The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-08-04
THE MONITOR.
Ericsson's Historic IroncIad and It's Trip
to Hampton Roads.

Ericsson's Historic Ironciad and Its THY
to Hampton Roads
The Monitor had been formally COM
missioned on Feb. 90, 1862, under COM
mand of Lieutenant John l.. WordeD,
u. S. N. Twelve officers and 40 enlist.
ed men comprised her personnel. Chief
Engineer A. O.. Sinners, the superln-
tendent of construction, went to sea IN
thetvessel to observe her performance
and give the officers the benefit OF bis
knowledge. He was, as stated by Colo
mel w. O. Church in his Life OF John
Ericsson, - the only man ON board who
thoroughly understood the characterls'
tics of the vessel. = ~. I.
The voyage to Hampton Roads was
eventful, and almost ended the career
Of the Monitor, and with,it the fate CT
ironcIads for an indefinite time. Rough
weather was encountered, and wafer
broke over the smoke and blower trunks,
nearly putting out the fires and stopping
the pumps iron lack of steam for four
or five hours on one occasion. Loss ny
laundering was imminent at this time,
because of the great quantity OF water
that got into the vessel under the base
of the turret and through the hawse
pipes. The blowers stopped because tho
belts got wet and the engine and fire.
rooms filled with noxioas gas from the
fires and had to be abandoned. in try.
ing to remedy this trouble the chief en-
gineer, Mr.. Newton, and his assistants
were overcome by the gas@and were car
ga % ID x~r~ - L,n FhDY
revived, though they were thought dead
when dragged oat Of the engine room.
Trouble and danger also resulted from
the wheel ropes jumping off the steer
ing wheel and becoming damned.
After two days Of toll and peril the
Monitor escaped from the dangers CT
the sea into the presence of new enc
my. Late ia the afternoon Of March {
she passed in at the capes Of Chesapeake,
and from the sound of Shouted guns
p knew that her time for action had Cotne
thus early in her career. The MerrlmaG
was abroad that very afternoon, and
wreck and destruction fouled her wake.
A rude improvised ironclad herself, she
marked a new era in naval warfare. and
before her lay large feet of supposedly
formidable ships of war as helpless as a
flock Of sheep assailed by wolf.
Night fell before the Monitor came
up to the seemingly doomed Union fleet
in Hampton Roads. The Merrimac had
glutted her thirst for blood for the day
and was at anchor and at rest, but IL
her silence in presence of the ships that
eLo f0 Oft in, ia mr.
stood for all that men understand by
the dominion of the seas. Lighted by
the burning wreck of the frigate Con
gress, the Monitor moved up toward
Newport News and anchored near the
stranded Minnesota, upon which vessel,
it was certain, the first blow of the
morrow would fall.
From either historical or theat'
| rical point of view the stage settings
were now complete. With the night the
curtain had fallen upon the last of &
| long series of glorious deeds, performed
under an order of seamanship or see
| tactics that had already long passed it!
| meridian, but which for romance ant
chivalry exoelled any that had preceded
it, and, it must be admitted, excellet
that which was now to rudely supplan
! it. A new type of sea warrior apd .
new type Of warship were about to ap
pear upon the waters The engineer
machine Ct Ichn Ericsson was to fac'
! the fabric that represented the engineer
ing ingenuity Of the American south
and the result of tue et1coanter woult
infiict fright upon the romance of tn,
sea and transform the masted navies O
the world into useless relics in a day
F. M. Bennett, U. S. N, in CASTER
| Magazine,