Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1902-11-23

great white bone in her teeth and
with phosphoresCent spray dashias
high up on her sharp bows, the cruis-
er Cincinnati forged abreast of Guile
bra light at midnight last night, a
winner in the greatest ocean race OF
warships ever run on the north Allan
tic seaboard, says a Herald dispatch
from San Juan, Porto Rico.
Barely miles astern Of the cruiser
flashed the white searchhght of the
great battleship Alabama. She had
distanced all her rivals Of the heavy
weight class, and had shown her quail
ity by putting up a hammer and tongs
struggle all the way from Hampton
Roads, Va, with the feetfooted cruis-
er.
One by one she had left behind the
little gunboat Machias, the Indiana,
of Santiago fame; the new battleship
Kearsarge, her own particular rival,
and last Of all, the plucky Massacnu-
sets, sister ship of the Oregon.
AIabama's Performance a Surprise.
That the Alabama came in SO close
a second to the fast commerce destroy
eF Cincinnati even though the cruiser
had been handicapped IS miles at the
start, is a superb performance for
flrst-class battleship heavily armored.
This Is the first time in its history
that the ships of the north Atlantic
squadron have engaged in such a long
distance speed contest in the open sea.
AS q component part of the great
feet Of warship8 now assembling for
the winter naval maneuvers unaor
command Of Admiral Dewey, the north
Atlantic squadron was ordered, after
assembling at Hampton Roads, to pro.
coed to the naval rendezvous off Guile
bra hight, the beacon that CLEANS from
the pinnacle of a rocky little island
off San Juan point, Porto Rico.
Here was a superb opportunity to
test the actual relative speed of the
ships of the fleet in competition and
under thoroughly practical conditions.
Ships Lined For Start.
Five of the ships lined for the start
at noon Saturday, the Alabama, the
Aearsarge, the Massachusetts, the In
+. diana and the Machas, baby of the
feet The last named is a gunboat
only $50 feet long and of 1000 tons
displacement The other four are bat.
tleships.
Thirty-fve miles behind the line of
battleships as they passed the Vir-
ginia capes came the protected cruis-
er Cincinnati. By reason of her speed
Ter and lighter type, this was regarded
as fair handicap for the greyhound
of the fleet, which to do her destined
work should easily outclass them all
in cruising qualities.
Off at Flash of Gun.
At the flash of the gun the levi
athans were off to sea, under full head
of steam, and in 10 minutes all were
ploughing through the ocean, headed
for Culebra, with widening malestroms
of white spume boiling up under their
pounding screws.
Almost from the start the Alabama
began to forge ahead of her rivals. She
gained visibly on the Indiana and the
little Machias. The Kearsarge was
regarded as her most dangerous ad
Yersary of the battleship class.
Great Rivalry Among Crews.
Intense rivalry has always existed
between officers and crews of these
two ships.
No device was neglected on either
of the giants Of the feet 10 speed them
to their limit Smoke poured from
their huge stacks and t5e.r decks
quivered above the pro6dsng engines
Four hours from the starr. Jus. befo.t
twilight, the Alabama left the Kear
sarge hull down astern with only hel
fighting tops in sight
With the older Massachusetts, il
was a harder struggle. But newer
lines and greater power were bound t
tell. Before night the older ship
despite her most gallant efforts, was
left astern, and gradually even he,
cleaning lights faded out of sight.
Barring accidents, it was the Ala
bama's race, so far as the battleshipt
were concerned, but at shutdown Mon
day the lookout at the stern of tn,
leader sighted the Cincinnati cominj
mp like a race horse held in check 70
The finish.
FIeet-Footed Cincinnati.
She had made up her handicap. ha
passed all the others and was nov
speeding in the wake of her sole CON
petitor
It seemed a hopeless task for tn
battleship to try to hold the cruiser
but she made brave fight of it a
day Monday and on Tuesday an
Wednesday. She cheered her rival g
The latter slowly forged abreast an
ahead of her, almost within sight c
the goal