The times., 1898-04-14
ST. LOUIS AND ST. PAUL.
Two Great ships Purchased by the
Government Ye-terdav

The purchase of the American line
steamships ST Paul and St Louis has
been ordered by the President and they
will be pressed into service as auxiliary
cruisers. The Navy Department intends
to make other purchases of steamships
now engaged in transatlantic passenger
traffic as soon as condemnation proceed
ings can be arranged.
President Griscom called at the Navy
Department Tuesday afternoon and was
eloseted with Secretary Long for over an
hour. As result of the recommended
tons made upon the representations Of
Mr.. Griscom the Secretary communicated
with President Mckinley. who ordered
the purchase to be made.
It is stated at the Navy Department
that in response to question OF Secre-
tary Long during the interview Presi-
dent Griseom told him that the captain
of the st. Paul had Informed him that
the officers of the ships We're ready and
anxious to accept commissions in the
Navy Of the United States. Tfe also was
sure that the crew would volunteer as a
unit
Ii is believed that Jne officers and crew
of the St. Louis also viii volunteer their
services.
As soon as the desails Cl :he purchase
are arranged the steamers viii be ordered
to the Brooklyn navy ya~d. where they
viii be fitted out as auxiliary cruisers
The st. Louis riJcd III the lizard at
IL o'clock yesterday ard is abogt ready
10 make her return TRIP The ST. Paul is
expected to arri[e in New York tomOI-
row night.
TIL
twin-screw vessels They are each 554
feet Ions. with breadth of So feet. The
tonnage of the ST. Louis is 1f.629 tons.
while that of the st. Paul is II 600 They
are 42 feet in depth. and are subdivided
into IL watertight compartments on the
same improved plan as those of the Paris
and the New York and each has a dis
placement of 1900 tons when drawing
20 feet of water. Before boilers or en-
gines were put on board over 5000 tons
of steel had been used in the construc-
tion of the hull of each ship.
They have speed Of about q knots an
hour, and are capable of even better
time.
These steamers are magnificent speci-
mems Of naval architecture. and were
specially constructed for the Atlantic
service They are unexeelIed in comfort
and safety by any steamers afiOat. Their
construction Is in excess OF the most
rigid requirements.
The st. Louis and the St. Paul are two
of the largest transatlantic mail steam
ers in the world; both are created by
American genius and American capital.
alike in all particulars. and they are
regarded as colossal monuments of the
renaissance from the inactiOn which has
been forced upon the American ship
builder by various circumstances in re-
cent years.
In each ship there are ten boilers. con-
tanning over thirteen miles of tubing six
double-ended and four singIe-ended. The
engines of propulsion are Of a newer and
more effective type than those Of any
other transatlantic liner. There are two
of them in each ship. of the quadruple
expansion type. each working through
six cylinders at a pressure of 200 pounds
and it is calculated that they viii de-
velOp twenty thousand horsepower.
1t was stated yesterday at the offices
of the American line in this city that no
orders have been received regarding a
contemplated change in the sailing sche-
dulles OF the st. Louis and the ST. Paul
1t is believed that as soon as the con-
demnatiOn proceedings made necessary
by the subsidy act are finished the
American line viii replace them with
ships from other lines