The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-12-11

Washington, December S.-Neyer
since the birth of the new navy has
there has been a gathering of ship
builders, and metal kings as were as
sembled in the office of secretary of the
navy at noon today to witness the open
ing of bids for an amount of ava o
struction which Secretary Long denom-
mated as the greatest Industrial event
this, OF any other country had ever
seen, invoking the placing of contracts
for about $50, 900, 900.
secretary left the cabinet meet
Alto preside at the ceremony, and as
with him were the chiefs of
She great ava bureaus. Admiral HIGH
born, Admiral Melville, Admiral O'Neil
and others.
Among the spectators were Henry
Scott, Ch4rles and Edwin Cramp, Mr..
Trigg, of the Richmond Locomotive
Works; President Morse, Manager New
man and John Lindsay, of the New
York Shipbuilding Company, the new
Delaware River consern; Manager
Clarke, of the Miles Tool Company;
Lou Nixon, of the Crescent Works:
President Olcott. Judge Payson. and
Manager Post, of the Newport News
Works; F. o. Wellington, and H. T.
EIwell, of the Fore River Works; the
Moran Brothers. of Seattle; President
Taylor and Mr.. Tarbett, of the Risdon
Shipbuilding Company; o. Dialogue,
of Camden, and a number of others
identified with shipbuilding.
There were eight bidders. and most
of the bids were we'll within the limit
of cost allowed by congress for the
ships.
I'll --+,LI~ f1o%,,-o 100, ~ +&1-.-
on the part of the younger and smaller
concerns to break the line of the old
organizations which have constructed
all of the heavy vessels of the new navy
up to this time.
While it is not possible at this mo-
ment to forecast results accurately,
there are that in at least
one instance and perhaps two instances
these attempts will be attended with
some degree of success, for it looks as
though some of the work will be be-
slowed upon the Fore River Company,
which appears for the first time as a
bidde for constructing armored ships.
The Pacific Coast, too, presents a like
Iy candidate in the Morans' bid. Be-
cause of changes made in the specihca-
tions by the bidders. the general tend
ency of which is to considerably reduce
the equipment of the ships, it is no
o.ssible yet to tell which of the bids
actually the lowest.
naval board will consider the bids
Nd report upo them. n acts OF
congress limit the cost of the cruisers
to So 500. 900 each and of the battleships
to 81. $50. 900 for the sheathed and 1000,
600 for the unsheathed.
Secretary Long expressed himself as
pleased with the result of the bidding
and tina the bids were liberal The
bids were for five new battleships ant
six armOred cruisers. a~gSregating q to-
tai displacement of 154. 900 tons. OF the
b~attIeships, namely, the Pennsylvania
New Jersey, Georgia, Virginia anC
Rhode Island! three are to be sheatheC
n coppered, and will carry superim'
posed turrets; the other two are to bt
unsheathed vessels, having the quad
dilateral arrangement" of S-inch tur
rets.
The sheathed vessels are to be Of 15,
900 tons displacement, with a length O
435 feet, breadth of 76 feet, 10 inches
and greatest draft of 26 feet. The un
sheathed ships are Slightly smaller, an(
on the same length are ~ inches mar
rover, and 400 tons less displacement
Both classes of battleships Will compar'
with any in the world, not only afoa
but projected. They will have a spec
of at least 10 knots, which is expected
to run up TO 1872. Each battleship vii
carry fou Pinch guns. These are o
the extraordinary length of 40 calibre
or ~ feet IN the pore. III the luTe
sheathed vessels, a pair of S-ipch gun
will be mOunted on the top Of each i
inch turret. Four other S-inch gun
will be distributed in two turrets amid
ships.
The unSheathed vessels will have a
of their eight S-inch guns mounted i
four Independent turrets, one placed a
each corner of the oblong SuperStruc
ture.
10Th classes of vessels, sheathed an
asheathed. will have a broadside c
selve 6-inch rapid fire guns on tn
main deck, besides twelve ~14-pounder:
and twelve 2-pounderS and q numoe
of automatic guns. making the batter
ability to concentrate fire. and thro'
more formidable than any afloat fo
weight of material.
In the matter of defensive power, tn
battleships of both classes are unsuI
passed.
The six armored cruisers represer
the highest development of the navs
constructors art. for Chief Construct
Hichborn has not only managed to de
sign the ships as fleet as any foreig
navy can boast. but has endowed thel
with the qualities of battleships Z
many points. Three of these ships al
to be sheathed. and three are to be UT