The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-08-03
ly,LUMBlA VERY FAST
rae Breaks the Transatlantic
Warship Record.
syeRAeE SPEED, 1871 KNOTS.
xrou1 the Needles to SANDY Hook in Les.
Thsn seven Days-A Comparison
With En2land's Crack Cruiser,

v~~ York. Aug. 2.-The United gsafa.
-rsxer Columbia was sighted from Sands
uok AZ so this nlornig. The colur.lbls
! sses from Southampton. England. a,
. 20 Friday afternoon. July -. psssins
- Needles a 1:2D.
RE Columbia reached Quarantine a,
| Sx a m. Her log gives the time from
. - Needles to Sandy Hook IightshiD ~
. says, o hours. q minutes. Total dis.
asce. s.Ie9 knots; average speed, Il q
| tzoLs.
| RE Columbia on an official four hours
raj in November, 1893, averaged p 81
| ssots an hour. maximum. % - knots.
During the entire voyage the cruiser
~zs run under natural draft. Thfrtv-slx
| saurs Of foG as experienced on the wy
/ ~. during which the cruiser steamed at
| IT. usual speed. Moderate winds and
| xsather were encountered all the way
| gross the ocean. AT Quarantine the Co
t,rsb:a was boarded by the health officer
nj the surgeon reporting all 3eu. tho
cruiser proceeded up the bay. To an AS
sciased Press reporter. who boarded the
cruiser when she came to anchor in
North river. Capt. Sumner said he was
,srv much pleased with the vessels be-
saysor on her transatlantic speed test.
Cart. Sumner said:
sThe run was a very successful one
Ill things considered. We left the Needles
rTp. m. week ago today. and through
| &c: the trip We only used natural draft.
6nee In heavy weather we slowed dovvn
ar four hours 10 speed OF eight knots
We encountered fog which lasted TWEEN
risk hours. but we ran full speed
ssrough Il. We worked our three screws
and eight main boilers, and our coal corf-
en1mion averaged from 200 TO 80 tons per
1ay. We had the best coal that We could
sss and lt is the same as that used en-
he American line steamships Had We
been able 10 run under forced draft for
svenfy-four hours we most certainly
would have done three hours better.
Hnwever / am satisfied that the cruiser
has proven her capacity OF making ex-
raorGinary runs when necessary. The
falI complement or the fire room is 1876
rsn. but we were twelve short Of that
number To make up this deficiency we
feeured dozen volunteers from the deck
We had some bad weather, and as you
ear see by our smokestacks we threw a
bt Of spray. We shipped no water. how
eser, as we had all our battle matches
down forward OF the pilot house."
When asked about tho injury to the
shlp's plate while on the dry dock on the
ether side. the captain passed the matter
cr saying: "Oh. that was nothing of
any consequence. The ship Is ell right.
IS you can readily see from the trip just
finished"
On account Of the injuries sustained by
The Columbia when she was locked In
Southampton, the steam pressure was
limited TO 40 pounds. The coal allow
snee vas set at 200 tons a day. At 1890
Saturday a tube blew out in one OF the
boilers. An attempt was made to stop
The leak In the usual manner with n
-. f...e q
great that the plug would not stay IN
place. At / 80 a. IN. the fires were there
fore hauled from the boiler. its safety
valves opened and the boilers shut off
from the steam pipe. The effect on the
ship OF thus losing one boiler was
marked. The revolutions fell from LOG TO
nlnety-four per minute, and the speed
nom ss3 to t. IS knots. The leak was
repaired at 645 a. m. For the succeed
ing four hours the average revolution
Increased TO i0i per minute and the speed
10 ls.75 knots This was the only serious
trouble caused py a leak in the tubes.
Two others blew out. but weee plugged
without much trouble. While the In
sructions from the navy department
we're TO run the Columbia under forced
draft on the last day. Capt. Sumner was
unable 10 comply with that order for the
reason that IL WAS impossible to pass the
coal from the wing passages into the
hInkers fast enough Only ono man
could work at time in n wing passage.
and coal had To be trollied there TO the
bunkers.
Washington CITY, Aug. a-There was
general rejoicing IN the navy department
today when the Associated Press bulletin
was read announcing the arrival of the
Columbia off Sandy Hook. Assistant
Secretary McAdoo expressed the greatest
MEASURE over the fast time made by the
cruiser. He went 10 the West indies
aboard the Columbia. and was confident
from the start that she would acauit her
self Handsomely on this trial across the
Atlantic. The Columbia beat the time OF
TIE New York by two DAYS, and pre-
f0Gs 10 this trip the New York had The
hest record OF any warship crossing the
Atlantic. Mr.. McAdoo said today that
here was no longer any doubt about the
speed OF the Columbia. and that she no
Doubt could overtake any vessel aheat
On squirt: that Is IL a vessel was sight-
81 in the morning the Columbia could
cone up with her before night. The
Minneapolis IS her equal. II not superior
and the record Of the Columbia shows
that the United States has the two fast-
est ships afoat
4 prominent naval officer pointed not
shst he called the most gratifying point
concerning this speed trial lie said that
When all the conditions under which the
toiumhis made her run are decided IN"
resnls must be regarded as remark8bie
II tie first pIace. ne said. the coal. while
rood and probably much better than the
cheap variety usually supplied ~ our
vessels AT home. was not the very best
quality OF Welsh coal. Then. again, the
engine DEPARTMENTS of our cruisers are
r.tft. 4 fsFr FeF -
chant service nor as those az foreign GOV
errmeuts and consequently the endur-
ance Of the mon ia the engine and tre
feons is mere severely taxed. rs an IL
ns,ratioN Of this fact. II Is only neces-
AIRY 70 give tho following COMPARISONS
stween the Columbia and the Engllsh
cruiser Terrible:
Columbia horsepower. - number
engineers. 4. men I'm engine depart
neri. 1916
le-lIorscpower $4,000: number Of
'Sinesrs, :. men IN the engine depart
rent, ISL
IN other words. the work or the en-
Cheer Officers {s Just ~ per cent. harder
~ TIE Columbia. while the men IN our
mn have TO 10 one-thjrd more work than
y men i'm the other secV
Among the r7en-of-war there u absH-
f'ely nothing compared with the NoIofl-
e, as none OF them ever made SGch .
rua and none could. not because they 90
fet carry the coal but because they nave
~ The power. The navy department
sswever. has the report OF a 3-aour ts'-''
The English cruiser Royal Arthur.
sare IN the Pacific some months ago, ana
re- maximum speed for four hours was
wy j Knots. while FOR the twenty 70 =
ssers OF the trial Il was only i65 knots.
ihs vessel IS oficiaily rated As OF Toe
a.e displacement as the Colu nhta- ot
sse ether fast British cruisers none q
s,sr have toue anything at al 'ompai'
.e with tho rrip Of the Columbia. In tacf'
.N cruiser Dlcnheiu. on which the BFat
- plame themselves. made only a maxi
2n of q knots when returning from
rekfaN after having carried the body x