The evening times., 1898-04-18
THE FLEETS OF COLUMBIA
Kearsarge and Kentucky May
Be Ready Within Ninety Days.
THE NAVY HASTENS WORK
Merchant Vessels Are Being Trans
formed Into Auxiliary Cruisers
with All Possible Haste-The
Nicksburp. Rodgers, Hamilton and
Window May Sail Tomorrow.

Newport News. Va April 75.-lt is re-
ported on good authority here that the
first-class battieships Kearsarge and
Kentucky, launched at the shipyard here
on March "a will be ready to go into
commission i'm three menths. Now that
war is considered inevitable. the authori-
ties at Washington, as well as the Off
GERS Of the Newport News Shipbuilding
Company. are very anxious to get these
fine specimens of naval architecture in
the service.
With this end in view. large forces Of
men are working on the twin warships
twenty-four hours each day At the
time the vessels were launched it was
announced thar they could be placed in
commission in six or eight months. Work
ing at the present rate, it is believed
that they will be ready in half that time.
The work on the merchant vessels sent
here to be transformed into auxiliary
cruisers is being pushed forward with all
possible speed. The hospital ship So
lace is expected to leave for Key West
on Wednesday The Yosemite will prob
ably leave on Saturday. while the Dixie
Will be ready for service in two weeks.
II is reported that the American line
steamships St. Louis. New York and Par
is will be brought here TO be transformed
into cruisers.
The gunboat EiCksburg. torpedo boat
Rodgers and revenue cutters Hamilton
and Morrill, are scheduled to sail on Tues
day or Wednesday. The destination of
the vessels is said TO be Key West. BY
Friday next the ram Ka-ahdin. revenue
cutters Window and Hudson and several
tugs will have left the navy yard The
cruiser Montgomery and revenue cutter
Manning are expected To get away by the
last of the present week. The work of
Quitting the revenue cutters has been
done in a thorough manner. The work
OF loading ammunition on board the new
Vessels is rapidly progressing. Stores
and rations are on board nearly all tine
vessels at the ward. Just now , so work
men are employed in Quitting the feet
The revenue cutter Dexter reached
here yesterday from New York with
drafts of men for vessels in the revenue
cutter fleet.
The Auxiliary Hoard.
New York, April IS.-The Board on Aux
iiary Cruisers has advised the Govern
ment to purchase seven steam yachts
To be used for cruising and blockadiug
the shallow inlcts on The Cuban coast;
and the necessary transfers viii likely b.
made today. The boats Inspected are
the steam Yacht Corsair. the flagship of
the New York Yacht club owned by J.
fierDont Morgan This vessel is built
entirely of steel. She is 24l feet S inches
over an, and 2ol feet on the water line
,. feet wide and draws about l3 feet She
is fitted with triple expansion engines of
the three-cylinder tyne. and can under
forced draught attain "A speed Of 20 knots
The late Charles Fleischmanu's steel
Yacht the HiaWatha. was also examined
at Morris Heights, where she is mopre1.
his vessel is one OF the best Of her kind
ailoat She was built in INSs under the
supervision Of Charles J. Seabuf-v. and is
said 10 be the best boat that he ever de-
signed Her dimensions are Length Ia
feet; width, y feet and draught feet
She has speed of Il knots. which with
forced draught can b, increased To about
10 knots. The Yacht is now owned by the
Fleischmann estate.
The quaint looking old Spearwater
owned by Henry X. Wolcott. l. another
Yacht that passed muster She was
built in lsS1. She is "A Single screw steel
vessel Her length over ali Is l2l feet.
She can steam at the rate OF fifteen
knots
The Thespia. which was built for Da-
Nid Dows, ir-. I'm 1885. ana recently sold
TO a yachting agency. was found slHta-
bic by the board. Her bes- speed is only
twelve knots. She is steel vessel l9i
feet Ions, twenty-three feet wide and
nine feet draught
Tn old Viking single screw iron
Yacht that was built in lSS3 also came
up TO the expectations Of the Naval
Board. She is 15S feet long. twenty-one
feet wide and draws nine feet of water
Her best speed Is twelve and one-half
knots.
The Sylvia the old flagship Of ex-
Commodore f. NJ. Brown of the New
York Yacht Club. il the sloweSt craft
Of the lot inspected. This big Yacht
moves at the rate Of ten knots She was
launched in 1882 and is a single screw
iron vessel Her dimensions are: Length
ii6 feet. width eighteen feet. draurht
ten feet.
Hiram W. Sibley's Yacht the Restless
was the last boat examined and passed |
upon. She Is not particularly fast YES /
sci. steaming at the rate Of twelve knots 1
an hour. The Restless was Duilt in 1SS- /
She Is single screw iron vessel Her
length over all is ll3 feet
The Revenue Cutters,
The State Department. il is learned on
the best authority. has been given To nm
derstand that vessels now in transit /
through the ST. Lawrence Canal will not |
be prevented from proceeding to the At
lantic seaboard. No vessel that starts /
prior 10 a declaration of war will be
stopped.
The above statement is said to apply 10 4
the revenue cutters ordered to the At
lantic seabord from the Great Lakes. All
the locks on the St Lawrence Canal sys-
tenn are controlled by Great Britain II |
was announced by the British foreign |
office recently that the canal locks could |
not be used in time of war by vessels |
destined TO be used on the Atlantic sea-
board as warships
The new ruling permits the Government |
20 move the vessels now en- route to the |
ocean. 1t is expected. however. that all |
these vessels viii reach the coast prior |
10 hostilities.
The Alabama.
Philadelphia April lS-May / has been
fixed as the date for launching the battle
ship Alabama, I'm course of construction
at Cramps shipyard Miss Morgan.
daughter of United States Senator Nor
gan II is said. viii christen the shin. The
Alabama viii be the first of the three
battleships contracted for i'm October.
1896, to be placed in the water The other
two-the Wisconsin and Illinois-are be
ing built respectively at San Francisco !
and Newport News.
The Lampasscs.
Key West Fla. April lS-The Mallory
Line steamer Lampasses. which arrived
here Thursday with coal for the feet,
has received instructions from the main