The evening times., 1900-07-31


cruiser Variag, queen of her class. and a
| triumph of the genius of American ship
building, is the centre of admiration since
she came up the Delaware yesterday morn
ing from her official trial trip. during
which she made as much as 24.6 knots an
hour. Although an accident prevented a
! test for the entire period required by the
contract. the Russian Board OF Inspection
| unanimously agreed that the essential con-
ditions of the trial have been complied
with. and that there could be no reason
able doubt OF the ability Of the vessel to
MAINTAIN a considerable excess Of the speed
demanded by he Imperial Government
As the Cars trim new fighter moved
gracefully up stream at slow speed she
was viewed by hundreds Of spectators from
the shore. On herabridge, besides Captain
I Sergeant. who directed the movements of
( the cruiser during her trial. We're officers
| or the Russian Navy and the Cramp Ship
building Company. Officers and men alike
exhibited evidences Of pride at the record
breaking performances Of the Variag and
{ from amidships was sgnaled the fact that
the vessel had attained a speed Of 23.6
( knOts per hour, and at one time had MADE
24.6 knots.
When the vessel reacher her berth at
] Cramps shipyard she vas received with
! demonstrations Of joy by the more than
/ I,OCO men who had participated in her con-
I strUctiOn. Steam whistles and bells in the
I shipyard noisily proclaimed the triumph of
their handiwork. As the representatives
of the contracting company and her crew
came down TIE sangplank they were con
F.; graduated on the splendid showing Of the
! cruiser
The Veriag left Philadelphia a week ago
last Sunday and went directly 20 the coast
/ OF Maine. where a lG-nile nautical course
I had been measured off to determine the
lumber Of revolutions necessary to be
made by the screws to develop the contract
/ sDoe' Of twen-y-three knots per hour for
I twelve hours.
SeveIa! runs were made back and forth
ever the course. and after the mean result
had been determined the Russian Board
Of Inspection decided last Thursday that
141 1-2 revolutions per minute would be
necessary 10 develop speed Of twenty
/ three knots After these calculations haA
been made the ship returned 10 Boston.
l where she lay in the upper harbor. taking
on whatever supplies were needed for the
. official test, which vas more severe in its
! requirements than has ever been imposed
. On any ether war ship.
Saturday last was tire day set for the
/ supreme test Of endurance and speed. The
/ early morning hours fsdud every man OF
. the experienced crew az his place doing his
. best TO prepare the cruiser fer a hard DAYS
I work. Edwin 5. CTamp. J. Harry Null y
! ?. TOwne. and Captain Sergeant visited
I every compartment Of the vessel directing
| the men who were 10 put the cruiser over
the course
I Promptly at L o'clock room a-c1or as
/ weighed. and the vessel steamed s'owiy
out TO sea until O'Clock. when the twelve
| hour continuous rur was Commenced n
| laying 0Ur the course Nantucket Sbo.l was
! given a wide berth. the ship running eff 20
| the eastward. At a given signal the race
| for record began. and the Variag shot
/ through a choppy sea as thou--h she were
a machine endowed with sup r Umau pow
er. For seven and IN alf hours the con-
I tract speed vas exceeded. varying from
23-6 to 23.I knots per hour. Then an ac-
( Cident happcntLtO one OF tn high pressure
cylinders. compelling the shutting OF Of
one engine ard the abandonment Of the re-
naming four ana n half hours OF the trial.
Inasmuch as the speed already deyel-
oDed on Boon Island and in the first sven
and a half hours OF the official run al sea
had exceeded the requirements the Res
sia- officials decided that a further test
was not necessary. Notwithstanding the
fact that considerable bad weather was
experienced during the various phases OF
in all kinds Of seas, demonstrating ttat
she IS as perfect gun platform as YES
sci Ct the cruiser class can ie.
Upon the completion Of The trial. the
Russian officials bot of whom are mem
hers of the board of inspection. and B3rcn
FersOn, Naval AJtGche Of the Ruszi,u En-
. bassy. said the Earaig was the best shin
I of her class in existence
The Niciausse water tube boilers were
/ given their first trial in an Americau-built
Z ship on this occasion Il is said thar in the
/ generating Of steam ana facility Of firing
/ they more than filled every expectation.
/ When the vessel was running at speed
/ Of 22-1 knCJs. the boilers developed about
! 17.CcG horse power easily unGsr natural
draft and while 10 per cent Of the furnaces
[ were being cleaned and relieved Of ashes.
This proves that the ship has a wide mar
! gin Of excess Of steam generating capacity.
/ The finishing touches VIII be put Upon
/ the faTiag al once. and il is believed she
| viii be delivered to her owners in about
! six weeks Having been christened and
/ blessed at her launching. there will be no
/ formal ceremonies when she is turned over
/ to the representatives Of the Russian Gov
/ ernmeuL The Nariag's destination is not
I known. but il is surmiseG that once on the
| high seas she viii not be long reaching an
important station-pOssibIy in Chinese wa
/ ters.
! Edwin 5. CramD superintendenting en-
/ gineer Of the ShipbUilCing Company. after
/ his return from the trial trip. said that
! amcng the interesting facts established be
/ yond doubt was the absolute accuracy of
/ the results obtained oy the method com
/ monty termed by the English and other
I European authorities as "the stanGardizing
! Of the revolution Of the screws
/ The meSning OF that is" said Nr.
I hV ri
lively short measured course the number
I OF revolutions required to produce a given
| speed is accurately determined from an av-
! er2ge OF the several runs made under va
I rying conditions. ~
I Such a determination was made in .ba
! case Of the VaTiag AMI its accuracy was
/ tested after the ship left Boston at nOos
| last Saturday, when her latitude and
/ longitude We're. of course. correctly reck-
oned. From that time until Sunday noon
| -twenty-four hours-the ship was run by
courses and her travel calculated by the
/ number of revolutions made according to
/ the slip which had been determined for diff
! ferent speeds.
Although during this run Of twenty
/ four hours the speed at different times va
ried from q minimum OF ten knots to q
maximum Of 23.7. and the course was
| changed or modified three or four times
! yet the meridian observations Of Sunday
/ noon showed. by actual calculation. that
! the ship was within a half mile OF the
! point which had been adduced by her
J 90 ord H.