Evening star., 1898-07-23

acknowledged the attention of the crowd
with smiles and salutes. He was attired
in neat business suit of brown, and wore
a brown Derby hat.
Lieut.. Hobson does not have a beard as
he is represented in some of the recent
newspaper pictures, but only a mustache,
as he was shown IN the pictures printed
just after the Merrimac exploit.
Lieutenant Hobson was driven to the
Army and Navy Club, where he brushed
himself UP and deposited his baggage.
Many of the people who had seen him at
the depot followed On bicycles and in We
hicles, and when he emerged from the club
a few minutes later to go to the Navy De-
partment another ovation was given him.
His coming had been talked around at the
Navy Department, and a crowd of clerks
and others had assembled to see him. He
arrived at the department a few minutes
before O'clock, and had difficulty IN maxi
ing his way through the crowd to Secre-
tary Longs office. Everybody wanted to
shake the lfeutenants hands and to speak
a word with him. The corridors of the
buldlng rang with shouts, causing an out
pouring from all the offices near enough
to find out what was going on.
At the Navy DEPARTMENT..
Secretary Long met Lieutenant Hobson
in the most cordial manner and introduced
him to Assistant Secretary Alien, Pension
Commissioner Evans and Others The
young officer was heartily greeted by Cap
tain Bradford and other friends
Lieut.. Hobson was directed by Admiral
Sampson to ''pl oceed to Washington and
report to the Secretary of the Navy and
acquaint him with the object Of your visit,
as set forth in my letter to him of this
date, regarding the work upon the Cristobal
Colon Explain TO him fully the position
and condition of that ship, and receive his
instructions regarding it,
BE as expeditions as possible in bringing
the matter to termination, in order that
if it is practicable TO do so, this fine ship
raay be saved to the United States navy.
when this duty is completed you will
ask for orders from the Secretary of the
Navy. Otherwise, you will return to duty
on board this ship"
Lieutenant Hobscn conferred about an
hour with Secretary Long, and when he
walked out to go TO the office of Chief
Constructor Hichboru he was again re-
ceiVed with enthusiastic cheers.
Concerning the efforts that are being
made to save some of the Spanish ships
Lieut. Hcbson informed Secretary Long
that two of the vessels. the Rena Mer-
cedes and the Infanta Maria Teresa, would
be saved certainly. and he expressed the
utmost confidence that the Cristobal Colon
could be saved also. With respect to the
Colon, Lieut.. Hobson differs from the
"ItthlIS tAlbtElS WHO were sent from the
United States to float the vessels If pos
sible. They are of opinion that the Colon
cannot be saved. They think she is so
badly damaged, both by the shots from
the fleet and by having been run upon the
shore, that efforts to save her would be
time and money wasted. Lieut.. Hobson is
confident, however that if the proper ap-
pliances are employed that the ship can be
fioated and restored completely. He is par
ticuiarly anxious that every possible ef-
fort be made with the Colon. as he regards
the ship as the finest of her class that
was ever constructed.
Secretary Long said that if the Colon
could be saved she would be- He was
much impressed with the statements made
by Lieut.. Hobson, and agrees with him
that every effort should be made.
At the White House.
About $50 O'Clock Lieut.. Hobson went to
the White House with Secretary Long,
the two walking over to the Executive
Mansion from the Navy Department. The
President received them in the cabinet
room He paid to Lieut.. Hobson a high
tribute for what he regarded as one of
the most conspicuous acts Of gallantry in
the history of naval warfare.
The lieutenant modestly acknowledged
the compliments and turned the conversa-
tion to the object of his mission to Wash
ing made to save the Cristobal Colon of
Admiral Cervera'S S squadron.
After remaining with the President for
half an hour. the Secretary and Lieut..
Hobson left the White House, the former
going to his home and the latter TO the
Army and Navy Club
He is enthusiastic in his efforts to save
the ships, and, declining to remain in
Washington for even a day, hurried back
to New York at midnight to take up the
subject OF his mission with the wrecking
company.
Lieut.. Hobson will remain in this coun-
try several days, but as soon as possible
he will return to Cuba TO pursue his work
on the wrecking of the Spanish vessels.
Result of the Visit.
Lieut. Hobsons visit is expected to bring
about an enlargement of the plans for
saving the wrecked Spanish cruiser Girls
tobal Colon and some of the other strand
ed ships of the Cervera squadron. The de-
partment had already acted on the recon-
mendations of Admiral Sampson but these
coming by mail and telegraph were neces-
sarily limited, while the complete infor-
nation brought by Lieut.. Hobson, based
on personal observations and an expert
knowledge of conditions. enabled the de-
partment to get much more thorough
idea of tho scope of this wrecking pro-
ject and the possibilities of saving the
ships. 1t appears that the Colon is lying
on terraced beach. only about one-half
of her hull being on shore, while the other
half is an overhang in deep water. 1t has
been found that the portion of the ship
on shore can be raised without much diff
Guilty, but the overhang creates problem,
as 1t creates a balance or leverage which
interferes with the work on that part of
the hull ashore. To meet this, 1t is now
proposed to adopt an engineering scheme
on considerably broader lines than the
usual wrecking devices 1t will embrace
a system of air bags and pontoons f,os ted
underneath the overhang and gradually
buoyirg it upward until the strain ON the
shore end Of the hull is relieved. In this