Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-05-09

gear Is saved from shock should a heavy
sea strike the rudder. The anchor gear. by
MeSSrS. Napier Brothers of Glasgow also
deserves mention on account of It's size, for
it is designed to operate a chain. the links
of which are of metal 31a inches in diam
eter; there Is also a special brake gear de-
signed to hold the ship up to her anchor.
How the Population Lodges.
The pepulation-this seems the only suit
! able word-which can live in the Celtic con-
sists of over 1900 about a tenth of whom
are members of the crew. But. that she
may have trip satisfactory to her owners
it is by means necessary that she should
have that number on board; for a certain
elasticity is perhaps the most important
feature of boats of her class. so that a
large portion of her space may be used
either for passengers or for cargo. as cir
Cumstances require. The number Of first
class passengers for which provision is
made is 3iI. Their accommodation will be
on the upper. the bridge. the upper bridge
and the boat decks their dining saloon on
the upper deck stretching the whole width
of the ship. and one innovation that is sure
to find favor is number of Singleberth
staterooms. The fittings of the rooms and
saloon may rot vie in luxury with those of
the fastest Atlantic bOats-that Is one rea-
son why the Celtic cost very much less
than the Oceanic though it Is the larger
veSSel-but the owners intend that passen-
gers shall he thoroughly comfortable. The
quarters for 100 second-class passengers
are or the upper and bridge decks. the din
ing saloon being also on the former deck.
Third-Class passengers to the number of
2.:i32 can be taken on the upper. middle
and lower decks. some in staterooms and
some in open berths. Married couples and
single women will be accommodated in the
after end. and single men in the forward
end. all. with the amenities of smoking
room and a comfortable general room will
be treated i'll a way which will be in strik-
ing contrast to that which prevailed only
few years ago. The deck crew numbers
slXty-four the engine room and stokehold
staff ninety-two, and the stewards l19.
The vessel was successfully launched
from the same slips as the Oceanic. From
q O'Clock workmen were busy knock
ing away the shores. etc. which
tanned her in place. and by 10 O'Clock only
the bilse blocks remained. In a few min
utes more these. too were removed and
the ship was kept back only by steel trig-
gers controlled by hydraulic pressure. At
the moment of launching the pressure on
these was 40 tons. Meanwhile the signal
guns were being fred warning the traffic
on the river to keep clear. and the staff
ard tugs to take up their allott ed stations
while below the ship herself painters were
hurryins about putting the last touches of
paint on the bottom plates on which the
snoring timbers had rested, and which,
therefore, could not he got at sooner. AL
most punCtuaily at the appointed hour of
1918 the third gun sounded. and Mr. A. NJ.
Carlisle. the manager of Messrs. Harland
Wolffs yard. opened the valve of the
hydraulic cylinder The water rushed out
the triggers fell back, and relieved from
restraining pressure. the huge mass within
few seconds began to slide down the
ways. which had previously been fabricated
with some nine tons of tallow and black
soap.
Computing Her Weight.
At first the motion was almost imper-
ceptible. but the velocity quickly increased
50 that in about fifty-four seconds the ship
had travelled her own length to the end of
the slips and Was tearing through the wa
ter. which she took at a speed of twelve
knots. She was brought up in 80 feet al
most exactly half her own length. by
means of four anchors, the chains of one
pair running through the bow hawse-h holes.
while those of the other pair We're caught
up i'll festoons by means of strong ropes,
the successive swapping of which took up
the momentum of the ship and gradually
checked her progress. Her stern, which of
course. entered the water first. dipped
thlrty-tiVc feet in. and her draught when
she was brought up was fifteen feet four
inches forward and seventeen feet two
inches aft. the mean being sixteen feet
three inches. From these figures it follows
that the weight of the vessel as she Law
upon the stocks must have been 14257
tons, some 5000 tons more than the
Oceanic 1t may be mentioned that before
the day was out preparations had already
been begun for building another ship on
the same slips.
The launch. which took place in bright
sunshine, was watched by thousands of
people stationed on the wharves and points
Of vantage around and it is said that all
who witnessed the event had contributed
or had had contributed for them, Is each
tn" sum thus collected being handed over
to the fund for erecting d memorial statue
to Queen Victoria in Belfast. Within the
Shipbuiding yard two stands had been
ereCted-one Immediately in front of the
bow Of the shin and the OF her about ON
feet down the port side, just above the
hydraulic machinery already mentioned
In these We're accommodated the guests
of the owners and the builders.