The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-03-13

Iron snip. to ne Placed IN an Rlset1ls
Oath.

Iron ships 20 ne Placed IN an RieftRis
Oath.
A new departure IN the sheathlnF u
Fcssols ia 70 be undertaken 10 tn's
country. and the future cruisers ana
battloshlps made for the United states
navy VIII probably Be copper-aheathea.
according to the new process Of cleo
tro-piatlng. Experiments have been
going on for many years 20 electro
plate with copper the hulls " Iron Or
steam vessels, and the results OBJ
tanned GOV justify the general adop-
ion Of q process Of protection that can
be called purely American. An eiec-
trio plant has been established AZ Icf-
loy City BY The Ship CoDper-YlatinE
Company. and the seagoing tug Assist
lnce was treated 10 the new process a
m experiment She has stood the test
20 well that. after a year. she has a
hull nearly as free from all defects
caused BY coTrosion and sea animals
rs when FIRST launched
Copper shoathing has been adopted
BY ship-builders Of an the leading
souniries foS years. and Il has always
proved the best protection TO the bulls
that could be devised. but rust and cor
roslon ind lts way between the COP
per plates In time. and starts up OPEN
ngs that eventually destroy the ships
bottom or necessitates the costly work
II resheaihing a.
The old way was 70 plate the bottom
of the ship carefully from stem 70 stern
with stout wood, and then coat this
with sheath copper. but the new meth
Cd IL 10 place the vessel In a bath Of
copper suiphate. into which an electric
current Is passed. Liquid-tight CON-
partments are made 70 ~ ARMY ypon
the sides and bottom Of the hull. and
when allied with a solution Of the cop
per the four anodea are placed through
an opening IN the top. These lnsti-
tute the positive pole. and the iron
hull acts a. the negative. A hlm Of
copper without seams or breaks grafu-
ally forms on the bottom Of the ship.
and 10 forty-eight hours this alright
fheathing IL one-sixieenth Of an inch
thick. The shsathlng nts 20 tightly
70 the hull that Il cannot be removed
without cutting into Il with sharp In
Struments. and even then u has BE-
come 20 welded 10 the iron that The
two cannot always Be separated.
The value OF this unbroken surface
Of copper plating can BE- readily under
stood when some Of the Injuries 70 the
bottom Of iron vessels are examined.
The old method Of copper sheathlng
added 20 much 10 the weight Of The
vessels that the naval advisory board
In 1852 refused 10 have the bulls Of
the Chicago. Boston. Atlanta and Dol
phin sheathed. In the case Of the Chi
cago Il was estimated that 155 tons
would be added 70 the weight Of The
vessel. and 100 tons would be added 20
both the Boston and Atlanta pur-
suing this same policy Of keeping the
vessels light and buoyaut on the water.
and thereby gaining additional speed.
the department refused 20 have any OF
the subsequent war vessels copper
fheathed. As a result none Of our var
vessels are sheathed. alihcaEh a GOOD
percentage Of the ships OF the English.
French. German and Russian navles
have their bottoms protected In this
way. BY the new process Of electro
plating the weight added to the vos-
sells amounts only TO 2s5 pounds 20 the
square foot.-Phlladelrhia Times.