New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-20
THE COLUMBIA IN PORT HERE
ohE ARRIVED YESTERDAY AFTER HER
PATROL OF THE NEw-ENGLAND COAST.

PATROL OF THE NEw-ENGLAND COAST.
Inc United States cruiser Columbia arrived hero
''e.eiuay' ana is now anchored at the Government
anchorage off Tompkinsville Staten Island 7, s
not known how long she will remain In port She
WIS sighted on the NewJersey coast at $40 o'clock
Yesterday morning. and at o'clock she came into
the harbor
Inc columbia has been cruising off the New
England coast for the last three weeks Together
with her sister ship. the Minneapolis she was sent
on' hampton Roads when the American liner
Farls and the recently purchased Topeka were on
thelr way over here. The two cruisers were sup
posed TO have gone TO TO protect the two vessels
from Spanish warships. When the Paris and the
topeka safely entered port the cruisers continued to
patrol the NewE England coast running into differ
ent ports almost daily for orders until last week.
when the auxiliary cruisers Yankee. Yosemite and
fralrie were put into commission and sent ont to
90 that work. Tho Minneapolis was then ordered
10 Norfolk. and from there she Key West
70 Join the fleet in Cuban waters. The Columbia
Tor the last few days has been off the Delaware
Capes On Wednesday she received signals from
the lighthouse there and at put No
person was allowed to board her yesterday and her
orcers would not state when the cruiser would
leave this port
The Columbia is Of the protected cruiser class and
differs from the armored cruisers New-York and
Brooklyn IN her greater speed and her lighter armor
and guns. Both the Columbia and the Minneapolis
created a sensation when their designs we're made
public and when they made their phenomenal speed
record there was even more surprise. The Columbia
was designed 10 act as n commerce destroyer Hence
she has great length-4l2 feet-hne lines and
IRENE horsepower. the indicated horsepower on
her trial trip being 1862 Her protection consists Of
a steel deck two inches the fiat and four inches
on the slopes. The armament is light for ship OF
her size, consisting OF two 6-inch guns the bow
one s-inch al the stern for stopping any power
ful enemy who might he giving chase, and broad
side battery Of eight 4-inch rapid fire guns
One o. the most interesting features of the Colum
oa is her machinery, with its triple set OF
and three independent triple panson engines
one screw IS placed Immediately in front OF the
helm on the axis OF the ship. The two other
are one each side OF the stern about fifteen feet
forward of the middle screw.
For ordinary cruising the central will give
alone speed Of about fifteen knots. When the
two side screws used without the central screw
a speed OF from seventeen TO nineteen knots Is
power the cruiser can attain a speed OF 22Os knots
an hour. one test OF the Columbia made
which showed what she could do in the way Of sus-
tained speed. She ordered to from South
ampton to New-York at full speed She left South
ampton July g. 1895. at noon. and reached Sandy
Hook the following Friday. the distance OF three
thousand knots having been covered in six days
twenty-three hours and fortynine minutes. at an
average speed of 1s.4 knots an hour. The trip
inally intended 10 use forced draught the last
day. but the force Of coa-passers insufficient
to bring the coal from the more remote bunkers fast
enough TO supply the fire
The cruiser carries a OF $50 men all told. She
has coal capacity OF 1870 tons.