The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-13

protective deck and shield the ammunition
hoists and the turning gears of the turrets.
The forward bulkhead is 10 inches thick; the
after one 12 A Protective deck OF hardened
steel 2% inches thick rests on the four walls
formed by the athwartship bullxheads and
the inner edge of the inlaid side a-mor.
Under the protecting shelter of this heavy
roof and many feet of coal lie the engines,
the boilers the magazines and the she'll
rooms-the vitals. in fact, OF the ship. A
broad band Of cellulose. extending from
stem to stern and back Of the 5-inch armor
which protects the sides amsdships from the
heavy armor.beIt ap to the main deck, win
automatically plug all shot holes admitting
water
The protective deck covering the vitals
amidships is run slantingly TO the bow and
the stern, and forward forms the backbone
of the murderous ram. which lies just be-
low the water.
Two sets Of triple expansion engines, each
in It's own water-tght compartment, will
actuate the twin screws, while five great
boilers, teeming with the pressure of $50
pounds of steam, will supply the energy
needful to drive those engines and turn
those screws quite 120 times minute.
The turrets will be turned and controlled
by electricity-the first instance on so large
q scale on any vessel and the same power
viii bring the ammunition from its store
rooms to the breeches of all the large guns,
the six-pounders and less excepted.
Each mast will be fitted with its own sig
nal outfit, and the lower half of each mast
will form vast wind-pipe down which
fresh air will be drawn to the depths Of the
craft
Eighty odd auxiliary engines Will reduce
the tax upon the muscular energies of the
crew, and add to the efficiency of the ship
by handling and lowering the boats, raising
the anchors loading the coal, discharging
the ashes, bringing the shot, shell and
powder from the depths below to the gun
stations and turning the turrets, and, ex-
cept for the guidance of these mechanisms,
manual labor is practically unneedfuI.
OTHER FEATURES
Compared with any of our old wooden
ships of the line the contrast is instructive.
Steam will spread its comforting glow for
all alike where the occasional small stove
or hot cannon ball did service in the past;
and immense revolving fans will force fresh
air into the most secret recesses of these
ships and make every nook and Granny
purer than the actual living spaces of our
ancient craft, whose between deck quarters
were so often foul with the noxious fumes
of bilge water and rotten wood. While the
refulgence of hundreds of electric lights will
shed brightness everywhere and substitute
the tallow dip so grudgingly allowed of yore.
DistiIlers, with a daily output of thousands
of gallens, will give fresh, pure water where
once the rusty tanks yielded a tainted,
stinted portion. Splendid galleys will cook
in liberal bounty the warm bread and
wholesome food for the modern crew; and a
refrigerating plant-with a daily cooling
equivalent of ton Of ice-will preserve
afresh the provender, ana, instead of the
salt horse and hard-tack of tradition, the
sailor of to-day can have his soft bread
and shore grub when days and days at sea.
What the dark, gruesome, unventilated
cock pit Of the past was to the ;nvalided
seaman the modern sick-bay is the cheerful
opposite, and where deck bucket and cold
sea water formed the bath equipment until
recent times, attractive tubs and hot and
cold water at will make uncleanliness
crime to-day.
To-day the steam launches do most of the
work that once fell upon the boats crews,
and where miles upon miles of rope ran
aloft to hold the masts and manage the
sails, thousands upon thousands of feet of
steam and water pipes, stored within the
hull, do like transfer of power many times
greater, and great puzzling pumps, with a
drawing greed of hundreds upon hundreds
of gallons minute keep the compartments
and divisions of the inner bottom free Of
water-a weary, wearing service that once
fell to the crew.
The modern ship is one great maze of
mechanism, which the mere pressure of a
tiny button may stop or start, and from the
guiding power in the armored fighting sta
Iion to the nerve terminals at the guns, by
the engines, or in the magazines, mo-
ment's delayed response may make mar
the glory of the flag she bears With 1210
tons of coal on board, and at a cruising
speed of ten knots an hour, the vessels will
be- able to cover six thousand knots, while
at the rate of thirteen knots an hour, they
can easily cover $500. Under a press, five
hundred more tons of coal can be carried,
yielding a corresponding wider range of ac-
ton.
The Kearsarge will be christened by Mrs.
Winslow the wife of Lieutenant Com
mandant Winslow, the son of the officer
commanding the old Kearsarge in her men,
orahle fight.
The Kentucky will be christened by Miss
Bradley the daughter of the Governor of
the State Of Kentucky. Old salts shake
their heads ominousy, and say that tradi-
ton will bear them out in saying these yes
sells will be unlucky-the kearsarge be-
cause christeled by a married woman, and
the kentucky because she is to be baptized
with water; but some of the most success
full Of the worlds fighting craft have been
sponsored by married women, while the
Hartford was baptized only with water, and
that in three handspring water, river
water, and, best OF all, sea water.