The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-16
SEA AND SHORE
HOodOo Norma Struck
A Luau.
Arrives Safely at Kauai With all
Hands and a Leak--BattIe-
ship Kearsarge.


the surface of the sea and has not
sought the bottom as so many on the
water front had prognosticated. She
was not wrecked upon desert isle,
nor did she strike a sunken rock in
some raging storm and go under with
all hands and the cook.
The fact of the matter as nearly as
can be learned from experts on such
matters, is that she struck a luau,
broadside, while going at full speed
That is to say her crew, notwithstand-
ing the fact that the little hoodoo was
already overloaded when she left this
port on Friday, May 4th, inconsider-
ately took on individual loads of ma
ture which rendered them Indifferent
to the dangers of the sea and super
fiuously happy.
When the schooner Ada arrived yes
terday morning from Kauai she
brought the news of the safe arrival of
the Norma at Hanalei. The Norma left
here overloaded, according to stories
on the water front, and had a heavy
list which threatened to capsiZa her al
most as soon as she struck the open
sea.
A good sized leak was in her hold
and the leak did what is ordinarily ex-
pected of leaks and tried hard to sink
the little craft. The pumps were going
all the time; that was the only amuse-
ment the crew had during their pro-
gressive journey to Kauai.
If is said that her general cargo ir
ruined but that the schooner is all
right except for the hole in her hull.
The hoodoo will undoubtedly return to
port pretty soon, and continue her list
of adventures until she meets the fate
that all hoodoos are supposed to meet:
joins the great majority of vessels far
beneath the wave.
Captain Weisbarth is as able a nav
igator as ever shifted the salt winds of
the sea, and it is probably entirely ow-
ing to his cleverness as a sailor and
his force of management as man that
the Norma arrived right side up at
Kauai.
All accounts agree that the party
aboard the Norma when she left Homo
lulu behind on that Friday-all hoo
docs sail on Friday-was certainly a
jolly one and was under influence other
than that which might be expected to
be derived from the occasion.
Battleship Kearsage.
The new battleship Kearsarge is the
largest, costliest. most powerful and
the fastest first-class American battle
ship, and one of the finest in the world
Although her trial trip did not demon
strate it officially, members of the
Naval Board said that she was a 175-
knot ship-and this is faster than any
other first-class battle-ship afloat. Her
corrected time was 1886 knots, but
this low figure was caused by an unfor-
tunate accident, the bursting of a pipe
in the hot-water feeder, which let cold
water into the boiler For thirteen
miles before this happened she aver
aged 1852 knots, and this was with a
green crew of stOkers and with bad
steering.
The feature of the Kearsarge mark
ing an innovation upon which the eyes
of the naval experts of the whole world
are fixed, is the upper-imposed turret.
This is the first time that one turret
has been built upon another. and there
are grave doubts expressed by many
officers regarding its practicability 1t
has become known as the Sampson
Z 'tAAOl, Jul JOStDl 5,
United States Navy, is the inventor of
it. When he proposed it Admiral
Sampson became convinced of it's value
and urged its adoption so strenuously
that the latter's name became associat-
ed with the invention. Veteran naval
officers declare that it is folly to build
ane turret on top OF another, and that
the discharging of the big guns of one
turret will render the other untena-
bic. Some go so far as to say that it
would result fatally to the gunners in
the other turret. A test has recently
been made, two officers volunteering
to remain in the under turret. and
have the heavy guns over them fired.
They suffered no evil effect, but it is
considered by many that a true test
could only be made in a battle. The
greatest advantage of the double turret
is the concentration of fire of two thir-
teen-inch and two eight-inch guns in
both the bow and stern.
The keels of the Kearsarge and her
sister ship, the Kentucky, were laid on
the Both of. June, 1S96-six months af-
ter their construction was awarded to
the Newport News Shfpbuilding and
Dry Dock Company-and their launch
ing within eighteen months from the
beginning Of building was a record for
this country.