The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-16
PADDING FOR WAR VESSELS.
KEARsARGE AND KENTUCKY HAVE
BELTS OF CORNSTALK PITH.

ber-ExceIIent Protection For the
Gigantic BottIeship.
Rene Bache in Chicago Chronicle.
washington, Dec. S.-The new battle
ssins Kearsarge and Kentucky, to be
-.unched six weeks from now, are the first
,.ssels of their class ever constructed
with armor belts of cornstalk pith. 1t is a
,,o+ion wholly novel, and naval experts are
,,.,+cbing the experiment with great in
frost. Such confidence is felt in the wis
dam of it that all the other ships now in
course of building for Uncle Sans navy
are ordered to be furnished with a SINH
lar equipment Those who are best inform
81 on such subjects declare that a three
foot belt of cornstalk pith is equal for pro-
ree,ive purposes to six inches of Harvey
ized nickel-steel armor.
The idea of it is that cornstalk pith pos
sleses in a remarkable degree the property
OF absorbing water, swelling with such ra-
pfdty as to close a shot hole before the
brinv ocean can enter the ship. Thus a
bau Of it placed between the outer and in
Nor skins of the vessel, and covering the
water line, is calculated TO keep her aaoat,
even though that delicate part of her an
a-omy should be fairly riddled by projec-
tiles. A similar stuffing of cellulose, OBJ
tained from cocoauut fiber, saved the jap
.nase cruiser Itsukushima at the battle
of the Yalu river, when she was struck
r.peatedly near the water line by large
proiectiles. In the same fight the Chinese
armored cruisers Tchi Yuen and King
Yuen. neither of them so protected, were
capszed and sunk by shells.
The upper part of a cruiser is separated
from downstairs so to speak, by tur-
tIe-back deck of steel plates. This is call
cd the protective deck, and it's edges are
below the water line. The whole top
story" of the vessel with masts, bridge
emokestacks, etc, might be shot and
burned away and still she would be eX-
pected to float, the "turtle-back' defect
ing the projectiles aimed at her. But the
trouble is that shot-holes above the pro-
tective deck might let in water on enc
side, overbalance her and cause her to
turn suddenly and keel upward. 1t is in
order to avoid this embarrassing contin-
eency that the water line is backed inside
by a series of steel water-tight compart-
ments called "coffer-dams."
1t is obvious that, if a number OF the
coffer-dams were pierced by projectiles in
sea fight and filled with intrudlng wa
Ter the weight of the water would be apt
causing her to list over to one side. I'm
der such circumstances, some of her can
non would point up at the sky ana otners
down toward the ocean, so that she would
cease to be serViceable as gun PLATFORM
In other words, she would become useless
as a fighting machine, and would be com
uelled to strike her colors, even if she were
SO lucky as to escape capsizing. Accord
ingly it has been sought to I'LL the confer
dams with something as light as posi-
he. to help keep the water out OF them
and to assist in maintaining the fotauon
of the ship. Empty tin cans, Theoretically
sealed and-various other things were trleu
for this purpose years ago.
Nothing satisfactory was found, how
ever until a yankee genius hit upon the
idea of using pith OF cornstalks. rms
troved the solution of the problem, ana
toat is why all the newest vessels of the
United States navy are being PROVIDED
with a belt of this material. To call 1t
belt is fairly accurate, inasmuch as the
commandments, or Golfer dams, hlled with
the stuff run all along both sides OF the
shin The belt of stuffed cofter-dams IS
three feet thick and extends four feet
nbove the water line and four feet below
it. The pith is packed under pressure
in the coffer-dams in the shape of bricks
Navy men say that, with a good turtle
back deck back of it to defend the 'Vltals
of the ship. 100 tons of cornstalk plth are
Henry w Cramp of the firm which has
built most of the ships of the new navy
SAYS that cruisers of the Baltimore type,
if provided with corn pith belt, would
be warranted in engaging many Oh lne
ironclads of other powers. without II
they would be liable to be sunk by We'll
directed machine-gun fire This product
of American farms" he adds, "offers
cheap and ready means of vastly increas-
ing the efficiency of our cruisers ana the
unarmored sides of all our war vessels
should have these belts without delay
This discovery and application of corn plth
is of as vital importance to the United
States navy as the development of Har-
vevized armor and smokeless powder
The point is that without adding much
TO the cost of the vessels the efficiency OF
them all can be greatly increased by max
ing their sides automatically resist the IN
flow of water. Inasmuch as the Ameri-
can cruisers carry heavier batteries than
similar ships of other nations they would
when so protected be able to give battle
to vessels far hevaier than themselves.
The corn pith, it should be said, has not
been adopted by the navy department
without elaborate experiments and tests.
Coffer-dams filled with the stuff were rid
died by big shells but water could not be
made to enter even when projected at the
holes in a powerful stream from a fire
hose.
The old wooden vessels were attacked
by shells that made holes along the water
line, but the amount of water that enter
ed was small owing to the swelling of the
wood and the fact that holes in wooden
ships could be plugged with comparative
case But a steel vessel under fire from
modern high-power guns is likely to re-
ceive a great many shots along the water
line. every one admitting water. The first
ond most natural way Of guarding against
such water-line damage was to put belt
of armor all around the vessel, extending
for a few feet above and below the water
line But guns improved so rapidly in PEN
Grating power and facility of fire that a
belt could not he carried the whole length
Of sufficient thickness to guarantee de-
Tense. Hence the value of the cornstalk
uaddling for armored ships. while for
uuarmored vessels il is a most admirable
protection
This idea, like many others has had
gradual evolution. 4 few years ago, hav-
ig decided on the correctness of the prin-
cpe the navy department filed the Golfer
dams of some ships with "cellulose," OBJ
tanned from cocoanut husks. That ma
tprial xvas most highly recommended at