St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-10-08
The Launching of the Des Moines.

the cruiser Des Moines was launched at
Fore River at noon that dav, and as |
did not notice any mention of it in your
paper, perhaps youmay like to hear from
an eye Witness how itappeared to them.
Weymouth has been claimed by some to
be the oldest settlement or oue of the
oldest in New England after Plymouth,
but the shipyard at Fore river is COM
paratively new one. The Des Moines
was the first United States cruiser to be
built there, of the six cruisers authorized
by Congress in 1889. The Seven Mast
en-" the largest vessel of that kind in the
world, was launched this summer there
and attracted much attention, but this
is the first cruiser that this company has
built, and it is claimed to be the largest
of the kind sent forth from Massachu-
setts waters. The Seven Master" was
intended for mercantile purpose such as
carrying coal, but this is war vessel
and intended to be kind of policeman
on the oceanic guard American interests.
The Denver and Cleveland having been
previously built and launched elsewhere,
this is the third one of the six; the Gal
weston, Tacoma and the Chattanooga
have yet to be completed The Des
Moines does not have the speed of the
older cruisers built 10 years ago, such
as the Raleigh and Cincinnati. who have
a 10 thousand horse power and a speed
of 10 knots an hour, but the machinery
was rather heavy and cumberous.
This vessel IS to have a speed of 16h
knots an hour. Hsr superiority is to
consist partly in her being able to carry
in her bumpers 700 tons of coal, while
the older ones could only carry between
400 and 500 tons. Thus she is expected
to be able to steam at high speed 1900
miles and 8 500 miles at about 10
knots an hour; therefore she may
be valuable in making long trips at sea,
perhaps in the Philippine service She
has water-tube boilers, six OF them, and
she is to have two smoke pipes two
masts, and arrangements for wireless
telegraph on the front one. They are to
use smokcless powder in the fve-inch
guns, which are thought to be superior
to the old siX-inch ones. The wood that
has been used has been put through an
electric fre-rroof process. The pilot
house will have manganese bronze She
is to have search lights, electric lights,
ard the machinery will be largely
operated by electricity. Her length is
30S feet and inches and she has
capacity for q crew Of Dos men.
Although the morn was very cloudy
and it looked like rain, it did not prevent
thousands OF people from Boston aud
distant places from coming to witness
the launch There was a large and dis
tinguished party from Iowa, Gov. A. B.
Cummings and his staff and many also
from the state. The army and navy de-
partment were well represented, and
Massachusetts congressman were in the
fore front, as we'll as Secretary Long,
who occupied the elevated platform adj
joining the Prov OF the boat. Prominent
among this company stood Miss Elsie
Macomber of Des Moines, conspicuous in
her delicate beaver cloak and by her side
stood Miss Clara n Carleton OF Haver-
hill, Mass. dressed in a light blue cos
tune, who were to assist in the christen-
ing service. Ia the background were the
thousands OF men, women and children
who had come here to be present on this
memorable occasion. They had climbed
the piles of boards. logs and every avail
able space seemed filled with the expect
ant thrOng eager to see; some wished to
behold the young lady from Haverhill
cut the string with her little hatchet of
wood and iron made from the boat, and
wondered itthetair IoWan would christen
with water or champagne, while Others
were anxious to see the first plunge of
the cruiser into the water. The excite
ment became intense, when the loud
creaking OF the timber of the support and
braces ceased and MISS Carleton cut the
rope and Miss Macomber hurled the
bottle of champagne, encase1 i'll silver,
against the steel PROV, exclaiming, II
christen thee Des MOines The cruiser
glided down the creased railway so
easily and gracefully that all rushed for
ward with shout and cheer to see it
sail OUT into the water; it was a bsauti-
tul sight, and every one exclaimed, at is
a success" "A great success, or II am
so glad came to see it," Steam tugs in
the harbOr we're all decorated with flags
and bunting, and the bright pennants
from the platform gave a festive look to
the scene.
She is to be sheathed with copper and
fully equipped within the year. MANY
officers were desirous to see the embryo
battle ships in the ship yard, the New
Jersey and Rhode Island, which are to be
constructed. Two torpedo boats have
already been built here. About one
thousand invitations had been /. S Jed for
a luncheon to be served in the upper hall
of the machine shop. 1t was remarked
that the Iowa party favor the accenting
the first syllable of the word Iowa, and
the Massachusetts delegation the second.
Gov. Cummings is fine looking gentle
man and is called quite an orator. The
Olympia in Boston harbor attracted con
siderable attention. The launching of
the ship was a proud day for Massa-
Chusetts. A. M. c.
Pos+o, Cor+ OK 1910