The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-17
OUR ARMSTRONG CRUISER.
DIFFERS OPINIONS As TO THE NEW
ORLEINS,R GENERAL QUALITIES.
Her Tenderness in n senway md Possibiii-
ties of Correcting It-Questions ms to the
Utility of the Copper sheathinE-Hnste
Made in Preparing Her for Manila.

Her Tenderness in n seaway md Possibiii-
ties of Correcting It-Questions as to the
Utility of the Copper SheathinE-Haste
Made In Preparing Her for Manila.
The United States cruiser New Orleans was
taken out Of drydock at the Navy Yard in Brook
Ign yesterday and taken to the coaling dock oppo
| site the COMMANDMENTS Office To receive coal and
stores for her trip to Manila She Is under orders
| 10 sail on Thursday, and there is still so much to
| do INJECTING her fitted out that there will not he
| moment TO spare II she is TO be ready AT tho APP
! pointed time. As she lay late yesterday after
| noon. with coal bargcs alongside ready to unload
! into her, she seemed in anything but condi
ton. The work on her has been hurried forward
| 81 rapidly that the painting Of her freeboard is
| only Just begun, and she stares at the beholder
| with hull piebald in dull red printing paint and
! old murky white. Some Of her officers venturcd
| an opinion that she is likely to go down the bay
| in this condition, and that the painting may not
be completed until she gets to the Philippines
| This, however. is but an insignificant feature Of
| her alleged unrcndiness for service, and many
| criticisms have been made Of her which their
face would make it appear that the New Orleans
is not particularly safe sea ship. and that we did
| not get much Of a bargain when We bought her
| These criticisms would also make il appear that
the Navy Department is dcspatchng her to the
| distant Philippines in condition which could
| only be justified by some pressing need for
naval reinforcemcnts at III" Asiatic station than
the public has knowledge Of
| As nearly as can be ascertained without full
access to official information regarding the ship,
some of these criticisms seem to be Just while other
arc not Just.
| The New Orleans and her sister ship the Albany
which is being finished in England, were
| built by the Armstrong; and bought by us at the
beginning of the serious trouble with Spain and
IT was understood at the time. as il has been assert
ed since, that the purchase made for the double
| purpose Of increasing naval force and 10 pre-
vent Spain from getting the ships When the
| New Orleans arrived here in April, 1898 she was
| sent TO the Navy Yard TO be made ready for I'M
mediate service and the thing which was found
| most to need attention the arrangements
| aboard for officers and crew She had been built
| for the Brazilian Government. from which
| bought her, and probably in accordance with the
| requirements of that service She provided
| with lavish room for officers and not even the
| ordinary accommodations for dcccncy for the crew.
Some new ammunition hoists were put in her and
| the most necessary alterations made to accommodate
men and officers, and she sent into service.
During the war il was observed that she was
| pretty free roller in scaway. and when she
came back to the navy yard here the customary
| tests to determine stability made The
result OF these tests, the gst of which has since
been made public showed that her metacentre
| was not as high as is required by the best naval
engineering and Recommendation was made
| that her commander be warned that under certain
conditions she would be likely, TO be in danger
bad as TO make those who made the observations
consider her a dangerous vessel but merely
ears OF the Armstrong; they took issue with them
and tests were made by them with the sister ship
| the Albany, which is still in their hands. and
suit
In view probably of this tests Of similar
sor, with the New Orleans were recently ordered
and these were conducted in the dry dock yesterday
after the ship had been noatcd and before she
Was taken out. AS far as can be aSCcrtained
the result Of these tests was practically the same
as those made with her last February. Officers
declare that she rolled to an inclination Of 20 de
grees way and 2S degrees the other, and they
say that proper remedy would be To remove one
of her two military masts with its fighting tops
and guns. Officers Of the yard. however, do not
ond Scy nS scaT hat sHmg 1Es so
these observa ions, being of n pendulum character.
are not reliable At any, rate 1t seems clear Thai
the construction bureau does not consider il neCcS
sary TO take out mast or I" make any other
serious changes, as nothing Of the sort is now
| contemplated
when she was ordered To the Navy Yard this
time, il was announced that she WINS in need Of a
he got ready for Asia,ir service IN less than sixty
days. Her hull; engines and boilers, II was said
Of ' ns p"C '' 9" uhrh Rear Rdmia Rdd G%r
is president. went over the ship after she was put
in dry dock las, week, and decided that she could
be made ready for the trip 10 Manila in six days.
Yesterday after she came out Of the dry dock.
everybody seemed To agree That her hull was in
perfect condition and that the only real defect
She now has is in one Of her four boilers Her
chief engineer was said to feel aggricved that
this boiler had not been repaired but no one qucs
toned tina, she could make the trip To the Philip.
pines in safety with three boilers. Capt. Long
RS o The
but this was for the purpose of using the room
| ma, thnrtb ppf rnr al
The New Orleans is shcathCd with wood and
copper to keep her bottom from fouing as is the
, vessel in our service SO shcnthed. Opinions
among naval experts differ as to the merits Of
; is said to believe in it. while naval CONSTRUCTOR
Bowles and others in the bureau are opposed 10
il. The advantage in keeping ship free from
fouling, especially in tropical waters, is manifest
while there is also an acknowledged danger To the
hull from the proximity of the copper to the steel
h hull lii is frs covered with wa"d, boiled on. This
| wooden hull must be caulkcd and made perfectly
water tight or the water will set up ravanic
action between the, copper and steel, which will
rapidly eat away the steel,
| vessels where copper tubing comes out through
the hull and also near the bronze screws and It"
save the Steel in these places zinc plates are APP
I plird. The galvanC Gc:ion then destroys the
p zirk in preference 10 the steel. II the wooden
$ covering Of a, shrathed vessel leaks, the steel
in which this may be known before it eats the
I plates away. except by removing the copper and
| wND1. some Apprehension 'NISlcu lUhl some
action of this sort might threaten tie bottom Of
: the N"r Orleans, and special observations Were
g made upon her when the water ives pumped out
1 Of the dry dock discover signs Of leakage but
none observed except al one place near the
water line, where the snoathinr had been injured
| This was repaired. and il is believed that she is
| not now mrnaCcd by amy such danger.
In many respects the New orleans has proved
herself to bc most vauGbl" vessel Her officers
oil agree that she has fine armament and that
, that she is fast and economical steamer She
was ra ted bv her builders as l.knot ship, but
although it is not believed that she is as COED
as that under any circumstances her officers say
l that she can make IL knots and could pcrha ps
= kccpup that speed on four hour run. IiCrcruis-
ing speed is about 10 knots and il is said that she
; can maintain this with an expenditure Of IS or
40 tons Of coal day tG her bunkcrs hold 75O
tons, she can make run Of nearly $500 knots
without reloading.
Her compliment Of men and officers is nearly
400 She has not vet got the crew aboard that ia
To take her 10 Manila, but this will he made up
within day or two When she was here few
months ago, before being sent to San Domingo n
lot Of her men whose terms Of service were nearly
,Out were transferred, and longer service men