Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-11-29
MINIATURE VESSELS,
THEY ARE ONLY ABOUT FIVE
FEET LONG,
But Cost Thousands Of Dollars Each.
A Remarkable and Most Intsrest-
Ing Exhibition-The Warrington
Shtp-HOuse.
(washingtor Evening star)

only feet long. It Is a perfect likeness
OF the Columbia. Uncle Sans hghting
ocean greyhound. Every detail Is repro
duced with the utmost accuracy on .
scale OF q quarter Of an inch to the foot.
even the guns being perfect In all OF their
parts. down to the very breech me-
chanism.
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 battieship Texas. the monitor
Miantonomoh. the ram Katahdin. and
others. Seven men at the Washington
hayward are constantly employed In
buIlling these models, which cost from
5000 TO $500 apiece. These artisans are
mechanics OF the highest skin. and the
work they do Is such as to require a
special training. Workmanship of The ut
most difficulty Is needed, many OF the
parts being so little that an ordinary per-
son could not handle them or put them
together. Everything must b. reproduced.
down to the smallest block for the run
ming rigging.
Take the guns Of the miniature Column
bia, for example. They are the prettiest
toys imaginable The big ones represent
ing originals of S-inch caiibre, are about
inches long. No part OF either gun
or carriage is lacking. and the breech
can be opened by touch OF the finger.
TO admit a small-sized armor-piercing pro-
jectile or an explosive shell. The Sc
condary batteries of the Columbia consist
OF number OF small macnine-guns. and
rapid-ire guns some OF which are aloft
in the military tops. Every one is repro
duced on its scale In the model.
The building of the model OF the Column
bia was begun by taking n number OF
pine boards. cut roughly 10 the outlines
OF the ship, and putting them together
under pressure with glue betwee. them.
Thus a solid block OF approximate dimen-
sions was formed. The block was then
planed and chiselled until the lines OF the
great war vessel were reproduced with
absolute exactness. The hull being made
smooth with sandpaper, the rudder and
propeller shafts OF cherry wood, We're
added. At the same time were put on the
"sponsons." out OF which the guns look
as from windows OF steel. Holes having
been bored for the window ports. the lit
tie craft was ready to receive Its arma-
ment
The model is not yet finished. but the
guns are made and nearly all OF the other
equipments are ready to be put aboard.
These latter are very elaborate. and to
produce them has required an immense
amount OF labor. For example, there arc
a number OF boats including one steam
launch in miniature. Each OF these repre-
sents three days work for one man. The
false bottoms and every rib inside OF
them are shown. All OF them 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 per-
fectly practical and Just like real ones
The smokestack OF the miniature CO.
lumbia IL 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 steam
SIREN" Of nickel silver. The ventilators
are OF copper They turn their gaping
mouths to the wind. which blows down
| into them and keeps the air fresh below.
! one OF the last things done is TO put the
masts into the little ship. They are OF
wood, but, being painted. they look just
| like the hollow steel masts Of a war ves-
| sell The bigger spars on a war ship are
steel tubes. The rigging Of the model IL
OF white wire twisted TO initiate the wire
| rigging on a man-o-war. In the model
Of a battle-ship the armor Is represented
by wood painted.
/ The models OF warshlps are built In
what Is called the ship-house at the navy
yard. The establishment is a huge ma
chne-shop. under the control Of the Com
| structlon Bureau OF the Navy Depart
ment. The miniature vessels are mado
from the original pans. and drawings
for cruisers and battleshps, which are
! reduced TO scale for the purpose. The
| object OF building the models is 10 show
J the people what Uncle Sans new navy
Is like Several OF the models have been
sent to Atlanta where they will be viewed
by millions. Occasionally models have
been sent by the Navy Department to the
| Capitol, in order that congressman might
see them and know what sort OF ships
they were appropriatng money to con-
struct.
In the ship-house at the Washington
nayy-yard is now being made a model
| of the bagtleship Indiana, 20 feet long.
| 1t Is intended. not for exhibition, but for
| a more practical purpose. IL IL OF wood.
| covered with an even coat OF paraffine
| one inch thick. When II Is finished II VIII
| run on the Potomac river with an engine
inside Of It. and paddle-wheels. Paddle
wheels are preferred 10 propeller. be-
| cause the power exerted By them can
| be measured more accurately. This 10 eN-
| actly what is desired to be ascertalned-'
namely. how much power IL required to
propel the model through the water at a
given rate OF speed. What Is true OF tho
model ought to be true also OF the In
diana. the form Of the hull OF the latter
| being the same. Paraffine Is employed.
| because II Is perfectly smooth and VIII
| AFFORD no such resistance as might impair
the accuracy OF the data obtained by the
| experiments.
In Great Britain the keel OF no new
| ship OF war Is laid until trial has been
made Of a miniature model For this pur-
pose Is used an immense tank. 800 feet
long, rs feet wide. and 10 feet deep. filled
with wafer. Above the tank. and run
ming It's entire length, IL suspended a plat
form. On the platform Is track, and
along the track a carriage runs. Beneath
the carriage floats the model, which 10
made wholly OF paraffne. or course. paraf-
fine is lighter than water. The carriage
lows the model along. and the power used
| Is registered with absolute accuracy by
the dyuamometer. Thus Is learned with
exactness the speed at which the warship
| represented by the model will steam with
a given horsepower.
Great Britain, in fact, has several SUCH
tanks. and similar ones are used for tho
purpose by France. Germany. and Italy.
Secretary Herbert viii try TO persuade
the next Congress 10 appropriate money
for building q tank Of the kind at wash
ington The cost OF |, would be about
$4,000 II would be cheap at the price.
however. for IL would afford means OK
testing all models OF proposed vessels
In future before the contracts for their
| va
Navy Department would know exactly
what might be expected Of every warship
before It's keel was laid. In q word, tbs
80 experiments make II easy TO deter
mine the best form OF ship 70 attain
| certaIn speed