The San Francisco call., 1904-04-15
MEN analMAaTERS IN
THE F0RE~Z5he WORLD
MONEAE

all the personnel, rather than the ma
terial. will in the future, as in the
past. prove itself the principal factor
in battles on land and sea.
The dispatch-boat Dolphin was
launched twenty years ago, on April II,
1884. and was the first vessel of the
new navy to take the water. The cruis-
ers Atlanta, Boston and Chicago, au-
thorized by act of Congress of March
g. 1883, We're not launched until Janu-
ary, 1885. The contract for all four YES
sells was given to John Roach, whose
only serious competitors were the Har-
Ian & Hollingsworth Company and Will
liam Cramp & Sons Company. 1t was
not until December, 1885, that the Dol
phin, after several unsuccessful trials,
finally made the speed trial, upon the
results of which the Navy Department
decided TO accept the vessel at a re-
duced price. A board composed of Com
modore G. c. Belknap, Commander
Robley d. Evans and Herman Winters,
a civilian engineer, reported the Dol
phin as deficient in horsepower and
speed and structurally weak. In order
to reinforce the Belknap report Com
mander r. w Meade was assigned
captain of the Dolphin, and this naval
officer in his report. while differing
somewhat from BelSnap and Evans,
characterized the Dolphin as ma
rine crazy-quilt."
The Dolphin was built at a cost Of
s3S7,715, and her cost in repairs, includ-
ing removal of boilers, has been $374.-
600 up to July !, 1908. Modern vessels Of
war are costly TO keep in a proper state
of efficiency. and the Dolphin's repair
cost is not excessive as compared with
other vessels since added to the navy.
The Dolphin has fulfilled the purpose
for which she was built-that of a dis
patch boat, and as she is not a fighting
craft she has been largely utilized in
carrying the President, Secretary of
the Navy and Congressional commit
tees to watering places and navy yards
on the Atlantic coast. Its only special
duty in the navy line was to voyage
around the world, leaving New York in
January, 1888, and returning September
q, 1889. during which period the vessel
steamed over $4,000 miles. No 'struc-
tural weakness has ever manifested
AActiA III TINS dtAESCO maj AAAS II aZS
quilt" The Roach heirs have been
awarded the money due on the Cancelled
contracts. and the Dolphin is still good
for twenty years more.
The raising of the United States
battleship Maine from the bottom of
Havana harbor has again been indefi-
nitely postponed. A Chicago contractor
recently made an offer to the
Cuban Government to raise the
ship, but having failed to fur
nish guarantee and sign the con-
tract within twenty days the offer is
considered Cancelled. No less than six
offers have been made at different
times to raise the ship. but the condi-
tions imposed upon would-be contract
ors have been of such a nature as to
cause withdrawal Of offers. One of the
most important conditions is that pro-
hibiting the use of explosives, it being
desired to raise the wreck intact from
any other damage than that sustained
when sunk February Is, 1898.
The battleshiD Virginia, launched at
Newport News on April 8, is the sixth
naval vessel by that name. The first
was a ship Of twenty-eight guns, built
in Maryland in 1916 and captured two
years later by the British. The second
Virginia was a schooner, built at Nor
felix in 1898 and sold in 1901. The third
was a ship of the line Of eighty-four
guns. which was completing at the
Boston navy yard when the Civil War
broke out, and in consequence of which
her name was changed to Vermont.
She was stricken from the navy list
December 19, 1901. The fourth Virginia
was originally a steam frigate named
the Merrimac, and was transformed
into a ram by the Confederates and
renamed. She was, however, popularity
known as the MerTimac, and her fight
with the Monitor in March, 1862, was
an epoch in the worlds history. The
fifth Virginia was built by the Confed-
crates at Richmond; she was a heavily
armored vessel, but rendered no SER
vice, and was burned to prevent her
falling into the hands of the Union
forces.