The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-04
WILLIAM CRAlfP.

WILLIAM OhAAEs Sn<1RLno a. NAs6AAs
abroad as well as in America as that Of
one of the best shipbuilders in the
world. For 10 years he continued in the
business there, finally removing to the
present location in 1872. Though Will
liam Cramp passed forever from the
scene of his labors in 1879, his name is
still vital one, for the great establish
ment that fronts the Delaware river, in
the Kensington district, and from which
so many of Uncle Sans new warships,
and later the twin American liners st.
Louis and St. Paul, besides hundreds of
other commercial craft, have been turn
ed out, still bears his name, and today
the William Cramp g Sons Ship and
Engine Building company is of as high
repute among modern vessel construct
ors as was the founder of the enterprise
in his generation.
There is just now, and naturally, a
great deal of talk about the two liners
built for the service of the company that
owns the speedy Paris and New York,
the only line of any consequence, by the
way, whose ships carry the flag of Uncle
Sam right into the harbors Of John Bull,
his old time sea rival and present ma
rine leader. But, admirable in design and
construction and complete in appoint
ments as these ships doubtless are, it
should not be forgotten that they are by
no means the greatest constructive tr1-
umphs of the Cramp yards. 1t is from
this great establishment that some Of
the most notable American men-Of-War
have been put overheard, including the
cruisers Baltimore, Philadelphia, New
ark, New York, Columbia and Mime
apolis, while the battleships Indiana,
Massachusetts, and Iowa and the arnor-
ed cruiser Brooklyn are now undergo
ing construction there Besides fully
twoscore merchant coasting and South
American ships have been built at
Cramps, in addition to many steam
yachts, and in the days when American
clipper ships led the world the Cramps
built not a few of those feet winged
vessels. During the civil war, too,
Cramps yards turned out number Of
fighting boats, then quite up to the
times, and in 1890 rebuilt four war
ships for the Russian government, in
recognition whereof Mr.. Charles Cramp,
son of William and present head of the
yards, was honored by the czar with
| the decoration known as the Civic Or
der of St. Ann, bestowed only upon per-
sons who in some signal manner have
served the Russian state. Besides it was
at Cramps that the first steam tug and
the first triple expansion engine ever
constructed in America were built, and
these, in their time, were achievements
that drew the attention of scientific
men and men of affairs generally.
In all 900 vessels and more have been
built at Cramps during the 6 p decades
since William Cranp began SO modest
", and all but SO of these craft have
been steam vessels. Today these yards
are the best known on this side Of the
water, their ships are the feetest ever
built here, and their capacity, so far as
size of vessels goes, is as great as that
of any yards in the world. These yards,
then, are a proper establishment for
Americans to be proud of in these days
of the low ebb of American shipbuild-
ing interests.
When the first keel was laid in 1880
by William Cramp, there were 10 other
shipbuilding establishments along the
Philadelphia river front, his making the
thirteenth. Today there are but two 9th
er similar establishments in Philadel-
phia, and though they turn out excellent
work they are not to be compared IN