Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1898-11-19
JbRPEpo BOATS
BEHIND IN. SPEED.
Hone of These Tried Have Yet Mnds
ths Required speed psmandsd
BY the oovsFnmsT



New YORK, Nov. IA dispatch \
Tho Tribune from Washington says: .
The first Of the s0.knot torpedo boats
built In the United States. and the only
one Of that speed which has yet under.
gone official trial, has finally failed to
reach the requirements after three At.
tempts, the first two Of them resulting
In serious damage to the vessel. A telo.
gram received from Lieutenant Com.
mander Franklin J. Drake by Secretly
Long shows that the Farragut, on her
final trial near San Francisco ON Nov.
10 ran 1913 knots In an hour. lie says
that this remarkably high speed was
achieved with no excessive vibration OF
hull or undue friction Of engines. The
vessel ran straight away for half an
hour At the rate Of ~. "a knots, followed
by turn, accomplished within 10 min.
utes and another dash Of half an hour.
this time at the rate Of sOi0 knots, the
average for the whole course being 20 rs.
The Union ironworks Of San Francisco.
which built the vessel, has appealed to
Secretary Long TO accept her, declaring
tina, she easily makes the required speed
Of 30 knots under ordinary conditions,
but was retarded in the official trial fy
shallow water and heavy head winds In
the first half. when the speed fell b..
hind the contract rate.
The act Of congress Of June 10, 1896,
authorizing the vessel and the Dahlgren
and the T. A. NJ. Craven, now building
At Bath, Me is novel In that IL stipu.
lates that the vessels shall make al Least
80 knots, and the contracts call for that
speed, and declare that II the vessels
fail 20 make II they shall be rejected.
The department was, therefore, com.
PEELED 20 decide that a fourth trial would
be necessary for, being powerless 10
waive the conditions, although the be.
lief was general among the officers that
n difference of seyenteen.hundredths Of
knot was impracticablo OF measure.
ment In n 3j-mile run.
The two similar boats building NJ
Bath, Ne are within 90 per cent Of
completion, and it l. expected that their
trials will take place Ia about month.
All three o. the vessels should have been
delivered { the government under con.
tract in the early part Of last spring, !
and they they have already accumulat.
ed large bills on account Of the delay
penalties The failure ~ tho Union
ironworks 10 readily accomplish it, de-.
signed velocity, although the SCOTS,
who built her, are famous Tor the exc
lence Of their work, as shown In the Or.
egon, the Monterey, the Olympia the
San Francisco. Charleston and other
vessels, Il thought 20 foEeshadow much
greater difficulties with the Bath iron.
works boats, M that company has hith.
erto had indifferent success with the
vessels IL has furnished 10 the navy,
with the possible exception Of the gun.
boats Machias and Casfino, although
their performance has not been extraor.
binary.
An instance OF Pacific coast energy
under difficulties was shown at the navy
department In the issuance OF orders for
Commander Drake, Naval Constructor
Spar and Engineer Smith 20 NEE, at the
shipyarls Of Wolf 81 Zwicker, Portland,
Ore, on Nov ~, to try the torpedo boat
Davis II was aboard this vessel that
about three weeks ago seven men were
killed by the explosion OF one Of her
boilers on q trial trip. A new boiler and
other extensive repairs have been com.
pleted In this remarkably short time and
another attempt will b. made next Tues.
day 10 maintain speed Of 22is knots
for two hours. A 22iS knot boat, the
Fox, is also practically completed at the
Wolf q Iwickor works and will be tried
a. soon a. the Davis Is accepted by the
government
Tho 26.knot boat Rowan which should
have been finished by Moran Bros, at
Seattle last January, may also b. adde
% the navy before the end Of the year.
completing The first four and only torpe.
do boats on the Pacific coast. the Allan.
tic fleet having hitherto monopolized
this typo OF craft
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/ MENJc IA DDtrr