Birmingham state herald., 1896-03-28
THE INDIANA HIGH AND DRY Successfully Docked Yesterday
 at the Port Royal GOVERNMENT DRY DOCK With Good Tide She Had Is Inches of Water
 to Spare. OFFICERS IN CHARGE ARE PLEASED It Is Believed That Any Vessel in the Navy Can Be Taken Out in this Dock-A Fog Delayed the Docking for
 an Hour.
OFFICERS IN CHARGE ARE PLEASED

Port Royal, ;. c., Mafcn zf-At Just 7:30 this morning, on a t'de which had been ebbing for a good hour the battle ship Indiana steamed gallantly through the caisson of the government dry dock on Paris island with fully 15 inches to spare between her keel and the blocks. It was a glad day for the people of Port Royal and the satisfaction depicted up on the faces of the officers of the naval station was sufficient testimonial of the qualification which they experienced in the vindication of the work upon which they have labored so long and faithfully, and upon which of late some people have attempted to cast aspersions. The docking this morning was triumph for the harbor of Port Royal and for every friend of the Paris Island station. The battleship was putaon the blocks not only with perfect ease, but when the tide had been running out for at least an hour.
 The docking might just as we'll have been done yesterday or the day before. On the 18th the unofficial reckoning of the water showed 27 feet the dock, and yes- terday there was much more. The 1n- diana draws "A feet, and on either of the tides mentioned it is claimed that she could have gone in with an abundance of water to spare. The officers in charge, however, doubtless knew best. They have, at all events, docked the Indiana most successfully, and that has always been the great consideration.
 The tide this morning was a t it's height about 6:30 o'clock, and 1t had been de- signed to run the vessel into the caisson at that hour But when the morning came the whole harbor was enveloped In a dense shroud of mist and fog The battleship was steered cautiously for the in thn lnnA inor ,f,-ita of fottr. ftJrrc So much delay was occa stoned by the fog that 1t was not until ' o'clock that she cleared the caisson and foated in the wa ter of the dry dock. According to the of ficial figures there were then 25 feet and inches of tide. This was about inches below the normal, but it gave the battleship a good 15 inches to kpare above the blocks.
 The pumps we're turned on as soon as everything was pronounced to be snug. At first the pumping was purposely done very slowly, to give the men at work on the ships sides a better chance to work. Three hours after the work had started there were stll 10 feet of water in the tdock.
 During the forenoon many excursion parties came down to the island from Beaufort and Port Royal, and the sue cessful docking of the vessel was made the subject of many congratulations and much merry making. It was not until quite late in the afternoon that the last bit of water as pumped out of the dock. At o'clock she stood high and dry on the blocks She rested straight on her keel and she was by actual measurement just s feet 10 inches above the floor of the dock.
 The officers and the gentlemen official ly connected with the station or the bat tIeship are as usual very reticent but their satisfaction of the result of today's work is expressed in many ways No one can say. of course, what the official report will be but it is believed here that 1t win express the conviction that the dock is in splendid condition and that 1t is capable of holding any ship in the navy. The officers as yet, however, will say nothing for publication.
 It Is an open secret here that the dock ing could have taken place almost any day during the last week. but 1t was thought best to wait till the period of the highest spring tides The officers thought that it was very important to have just as much water as possible for the first ti1al of the structure.