Evening star., 1898-01-20
SIGNIFICANCE OF TIE CEREMONY
Description of Japan's Magnificent
New Warship.
COMPLETE AND POWERFUL

with pie and end them with soup this
deadly engine Of war was christ ened with
all the emblems of peace, tranquility and
love. When the breathless moment came
and the huge ship began to glide down 10
her first bath In the muddy Delaware, six
doves futtered from a basket at the bow,
ana, circling about the fast receding hull,
scattered flowers on her deck and on the
nondescript structure of timber and iron
from which she slipped gracefully away.
II was very pretty piece of mechanics
and it was lot at all incongruous that the
chief actor of the allegory should be a
charming An erican girl-Miss Helen Long,
daughter of the Secretary of the Navy.
Miss Longs Misfortunc.
The American ceremony of breaking on
the ships prov a bottle of champagne
clothed in the national colcrs as the sponsor
prohouhces the name, was, of course, ig-
nored in today's launching. Indeed, Miss
Long was to have merely drawn the cord
which released the doves and their floral
burdens. The unfortunate fact was, how
ever, that at tie supreme moment the cord
slipped from her hand, and there Is no
telling what may have occurred had not a
braWny workman of the yard Instantly
caught 1t and performed the office. This
was observed only by those IN immediate
proximity to the vessel and the beauty of
this unique launch was In no way marred.
Distinguished Party Present.
The original program called for the
launching of the vessel at high tide. short
ly after the noon hour, but it was delayed
ntil 12:51 o'clock to await the arrival Of
tie Washington party, who came from the
capital in a special train. The salute ac-
corded the foreign fighter at the moment
was ne less noisy than that given time and
t0 hi 4la;r
dips. There was Just as much cheering
and footing of whistles and hand -sha q;
and nationality seemed to be forgotten
II deed the select party on the christening
sand vas Of somewhat polyglot charac-
ter. 1t Included not only high functionnres
OF this country ard Japan. but members
G! the diplomatic corps of Mexico and the
South American republics.
The Japanese minister Toru Hoshi nv
whose invitation Miss Long was chosen
to Christen the Kasagi, beaded the dele
cation from the mikado's court and apart
fro m those attached to his staff in Wash
York and Chicago The American marty
from the capital vas large ard notable,
ir rcluding many state officials and their
ladies'
The Weather Was Wet.
There was only one untoward feature of
the whole affair. 1t rafned Instead of the
sapphire skies Of the east heavy clouds
ters of the Delaware into turbulence and
tossed and 'trembled the big ship in such a
merry fashion that she seemed to be irving
to plunge straight down and come out in
the waters of her adopted country on the
other side of the globe. Yet the elements
we're not too unkind, for only a few mo-
nents before the cruiser slipped off the
ways the rain ceased and the fog on the
river lifted The interval was brief, and a
few minutes later the storm resumed.
There were no after ceremonies at the
yard, but the Washington party, the most
conspicuous members of which were Secre-
tary Long and his daughter, went to the
Hotel Walton, where they were guests of
the japanese minister at dinner. There
was some speechmakipg there but II wac
of an entirely informal character. and
later in the afternoon the visitors left for
home.
Description of the kasngi
The kasagi is the most important ship
ever built in the United States for for
eign country and is the first foreign war
snip launched in America since the Rus
sian warship Zobiaoa, in 1873
The dimensions of the Kasagi are:
Length 37414 feet; breadth, 4SA feet; depth.
80 feet; mean draught, II feet 8 inches;
displacement at that draught 1900 tons
In the specifications she is classed as a
protected cruiser of the second class, and.
like all vessels Of her type has no defensive
armor, relying on her coal bunkers, which
run 10S feet fore and aft of her amidship
section, to protect her engines, which are
entirely below the water line. Above these
is protective deck, having a maximum
thickness of Az inches on the slopes and 1A
inches on the fiat. The motive power is
supplied by two vertical inverted, triple
expansion, four-cylinder engines, driving
twin screws, and estimated to develop, un-
der forced draught, mean speed Of 22h
knots per hour The engines are of =, OO0-
IN,
II single-ended boilers, IA feet inches in
diameter and feet inches in length.
Heavy Batteries.
The batteries on the kasagi are heavier
than those on either the United States
cruisers Minneapolis or Columbia. There
are two S-inch rifles at the sides, and her
armament besides will consist Of ten At
inch quick-firing rifles, mounted in broad
sides; secondary battery of twelve r.
pound quick-firing rifles and six 2h-inch
Hotchkiss guns. When the vessel is hand
ed over TO the Japanese government five
torpedo tubes, IA inches in diameter, will
be mounted.
There are two steel masts on the Kasagi.
These will be provided with fighting tops
IN which rapid-firing guns will be placed
The vessel will be equipped with four pow
erful searchlights, and there will be eight
steering stations BOARD, to provide for al
most any contingency. The engines will be
protected by solid steel matches.
The contract for the Kasagi was signed
with representatives of the Japanese gov
ernment on December 81, 1895, and her
building was carefully watched by Com
mander Katsuro Narita, naval attache of
the mikado's legation at Washington
The Kasagi was named for a mountain in
Japan, where, in the fourteenth century.
the leader of the Hokucho, or Northern
Court faction, was, with his followers, held
at bay after bloody war of sixty years or
more, waged with the Nancho, or Southern
Court The followers of the Hokucho fac,
ton, though seemingly doomed to destruc-
ton, rallied, and. after desperate battle,
achieYed grand victory.
Significance of the Christening.
The custom of releasing a colored dove at
the launching Of a japanese cruiser has
it's origin in history, but more in fable A
feudal chief of the Shinto faith, whose
devotees worship the spirits of their ances-
tors, had a daughter whose hand was asked
in marriage by q chief of another faith.
Stern refusal made determination to wed
only firmer. and elopement followed.