The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-02-20
THE CAUSE OF THE DELAY.

The steamer left Havre January 26.
On the first day out 449 miles were
logged, on the second day 407 miles; les:
on the third day, after travelling 5So
miles, the piston rod broke and elgh-
teen hours were spent III making re,
pairs. When .ley were completed
the ship steamed at nine miles an hour
making in all sixty-six miles on the
beth. On the 30th, 31st and February
I. 215. 2l5 and $50 miles a day were
made respectively. On February 2,
the piston rod broke down agaln. Ihe
break was more serious this tune. Sea
anchors were put out and for forty-one
hours the ship was hove to, making
repairs. On the 4th the first severe
weather was experienced, and the ship
was blown $50 miles out of her course.
On the 5th the repairs having been
completed 103 miles were made. The
ship was then clear to the northWard
of the track of the trans Atlantic line,
and was therefore not seen by the
many steamers which passed over the
regular track. On February 9Th l6O
miles were made. On the 7th the ma
chinery broke down for the third time,
The heavy cyclone struck her on that
day and the ship lay hove to with sea
enchors out all day. No headway was
made and owing to the motion OF the
ship, repairs were difficult. On the
next day the chief engineer who had
been at his post day and night, com
Melted the repairs and the ship proceed
ed 131 miles. On the 9th, for the
fourth time, the machinery broke
down and only seventy-four miles
were made, and to the great rejoicing
ofan on board, Fire Island was sighted
and the ship crept up to her anchorage
off the bar
The United Press tug was received
with cheer by the anxious passen,,
gers. They crowded to the rail, yelled
and clapped their hands with all the
enthusiasm of the French race. The
officers refused to allow any one on
board, and would not come to the rail
to talk. The passengers were more
obliging. Julius Matrigrin, a repre-
sentative of the glove firm of Perrin
Frerers & Co., of Paris and New York,
was interviewed over the side of the
ship. He said: I'VE broke down on
the third day out. We did not become
alarmed, as we did not know very
much about what was the matter The
captain said it was all right, and We
had confidence in him. Our first eN-
perience with gales was on February
4th. Wehad terrible blow then, and
one of the boats was badly damaged.
s'Was anything carried away
mo, the ship stood it well. We had
plenty ofprovisions, and Jared first
rate. We were blown away Oft our
course and spoke no steamers until
Yesterday when we saw an American
liner bound for Philadelphia.
The ESGINEER's STORY.
From Chief Engineer Adolph Mar
tin was obtained more detailed des-
cription of the nature Of the break in
the Gascogne's machineyr. The break
occurred In one Of the piston rods
about half way between the traveller
and the piston. 1t was due to a flaw.
Though there were facilities aboard
IOr 1QahluS repairs, Il4e 4oIdSAoii VI tiAe
break was such that an attempt to re-
pair it would have required the NOV
ing ofmachinery and would have been
attended with even more delay and
difficulty. Therefore it was decided to
disconnect the affected cylinder from
the other two, which used indepen-
dently. This necessitated the taking
out of the injured piston, delay OF
seventeen hours. The cutting out OF
this cylinder reduced the power from
5000 horse to 4,500, bringing the
speed down to one-half. Later the
crank shaft got heated. and the bear.
ings had to be changed. The break
was not caused by any strain from bad
weather, but simply to the flaw which
existed in the new machinery. The
engines Al oi the quadruple eXpan,
sion type. There are six cylinders,
set tandem fashion in two tiers OF three
cylinders of seventy-nine inches in
diameter each ;one intermediate cylin
.o,-a-t-rIpa ;nohoS diameter.