Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1898-06-09
THESE SHIPS ARE FOR WAR
Non C0mbatant Vessels That Serve the Men,
of-Nar as Floating Hospitals, Helpers,
etc.-Are Never Fired Upon.

The finest of our fighting ships, with
all their boosted self-suficiency, their
manifold mechanism, and their COM
pick provisions against accident or
mishap, are really helpless creations
the moment their coal supplies become
exhausted. Nothing could be more
pathetically distressed than a great
battleship wallowing aimlessly in
seaway, her powers of offense intact
but paralyzed, like her great body, for
want OF energy or it's correlatiye, coal;
her great eyes blind for want of cleo
trical force; her lungs fouled by faint
ed air because Of her halted blowers;
her whole body either feverish or chill
led. as the weather dictated. for want
Of circulation or proper respiration; and
her complement athirst for need Of
enough heat to transform that tantaliz-
ing sea water into drink. Such a
thing is distinctly possible, and 1t is
against even the slightest approach to
a like condition that we have taken
ample means to provide.
The modern, heavy fighting craft
carries between eighty and ninety en-
glnes of various sorts, aside from those
directly occupied in propelling the
ship; and, under normal Circumstance
es, 1t Is quite safe to say that at least
fifteen or twenty per cent of all steam
generated is taken up in their service.
Most of them are vital to the fighting
efficiency of the vessel; but there are
a few of them, such, for instance. as
the engineers workshop, the distillers
and the refrigerating plant, which may
be termed auXiliaries OF secondary i'm
portancei and 1t is the purpose of the
government to run these accessories
on half-time, SO to speak, and to leave
Just that much more energy for other
more needful purposes. To this end.
we have fitted up the repair ship, the
distiller ship, and the refrigerator ship.
while to the GOLFERS has been relegated
the common service of supplying coal
to all craft distant from ready bases
of supply and the engineer-in-chief
has done his utmost to make them cap
able.
The Repair Ship.
The repair ship, fittingly named the
Vulcan, was the well-known steamer
Chatham. OF the Merchant and Miners
line, between Baltimore and Boston.
Into the ship has been placed some
thing like eighty tons of tools and ma
chinery, and today the vessel is a YER
liable floating workshop. There are
plate bending rolls. and punching and
shearing machines that can bite right
through an inch of solid steel. There
are lathes for turning castings of con-
siderable size, and planners, drills and
milling machines of compass enough to
meet almost any need short of that de-
manded in the complete reconstruction
of large engine. There are pipe cut
tiers, bolt cutters, FORCES and grind
stones; and there ia a good-sized cupo-
la for the melting of sufficient metal
to make a pretty heavy casting. There
are number of blowers to supply the
several FORCES and to draw foul air
from between decks and to send 1t
skyward through the red mouthed ven
tilators above. There are also evan
orators and distillers of a capacity
equal to a daily output of quite 10 900
gallons of potable water-several times
more than the needs of the Vulcan
could demand. A supplemental cleo
trio plant has given excellent lighting
facilities through the ship, but prin-
eipally in the workshops on what is
termed the third deck.
The purpose OF this craft is manifest.
She is to follow in the wake of a fleet
her great coal capacity giving her a
wide radius Of action, and she is to
supply fresh water to the other vessels
and to make then and there all possible
repairs which might otherwise take
the ships miles and miles away to some
naval station.
A broken spindle might render help
less two great guns; but a few hours
work on the Vulcan would remedy the
trouble; and even less time might
place the engines of one of our torpedo
boats In trim after considerable
break. AT the close of an engagement,
the wounded vessels could hasten TO
her or she to them, and such work then
be done as to place them back in the
line of battle. once more a formidable
menace to the foe.
The mission and the usefulness of
such a craft can not be overestimated.
when every pound of coal must tell its
tale of work we'll done in our defense.
1t is very modern adaptation of that
wise saw, "A stitch in time saves nine"
and a typical instance of the great
value of a travelling base of repairs.
The Distiller Ship.
The distiller ship. now named the
Iris, was the British steamer Menem-
sha. Unlike the Vulcan, the Iris will
make no repairs, but will be devoted
solely to converting The oceans brine
Into drinking water; and to this end,
she will carry very large supply of