The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-03-31
ORECON'S GREAT
BATTLE SHIP
She Is Now Almost in Readiness
foi Her Builders Trial
Trip.
A GENUINE SUCCESS EXPECTED
BHilt Of the Best Material and BY the Best
tnqiseers and Mechanics 10 the
kofld-A Credit 10 the
Department.

The San Francisco Call referring to
tho near completion In that city OF tho
great battisuhip Oregon. says:
Tho trial trip OF the Monadnook and the
doings Of the American navy In various
parts Of the world have given promIn nee
TO tho fact that In few days the battle
ship Oregon built at the Union Iron
Works. will have her Official trial "Trip.
She IL nov almost completed and
dr-igers are AZ work clearing the way
for her free entrance into the waters
Of tho bay.
onos again aiioat she will be taken 20
tho Hunters Point drydook and there
placed IN readiness for her trial. A spc-
cial gang Of men will be put to work ana
tho big iine-of- battle ships bottom viii
be scrubtsd and cleaned until II shines
like FURNISHED silver Tho steering gar
will be overhRulcd and when the oregon
l~avcH tho dock everything II sure 10
be In thorough working order A NOR
than satisfactory result II expected. and
tho SCOTS are rrstins on their oaru In
anticipation OF n big bonus,
II faithfully built ship ever earned
premium Il will he the Orcgon. The
very best material has been put into her.
and the best engineers and mAchinistH
In tho United States have suprintended
her construction A. she appears today
she Is the personihcaiion Of power In
every iina and curve. and her frowning
cannon give warning before they begin
Go bark
l..
the mos, powerful ships anoat In her
main batteries ahc has four s-inch guns
and eight s-inch Tho latter arc trained
fore and AFT while the 6.inch guns are
amdship, There arc four ig-lnch guns
all occasions
In her secondary batteries the oregon
has sixteen e-Pounders. four l-pounders,
and four machine guns.
For small arms she will have 30 rifles
and 10 revolvcrs. In her other detenSos
sh, viii have seven torpedo tubes and
ton auto mobile torpedocs Nearly all
Of tho armament IL now on board. and
the changes are that the preliminary
trial will bs held next week
The Massachusetts. Indiana. and Ore
Eun arr alike In every respect, but the
Union Iron Works. the builders OF tn
latter. expect to beat the record of the
Others, Particular attention should be
paid TO these vessels, as In case OF war
they would he the main reliance OF ths
United States both for offensive and de-
fcnslve purposes.
Tho good qualities Of the oregon are
apparent 10 even the superficial obs Nrvar.
She Is superior TO anything anoat or de-
signed in the world and the only adverse
criticism that can b. made IL In regard
TO tho coal supply az normal draught.
But" said naval ofilcer yesterday. IN
order 10 obtain the two vital qualities OF
heavy armament and admirable protcc-
ton somo thing had 10 be sacrificed. and
that something was coal. hut II must
hc AZ once remembered that the Oregon
Is a coast-line hattlc-ship. She is not liza
bile TO make long voyages at sea and
therefore win not he apt 10 stray far
from the home coalinG stations Never
theless. on pinch she can carry 1870 tons
OF coal"
There IL nothing foreign about the Ore
gon, The Charleston was built after the
model OF tho japanese cruiser Naniwa
Kan and the San Francisco and Olympia
wero modelled more or less after Euro
pcan ideas. Tho new hattle-ship. however,
Il on the lines designed by two young
American officers. and In design and
build-from rivet to hull. from machine
gun 10 main battery-she is American
and American only.