The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-12-25
FURNITURE OF STEEL.
Safe but Expensive Equipment for
Vessels of the Navy.

The cruiser Baltimore. which has been
rebuilt at the Brooklyn navy yard dur
ing the past three years, will be equip
ped with steel furniture. The staterooms
and the crews quarters win alike be
furnished in a new kind Of metal furni-
ture, which has been manufactured at
the local navy yard and which will.
within the course of five years. be used
exclusively on all warshiDs of the Uni
ted States navy.
This decision has been reached after
several months of experimenting and
after long discussion in the navy de-
partment as to the relative merits of
wooden furniture and the new kind. The
Baltimore will be the first man-of-war
from this country that has been made
entirely fireproof. She will be the first
ship on the sea which has not carried
a large amount of infiammable furniture
and numerous decorative articles.
The adoption of steel furniture in the
navy is an important step in the devel-
opment of the naval architecture and of
naval equipment. 1t is considered by
far the most important advancement
toward the perfection of q perfectly
equipped fighting craft that has been
made for several years
The furniture is made of thin sheet
steel. 1t is welded together in such
manner that the seams do not show.
The writing desks, cabinets and chif-
foniers are patterned after the wooden
articles that are generally IN use IN pfI-
vate homes. Rolltop desks are made by
using narrow strips of steel for the
flexible portion of the top. One of the
most novel articles that has been turned
out is the extension table This is real
ly an improvement over the article in
general use. When closed the table is
four by six feet in size. 1t may be OBJ
ened to several times that size. The
central portion of the table, which opens
and closes. is made of narrow strips of
steel similar fO those 1ISed in the roll
top desks, and the strips wind and I'M
wind on a roll.
The furniture has been painted a deep
brown. in imitation of mahogany and
a very fine polish and it is at once no.
ticeable that the article is not wood.
The entire set is artistic.
The chief objection to it is it's weight.
The steel furniture weighs about three
times as much as the wooden. This fact
will have to be taken into consideration
in equipping a ship, as the weights
placed in the various parts of the shin
are figured to a nicely. An attempt viii
be made to counterbalance this added
weight by eliminating some heavy parts
of the ships outfit
The steel furniture will cost the gov
eminent at least double what it has
been accustomed to paying for wooden,
furniture. The cost is not considered es-
sential, for if an article has been pro-
duced which adds materially to the
fighting capacity of our vessels il is
said that Uncle Sam viii readily stand
the difference in cost. 1t is thought
that the cost may be considerably re-
duced when the articles are manufac-
tUred in large quantities
It will cost $4,000 to fit out the Balti
more with the new kind of furniture It
is about three times as much as it
would have cost to rent her with wood
en- articles. The furniture which is now
IN use win not be discarded all at once.
1t is thought that the new plan viii be
to gradually introduce the steel as the
present equipment wears out.-Brooklya
Eagle.