructor Hichborn,
since assuming his present place about
two years ago, has given evidence of
decided originality. He has not, it is
true, failed to recognize points of excel
lence in warships built abroad, but he
has introduced some new things which
have in the main met with unqualified
approval on the part of those competent
to judge. AS far as possible he has prof
flied by the experiments and experience
Of foreign constructors, but at the same
time he has made it point to work on
lines tending to the evolution, within
established types, of ships that are dis
tinct embodiments of the most admira-
BILE features, constructive, engineering
and offensive, of American inventive
skill
Commodore Hichborn is one Of those
who believe it possible to fovergun'
Warships. He does not think it wise to
load a vessel with all the artillery she
can carry. 81 deem it best, he says,
''for US to avail ourselves of marginal
buoyancy in providing protection for
quick firing guns, which, in all proba-
bility, will be most important in COM
ing naval engagements. The more linn
tied the variety of guns on shipboard,"
he adds, "the more effective the ship is
likely to prove in the unavoidable din
and confusion of action.
Philip Hichborn was born in Charles
town, Mass, March 4, 1889. He was
graduated from the Boston high school
in 1855, and was then indentured to the
government under the tuition of the
late Melvin Simmons, y. S. N, mas
ter shipwright of the Boston navy yard.
Young Hichborn showed himself so apt
while there that he was given a course
of theoretical training in ship designing
and calculation. In 1860 he went to sea
on clipper ship bound for California,
then entered the employ of a Pacific
Mail company, and then went back to
the government at the Mare Island navy
yard, San Francisco, where in two years
lie became master shipwright of the sta
lion. In 1859 he was made an assistant
naval constructor, with the relative rank
of lieutenant. In 1870 he was trans
ferred to the Portsmouth IN. H } navy
yard. After that he went to League is
land, Pennsylvania, was prominent dur
ing the Centennial exposition Of 1876,
was sent to Europe in 1874 on special
duty and later was made an assistant
chief of the naval construction bureau.
His last promotion, to the head of the
bureau, came in 1898.
Commodore Hichborn has passed
through three distinct stages of ship
building practice-wood, iron and steel
He believes that metal will be the ship
nuilding material of the future,