The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-27

ttle waters or The bay.
When the big vessel slid down the
ways at 9:22, the warships in the har-
Dor fired salutes and there was a ter
rife din from the steam whistles. The
controversy over the kind of wine TO
be used in the christening was settled
this morning by the use of two bottles
OF champagne, one of French make.
provided by the Wisconsin christening
committee. and another of California
champagne provided by the Union
Iron works
All the morning long the street cars
let down their loads Of people at the
snip yard, and all the available boats
on the bay were pressed into service
by people anxious to see the baptism
OF the great vessel. Thousands of peo-
pie saw the plunge from various points
OF vantage, and the platform especially
set aside for the guests of the Union
iron works was crowded to it's full ca
pacity. The Wisconsin delegation of
'ehristeners." which journeyed all the
way from the Badger state to witness
the event, We're given the places of
honor upon the platform, with the rep
resentatives of the state, the CITY and
me great iron works responsible for
the safe delivery of the craft to the
government of the United States.
THE FINAL PLUNGE.
For an hour before the plunge
large force Of workmen tore awav
chock after chock which supported the
vessel. They finished their task AL
most to the minute of the time nra
scribed for the launching, leaving only
one chock to restrain the monster and
TINS was the support that Miss Lucille
cage, daughter of the governor elect
or the state, had been assigned to re-
h ms Of
inevitable electric button. At a given
signal the little miss pressed the but
ton, and the crash of breaking thinkers
announced TO the thousands of anx-
ious spectators that the vessel was
about to leave the ways
Slowly the iron monster moved to-
wards the bay, and all eyes turned to
watch Miss Elizabeth Stephenson
break the bottle of champagne upon
the bow of the vessel. Just as the
mass of iron and steel touched the
water, the fair christener raised the
ribbon bedecked bottle and let 1t split
on the nose of the vessel. The roar of
applause which greeted the final act
was almost deafening
The vessel gathered momentum as
she proceeded to the water, and. after
leaving the ways, floated calmly along
until brought to a stop in the bay,
where the work of the company build
ing her will go on
An amusing feature of the launching
was the wetting of a number of peo-
pie who were standing on the adjJin-
ing beach. The rush " water follow
ing the baptism could not escape it,
and many Of them were thoroughly
wetted. A number of Whitehall boats
narrowly escaped capsiZing.
Prior to the launching gigantic
flag of the Union, measuring twenty
seven feet long and fourteen feet wide.
was presented in honor of the Wiscon-
sin. The flag was the result OF the
combined efforts of 800 children of the
Irving NJ. Scott public school, who, at
the suggestion of their teachers, COM
menced work upon the flag on Oct. rs
of this year.
Following the presentation Of the
flag, a poem, ITO the Wisconsin" was
read by Miss Clara liza Price, its au-
thor.
WHAT THE SHIP IS LIKE
The battleship Wisconsin. designed in the
bureau Of construction and repair of the nav,
department, is a sister ship of the Alabama
building in the Cramps yard at Philadelphia
and also the Illinois. building at Newport
News.
The dimensions of the Wisconsin are as fes
lows; Length. on load water line, 1858 feet;
beam extreme. y feet 2Is inches draft on
ID u
inches. Maximum displacement. all ammunI-
ton and stores on board, L. 325 tons; maxi
mum indicated horse power (estimated) 10000:
probable speed, l6la knots. Normal coal sup.
ply, SEQ tons; coal supply, loose storage, l. 200
tons; full bunker capacity, !, 100 to l. 500 tons.
Complement Of officers, 49, seamen. marines,
etc. 449.
The main battery will consist of 13-inch
breech loading rifles in Hichborn balanced
turrets. oval in shape. and placed in the cen.
ter line of the vessel; and ii 6-inch rapid fire
guns. The secondary battery will NJ
Is 6-pounder rapid fire guns. 1-pound=r rapid
fire guns, two Colt guns and two Aeld guns
She will carry four torpedo tubes The IL
inch guns have an arc of fire OF I35 degree,
on each side Of the center line; and the q.
inch arc of 80 degrees on the broad side
with the advantage OF those on the upper
deck Of direct fire ahead and astern. Any
injury 10, or near either Of these 6-inch guns
will he confined 10 its own compartment a.
a 1ls-inch steel splinter proof bulkhead sepa.
raess each OF these guns from its neighbor.
The turrets will be operated by electric
power; also the ammunition hoists. and the
dynamo and auxiliary blowers for ventilating
purposes. There will be some eighty od1
auxiliary engines IN the vessel. thus addin>
celerity and certainty with which the work
can be done. The cranes for handling the
boats are operated by steam; also the deck
wtnches, pumps, wind-aSs and steering gear
Qhis latter is lecat-d beneath the protected
deck and several feet below the water line).
The Introduction Of these auxiliary engines
are brought about mainly by the variety anu
nature OF the work to be done and the de-
mand for the latest ard best in every branch
of mechanics represented in a man-of-wae
Manual labor is therefore reduced to a min.
mum; a condition Of affairs which must re-
suit In q greater interest and DEVELOPMENT
of the crew in their special duties as now
required in modern battleship. where fight
fGg and all that leads up to thorough EN-
cheney in that line of art. Is not hand 9 lpBed
by the constant drudgery so universal in the
old-time vessels n our navy.