The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-19
CRUISER l;|| ! 4
.NOWSONr|A!|.E|::.D::E|:.E|:.P|:.
Tires lusty cheers tor the aerinans.
3sisi5 An Event III History, 7 Il

An Event III History, Is
,gs4 nut the Launching OF the world g greet
at cruiser was In itself an event, not
only hi the history Of the nation g great
q CT. shipbuiidlng plant, but In the history
$of naval architecture. the christening
IN itfe plunge 81 the mammoth mass Of
= steel Into tho water were brilliantly &C.
compiished, to lhe dell ght Of d record
3 breaking crowd. All the conditions were
aispiclousf Ideal "A prll skies arched ove r
Sthe gathered throng, the sunshlne was
genial In Its warmth, the accommodation
4 Tor the crowd were ample and ALI had an
unohstructed view oil " Int was an event
4 II, the lives D I many. The largest crowd
ATTENDING any previous launching was
that which witnessed the christening OF
i tiie X entucky and tkcar sarge In the spring
OF 1893. IN tho opinion OF N export News
newspaper, men, who have seen all he
4 thtongs on these occasions, yesterdays
attendance exceeded nnykother. It Is $es-
timated that more than thirty thousand
persons were assembled within View OF
the towering hullGo the great steel q ght>--
ing machine Us It glldcd gently DOM the
ways from Its! cradle to the arms Of Mother
Ocean. Indeed. the much abused metaphor.
"a sea OF bupturned faces finds appropriate
T use. and but adequately expresses tho
scene us the vast crowd was gazing Y r--i
ward With expcctancy&at the launching
4 stand, where the fair daughter OF the
Mountain State for moment hcl the
christening bottle Of wine poised in her
trembling fingers before das hing 1t
against tho monsters bow III sss
4 A Study IL PhysiognonY. IA
'rhe crowd was "a spectacle in Itself, q
\ study In color and physlognomy such as
4 one seldom has opportunity to sswit ness.
White and black were predominant II,
Tho restless nuttering, surglng tfrong,
$but they were but q background for q
vnretysof color that pleased the eye II
A It was not artistic, It was at least pic
turcsque-a picture realizing Kpllng,s
startling figure splash a Z g ten;leag 3 !
u cnnvas with brushes OF comets hair.Vi2sl It
was n gigantic picture, created uncon-
sciously blythe throng. Unpn the launch,
1tig stand high above the heads of the
multitude were the distinguished guests
the dignataries OF two nations, the flower
OF the 5chyalry and beauty OF Two States.
b Far below stretched the great mass q g u
u manity. to the right and eft Of the era
II died giant OF the deep. In rear OF X and
b on ali save the water side. The vast In
Al closure Il OF the shipyard was wcll-nigh
fllled, and filled as It had never been be-.
fore. Ear down to the left OF the launch
ing stand TO the dock the crowd spread.
High upon the hull Of the embryo cruiser
h Charleston, In the next berth; on tugs
and steamers and yachts and launches
and even In small boats the crowd en-
croached upon the domain s of 5 old n cps
Il tune even In It's effort to get g good view
n Of the launching. ~ ny s4
Richmond Represented.
IN this great throng Richmond was
4 numerously and brilliantly presented.
as was the entire State. Three long,
trains had carried down the Richmond
4 contingent, which Included the Governor
y and stan and other State on Gals, 81 the
members and officers Of both houses OF
The General Assembly. and citizens ana
ladies In great MUM bers. All the trains
A were crowded or certainly comfortably
filled The railroad Handled the crowd
4 admra bly,, the only fault being that such
p heavy traffic could hardly have been
arrived in ample time. to witness the
launching Then, too, the citizen so!-
4 dIcry OF Il no ca pital was admirably rep
X resen ted II bys tho Richmond ILL., Light IN
sfantry Blues Battalion and the two CONF
:I,anles OF the SEVENTEEN Regiment, which
Z made the trip In a special trian.
sgs Governor "A. J. Montague and party
went down III a special car rendered them
II FOR the occasion, and along with II was
&.the elegant private car of Presto
George W. Stevens Of the Chesa pea ke
4 and Ohio Railway Company. OF the Gov
+ ernor's party besides himself were COL
a George c. Cnbell. Jr.. chief OF sta Il. and
Valentine Colonel Barton H. Grundy$
Y Colonel Sol. Cutchins. Colonel 3 w.
Zane, Jr., IL Williamsburg: Mrs. James
Jamieson Hickey OF Danyille. and Mt,
!. Jetrry Montague. !, /. ], !,
President Stevens party consisted 20. 6
Mr. and Mrs.. George W.. stevens. 7. MISS
X TIelen h. stevens, Mr. and Mrs. W., -
iRoyail, Mr.. and Mrs Charles 2. Boiling,
81 and Mrs. Thomas Boiling, Miss Claire
rmi,lnume. Miss Bette Clarke and Miss
x I.onise selden. 4 These two speclal cars
we're run through direct to Old Point.
where tho Virginia party joined the
Launching party from West virginia ia az q
s. the Chamberlln. SKI
The West Vlrglnlans, 5
I The West Virginia party included Go 'yV'-3